News
Great Lakes watershed restoration grants awarded to reduce phosphorus runoff and sediment pollution
For immediate release: August 12, 2015 | Download News Release PDF
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are pleased to announce the awarding of 12 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) watershed grants under the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program (GLSNRP).
GLSNRP, formerly known as the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, is a cooperative state-federal nonpoint source pollution partnership administered by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC). Funding for this program is provided by the GLRI under a cooperative agreement between the GLC and NRCS.
Under the current agreement, GLRI funding of more than $1.7 million was provided by NRCS to reduce phosphorus runoff and sediment pollution in priority watersheds in the Great Lakes basin. The projects being funded are:
| Sponsor | State | Title | Amount Awarded |
| LaGrange County Soil & Water Conservation District | IN | Pigeon River Phosphorus and Sediment Reduction | $250,000 |
| The Nature Conservancy | IN | Removing Dissolved Phosphorus from Agricultural Drainage | $170,856 |
| Saginaw Bay Resource Conservation and Development | MI | Cass River Streambank Stabilization and Fish Habitat | $30,000 |
| Hillsdale Conservation District | MI | Phosphorus Reduction of the St. Joseph River/Lake Erie | $113,126 |
| Finger Lakes Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance | NY | Phosphorus Control in the Lake Ontario Basin | $199,878 |
| Erie County Soil & Water Conservation District | NY | West Cazenovia Creek Sediment and Nutrient Control Project | $30,000 |
| Conservation Action Project | OH | Subsurface Soil Incorporation of Phosphorus Fertilizer | $193,180 |
| Seneca Soil & Water Conservation District | OH | Phosphorus Reductions in Wolf Creek | $235,949 |
| Wood Soil & Water Conservation District | OH | Reducing Agricultural Sources of Phosphorus in the Maumee Watershed | $244,413 |
| Putnam Soil & Water Conservation District | OH | Sediment and Phosphorus Reduction in the Miller City Cutoff | $247,763 |
| Blanchard River Watershed Partnership | OH | Sediment and Phosphorus Reduction in the Middle Riley Creek | $29,930 |
| Fulton Soil & Water Conservation District | OH | Tiffin River Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Initiative | $29,500 |
Every year, tons of phosphorus and sediments enter the Great Lakes basin, causing economic and environmental losses and damages. The GLSNRP strategically addresses this problem with a unique, targeted grass-roots approach that awards grants to nonfederal agencies and nonprofit organizations to implement sediment control practices in priority sediment-producing watersheds throughout the Great Lakes region.
“Implementing projects in priority areas is a great step in furthering our efforts to reduce phosphorus and sediment from entering the Great Lakes,” said GLC Acting Chair Jon Allan, director of Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes. “Along with our federal partner, NRCS, these GLRI funds will invest much-needed resources at the local level to install conservation practices in critical Great Lakes watersheds.”
The GLRI funding builds on and accelerates ongoing efforts to reduce erosion to the Great Lakes. The GLC has been involved in reducing nonpoint source pollution, specifically sediment reduction, since 1988. In 1991 the GLC established the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, which became GLSNRP in 2015 to recognize the program’s increased emphasis on phosphorus reduction.
“This funding allows the Great Lakes Commission and NRCS to take an already effective partnership to the next level of reducing phosphorus runoff and sedimentation into the Great Lakes,” said Tim Eder, GLC executive director. “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.”
Contact: Gary Overmier, Great Lakes Commission; office: 734-971-9135, [email protected]
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The Great Lakes Commission, led by Acting Chair Jon W. Allan, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, 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. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org.