Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority Receives Two Grants Awarded by ODNR through Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio Initiative

Kayla Lewandowski
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority

Water quality in Toledo, Ohio, is imperative to the community’s economic, cultural, and social quality of life. Maritime commerce through the Port of Toledo supports local jobs and is an attraction for new businesses to locate in the region. The city’s waterfront is also where locals enjoy waterborne activities and where wildlife is in abundance.

For this reason, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority is honored to be a recipient of two grants provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), as part of Governor Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio Initiative. Governor DeWine’s initiative is allocating $172 million in funding over two years to implement projects that will improve the quality of water throughout the state of Ohio. This effort is aimed toward reducing algal blooms, improving wastewater infrastructure, and preventing lead contamination.

The awards will be used to facilitate the design and construction of two wetland projects at the mouth of the Maumee River on Lake Erie. Wetlands along the waterfront are beneficial because they allow for the absorption and trapping of harmful pollutants. This provides a natural filtering process and averts contaminated substance from migration.

The first wetland is located on the Maumee River near Cullen Park and will expand on design work completed for the site in 2017 under the Healthy Lake Erie Grant Initiative. The Port Authority received a $4.8 million grant for additional planning, permitting, engineering, design and construction costs for this project. The focus is to soften the shoreline and strategically build submergent and emergent wetlands to maximize improvements to water quality in problem locations within the area.

The second project, the Grassy Island Project, shares many of the same objectives as the Cullen Park project. The Grassy Island Project is also located on the Maumee River and will utilize $700,000 in H2Ohio funds toward contracting services for planning, permitting and engineering and design costs to create wetlands at Grassy Island.
Like the first project, the Port Authority will be looking to either construct wetlands or strategically deepen certain areas surrounding Grassy Island.

These awards, and the partnership between the Port Authority and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is critical in improving Toledo’s waterfront and water quality to secure clean, safe water for all Northwest Ohioans.