State grant will help restore and create wetlands at Mill Creek Golf Course
Mill Creek Park will receive more than $130,000 in state funding to help restore and create wetlands at Mill Creek Golf Course.
The project is one of nine that Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will support with $3 million in state grant money as part of the H2Ohio project.
According to the ODNR, Mill Creek Park will receive $136,177. The goal of the Mill Creek Park is to improve water quality by reducing nutrient runoff, limiting erosion, and increasing storm water detention.
Mill Creek Park will use their portion of the state grant to restore an area of the Mill Creek Golf Course by realigning a stream channel and creating an area next to the stream that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and other plants.
H2Ohio was launched by Governor DeWine in 2019 as an effort to address water quality issues that have been building in the state for years. The initiative focuses on restoring and enhancing wetlands, upgrading outdated water infrastructure, and replacing lead pipes, as well as encouraging best management practices from an agricultural stand point.
This is the second round of H2Ohio grants. This round focuses exclusively on the Ohio River Basin and will go to projects in Athens, Butler, Clark, Delaware, Franklin, Mahoning, Montgomery, Pickaway, and Wayne counties.
"By expanding the reach of H2Ohio, we are working not only toward water quality, but also to a better quality of life for all Ohioans," said Governor DeWine in a press release. "Water issues exist everywhere, and these new projects will ensure more communities get the opportunity to experience the benefits these wetlands provide for water quality, wildlife, and recreational purposes."
In the first round of H2Ohio grants, ten wetland projects were awarded a total of $4.3 million to address water quality improvement in the Ohio River and its tributaries.
"It has always been our goal to extend the H2Ohio initiative across the entire state, and we are glad to be able to support these new projects in the Ohio River Basin,"said ODNR Director Mary Mertz.
