Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District awarded $136K in H2Ohio funding

The Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District will receive $136,177 in H2Ohio grant funding. The funding, which will be used for stream, floodplain and wetland restoration at the Mill Creek Golf Course, is part of $3 million in H2Ohio grant funding that will be directed to nine wetland projects to help improve water quality in the Ohio River Basin, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz announced Tuesday. “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,” DeWine said in a news 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.”

Awards will also go to projects in Athens, Butler, Clark, Delaware, Franklin, Montgomery, Pickaway and Wayne counties to create wetlands, restore wetlands on hydric soils and/or enhance water quality at existing wetlands and floodplains, the release states. This is the second round of H2Ohio grants focused exclusively on the Ohio River Basin. In 2021, the ABC District’s Forest Lawn Stormwater Park was awarded $300,000 to help alleviate local flooding and stream erosion in the Cranberry Run watershed in Boardman Township.

“It’s exciting to share the nature-based approach to water quality we have been implementing in the northern part of the state with even more communities,” Mertz said in the release. “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.”

Read Original Article at Mahoning Matters.