GLIN==> Watershed grants aimed at reducing sediment pollution to the Great Lakes

Watershed grants aimed at reducing sediment pollution to the Great Lakes 
http://www.glc.org/announce/10/09basin-glri.html
For Immediate Release: Sept. 7, 2010. Nine Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative (GLRI) watershed grants totaling more than $4.3 million to reduce
sediment pollution in priority watersheds in the Great Lakes basin are being
announced today by the Great Lakes Commission and the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency-hosted event in Toledo, Ohio. Funding for
these grants -- awarded under the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion
and Sediment Control -- is provided by the GLRI under a cooperative
agreement between the Great Lakes Commission and NRCS. 
The projects selected for funding are: 
*	Blue Creek - St. Marys River, Indiana: Adams County Soil and Water
Conservation District, $448,115 
*	Little Elkhart River, Indiana: LaGrange County Soil and Water
Conservation District, $190,000 
*	Pinnebog River, Michigan: Michigan Dept. of Agriculture, $745,373 
*	River Raisin, Michigan: Michigan Dept. of Agriculture, $438,033 
*	Shiawassee River, Michigan: Shiawassee Conservation District,
$536,000 
*	Poplar River, Minnesota: Cook County Soil and Water Conservation
District, $687,034 
*	Black and Oatka Creeks, New York: NY State Soil and Water
Conservation Committee, $536,000 
*	Old Woman Creek, Ohio: Erie Soil and Water Conservation District,
$137,552 
*	Sandusky River, Ohio: WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc.,
$581,926 
"Every year, millions of tons of sediments from soil erosion enter the Great
Lakes basin, causing significant economic and environmental losses and
damages in Lake Erie and basinwide," says Sean Logan, director of the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources and Great Lakes Commissioner. "This program
strategically addresses this problem with a unique, targeted grass-roots
approach, which awards grants to nonfederal agencies and nonprofit
organizations in priority sediment-producing watersheds throughout the Great
Lakes region to implement sediment control practices in cooperation with
local entities and landowners." 
Among the projects funded in Ohio is a sediment reduction initiative at Old
Woman Creek, the only Great Lakes estuary in the National Estuarine Research
Reserve System and one of the state’s few remaining examples of a natural
Lake Erie estuary. The Old Woman Creek project will focus on the major
sources of sediment in the watershed including cropland and streambank
erosion. A second Ohio project will promote soil conservation practices in
the Sandusky River watershed and is expected to save more than 21 tons of
soil from eroding annually. 
Sediment is the most prevalent nonpoint source pollution by volume in Lake
Erie. Sediment covers spawning beds, provides a substrate for bacteria to
grow and carries with it nutrients that cause the excess growth of algae. 
"This funding allows NRCS and the Great Lakes Commission to take an already
effective partnership to the next level, with the goal of accelerating
ongoing efforts to control soil erosion and sedimentation in the Great Lakes
Basin," says NRCS Chief Dave White. "This expanded investment in
conservation on the region’s working lands will yield significant dividends
for taxpayers and communities, in the form of decreased pollution and better
water quality." 
In total, more than $20 million was requested through this large-scale
competitive grants program. The nine funded projects, selected by a regional
Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Task Force made up of representatives of the
eight Great Lakes states, are expected to save upwards of 24,000 tons of
erosion on an annual basis. 
The Great Lakes Commission has been involved in the reduction of nonpoint
source pollution, specifically sediment reduction, since 1988. In 1991 the
Commission established the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and
Sediment Control. The program has funded 439 local small-scale projects,
allocating over $15 million to control erosion and sediment. These projects
have reduced soil erosion in the Great Lakes basin by more than 1.6 million
tons and phosphorus loadings by over 1.6 million pounds. 
"Implementing watershed-scale projects in priority areas is a great step in
furthering our efforts to reduce sediment from entering the Great Lakes,"
says Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission. "Along with
our federal partner (NRCS), these GLRI funds will put much needed resources
at the local level to install conservation practices in critical
watersheds." 
Contacts: Tim Eder
Executive Director, Great Lakes Commission
E-mail: teder at glc.org
Phone: office: 734-971-9135; cell: 734-604-7281
Contact: Gary Overmier
E-mail: garyo at glc.org <mailto:David.garyo at glc.org> 
Phone: office: 734-971-9135


The Great Lakes Commission <http://www.glc.org/> , chaired by Gov. Patrick
Quinn (Ill.), is an interstate compact agency established under state and
U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy
environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region
and its residents. The Commission consists of governors' appointees, state
legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states
<http://www.glc.org/about/commissioners.html> . Associate membership
<http://www.glc.org/about/associate.html>  for Ontario and Québec was
established through the signing of a "Declaration of Partnership
<http://www.glc.org/about/pdf/declarations.pdf> ." The Commission maintains
a formal Observer program <http://www.glc.org/about/observers.html>
involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational
agencies and other regional interests. The Commission offices are located in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. 


Christine Manninen
Communications / GLIN Director
http://www.great-lakes.net
Great Lakes Commission
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Office 734.971.9135

 
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