Page 25 - Leisure Living Magazine: August 2020 Edition

The Nature Conservancy Is Restoring Area Wetland
Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy, www.nature.org
The Nature Conservancy’s work to restore coastal wetland at Maumee Bay State Park will improve wetland habitat quality by converting areas dominated by phragmites to native wetland habitat [as shown here]. The effort will also improve water quality by diverting agricultural drainage into the wetland so nutrients can be removed before the water reaches Lake Erie. © Kent Mason
Since the late 1990s, the rate and severity of harmful algal blooms in Ohio have been increas- ing steadily, putting human health and Ohio’s economy at risk. Launched last summer, and led in part by The Nature Conservancy, Gover- nor DeWine’s H2Ohio Fund aims to address the state’s water quality issues.
H2Ohio provides funding for water quality improvement projects, including nature-based solutions like creating and restoring wetlands and floodplains—for which The Nature Conservancy advocated strongly.
The Nature Conservancy’s work to restore Sandusky Bay is one of the first to receive support through H2Ohio. The effort is aimed at reducing harmful al- gal bloom severity through a number of innovative methods involving a mix of manmade and natural infrastructure. These efforts will create a bet- ter-functioning bay ecosystem that will encourage the growth of native wetland vegetation and help alleviate the occur-
The Nature Conservancy’s Great Egret Marsh Preserve © Kent Mason
rence of harmful algal blooms. H2Ohio is also providing funding to The Nature Con- servancy to restore 137 acres of coastal wetland at Maumee Bay State Park. Through a
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