FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) announced that it will award more than $1.2 million in grants to reduce the runoff of sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants into the Great Lakes and their tributaries through the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program. A portion of that award totaling $200,000 will be awarded to Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation for the Spy Run Creek Restoration project in Franke Park.
Each year, the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program provides competitive grants to local, state and tribal governments and nonprofit organizations to install erosion and nutrient control practices in the Great Lakes basin. These practices help to prevent harmful algal blooms and dead zones. The program supports projects not typically funded by other federal cost-share programs, including innovative and unique practices. The 2022 projects generally focus on three approaches: long-term sediment and nutrient management through engagement with the agricultural community, streambank restoration, and green infrastructure.
Parks and Recreation released the following:
The Spy Run Creek Streambank Restoration project includes the regrading, stabilization and planting of 1,700 feet of the creek’s streambanks, resulting in a reduction of sediment and nutrient-loading in the Upper Maumee Watershed. The health of this watershed is of particular importance within the Western Lake Erie Basin, an area that has been negatively affected by sedimentation and excessive nutrients.
Funding for the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Since it was first funded in 2010, the GLRI has provided more than $4 billion to fund more than 6,000 projects across the Great Lakes region. The projects have cleaned up toxic hot spots, restored wetlands, helped to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species and reduced harmful sediment and excess nutrients to the most significant surface, freshwater resource on the planet, our Great Lakes.
More information about the projects in this program is available here.
