(From the Ohio EPA)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio EPA Director Anne M. Vogel announced $16.7 million in H2Ohio water infrastructure grants for 14 projects across the state.
Governor DeWine launched H2Ohio in 2019 as a comprehensive strategy to improve water infrastructure across Ohio and provide increased access to clean, reliable drinking water.
“Projects like the ones we’re announcing today speak to the very heart of why we created H2Ohio,” said Governor DeWine. “This funding will help Ohio communities pay for much-needed infrastructure that will not only improve water quality but also the quality of life for people who live in these neighborhoods.”
Findlay is receiving $2 million to help repair deteriorating sewer pipelines in the Eagle Creek neighborhood and support the Spring Lake Subdivision Sewer Rebuild.
Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn says the H2Ohio funds have been critical in investing in Findlay and Hancock County.
This new round of H2Ohio funding focused predominantly on supporting the regionalization and consolidation of drinking water and wastewater systems. This included extending water and sewer services to underserved areas and the elimination of inadequate treatment systems. Regionalization provides opportunities for communities to share the costs associated with building, operating, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to provide safe and clean water to those communities.
Among the grants, $1 million in funding will go to Ravenna Township in Portage County to help regionalize a large unsewered area known as the Chinn Allotment, which contains nearly 200 households. The new wastewater collection system will address ongoing water quality violations cited by the Ohio EPA and the Portage County Combined General Health District.
“We’re very happy that we have a source of funding to address a very specific need in Ravenna Township,” Director Vogel said. “Our goal is always to help communities find solutions to problems like these – particularly when there is a risk to public health and the environment. A great thing about the Governor’s H2Ohio initiative is that it has the unique ability to fill funding gaps that might not be addressed in other existing programs.”
Additional grants include $2.5 million for Toledo to design the replacement of a raw water main that conveys Lake Erie water nine miles to a water treatment plant.
To learn more about Ohio EPA’s H2Ohio work, as well as that of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Department of Natural Resources, visit h2.ohio.gov.