“We know that river health in Ohio has improved tremendously in the last several decades, but there is still more work to do,” said DeWine in a release. “Water is one of Ohio’s greatest assets, and my administration is dedicated to protecting this invaluable resource.”
Since 2019, H2Ohio has primarily focused on water infrastructure replacement in low-income areas, statewide wetland creation and the reduction of algal-bloom-causing agricultural runoff into Lake Erie, the release said.
The Ohio General Assembly allotted approximately $270 million in funding to H2Ohio in the state’s current operating budget. This includes $47 million for the H2Ohio Rivers program over the next two years to address river health, according to the release.
Miami Conservancy District general manager MaryLynn Loder said the H2Ohio expansion offers more opportunities for the Miami Valley to protect and improve the quality of its water sources.
“Water is so important, and we can’t do anything in our life on a daily basis without water,” she said. “We really have been waiting for this moment, in terms of more resources available for the Great Miami River, so this is definitely something to be excited about.”
PFAS study
As part of the expansion, Ohio will be the first state to undergo a statewide survey on measuring large rivers on the “existence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances.”
PFAS are manmade and have been used in everyday consumer and industrial products with linkage to serious health issues such as kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, low birth weight and high cholesterol.
The release said in order to find PFAS contamination, the Ohio EPA will collect water samples and aquatic life tissue specimens in 29 of Ohio’s rivers, including the Great Miami River, Stillwater River and Mad River.
“Once analyzed, the baseline measurement findings will be used to inform Ohio’s work to remediate any contamination and will give insight on the potential for any sport fish consumption advisories,” the release said.
DeWine previously ordered the development of a PFAS Action Plan to sample Ohio’s public drinking water systems for certain PFAS compounds. Testing found PFAS at detectable levels in 6% of Ohio’s nearly 1,550 public water systems.
A Dayton Daily News analysis of state data earlier this year found 15 local public water systems together serving hundreds of thousands of residents have detected levels of PFAS exceeding proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for what’s acceptable in drinking water.
Phase two of the state’s action plan, now underway, focuses on the prevention of future PFAS contamination in water systems and private wells.
“Testing for PFAS in Ohio’s rivers is just the latest of several steps that the DeWine-Husted Administration has taken to protect Ohioans from the largely unknown risks associated with PFAS exposure,” said Anne M. Vogel, director of the Ohio EPA.
River sampling is expected to be complete in the fall of 2024. The Ohio River is not part of H2Ohio PFAS contamination study as it is already tested regularly by outside officials.
Dam projects
The program will also work to remove or modify deteriorating dams that have outlived their intended use and are harming water quality thorough oxygen depletion, trapped sediment and interrupted fish migration.
The first dam projects to receive H2Ohio Rivers funding are in Miami County. The funding will “support the removal of the Great Miami River dams in both Troy and Piqua and the modification of Piqua’s sheet pile dam to allow for fish passage, recreational activities and habitat restoration,” according to the release. Combined, these dam projects will open five miles of the Great Miami River.
“We are excited to expand our water quality efforts into Ohio rivers, increasing accessibility to clean water for communities across the state,” Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz said. “The initiative we’re taking through the H2Ohio Rivers program will indicate which rivers need the most help and which rivers are healthy in order to help us plan how to approach both scenarios.”
A H2Ohio Rivers survey of freshwater mussels, which are an important indicator of water quality due to their sensitivity to pollutants, will also be launched. This detailed study of ecologic conditions in Ohio’s rivers is expected to begin in the spring of 2024.
Local watershed conservation efforts
In partnership between ODNR and Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), the H2Ohio Rivers program will also partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to launch a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) for the Great Miami River watershed and State Scenic Little Miami River watershed.
CREP, already active in both the Lake Erie and Scioto watersheds, encourages farmers to voluntarily set aside environmentally sensitive acreage to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff and protect water quality.
“This is really going to help keep soil on the land and keep it from running off into waterways,” Loder said.
The new CREP area is more than 60% agricultural land use, with 1.9 million acres of cropland, the release said. H2Ohio Rivers aims to put more than 60,000 acres into CREP practices including grassland buffers, forested riparian buffer and drainage water management practices.
Riverside forests, known as “riparian buffers,” are trees and vegetation next to water sources that prevent water quality degradation through the uptake of nutrients that can otherwise pollute waterways. Riparian buffers also provide important wildlife and aquatic habitat.
“Farmers are the original conservationists,” said ODA Director Brian Baldridge. “With the expansion of Ohio’s CREP, producers who have land that may not be productive in row-crop agriculture will now be eligible for conservation practices that will improve water quality in the Miami River watershed and beyond.”
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