Basin Program awards more than $2 million in grants

Thirty nine projects have been selected by the Great Lakes Commission to share $2.2 million in grant funding under its Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control. The Basin Program improves Great Lakes water quality by promoting erosion and sediment control and sound land-use practices through demonstration grants, technical assistance and information/education projects in the Great Lakes states.

The total is the most annual funding ever awarded under the highly competitive grants program, which is conducted through a cooperative agreement between the Great Lakes Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service. Grant recipients are selected by the Commission’s Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Task Force, comprised of state and federal officials.

Grants were awarded to projects in all eight Great Lakes states. Projects range in scale from $10,400 for a streambank stabilization and public education project at a public park on Michigan’s Rouge River up to $125,000 to stabilize 12 acres of eroding riverbank and reduce flow velocities that are causing excessive channel downcutting on the north fork of Illinois’ Waukegan River.

To date, the Basin Program has supported 340 projects and invested nearly $10 million in water quality improvement efforts, with more than $5 million in additional nonfederal matching funds applied to the projects. In the process, the program has involved hundreds of community volunteers in watershed improvement projects, improved local ecosystems, and built support for ongoing environmental restoration efforts.

"The Great Lakes Basin Program is a decade-long success story in state / federal / local partnership," explains Tom Huntley, chair of the Great Lakes Commission. "It's a great example of how we can improve water quality by promoting innovative land-use practices."

The following 39 projects, pending the signing of grant agreements, have been selected for PY2005 funding under the Program. Visit http://www.glc.org/basin/projects.html for information on past projects funded by the Great Lakes Basin Program.

Illinois
Fort Sheridan IL Ravine Project for Scott Loop: $50,000 Friends of Fort Sheridan Contact: Michael Mariano michael.mariano@unisys.com Monitoring Post-Stabilization Ravine Sites for Water, Sediment, and Ecological: $ 37,605 Northeastern IL University Contact: Charles Shabica C-shabica@neiu.edu	Waukegan River Ravine Erosion Control: $125,000 City of Waukegan Contact: John H. Moore P.E.,john.moore@ci.waukegan.il.us
Indiana
Crooked Lake Sediment Control Project: $50,000 Crooked Lake Association Contact: Keith Hoskins keith@poolnspa.com PBS Documentary: How Erosion and Sedimentation Impact the Maumee River Basin: $49,205 Fort Wayne City Utilities Contact: Allison Van Zandt allison-vanzandt@iaswcd.org	Lake George Sediment Control Project: $100,000 City of Hobart Contact: Mike Farrell hobdev@crown.net
Michigan
Benzie County Erosion and Sedimentation Reduction Initiative: $56,342 Benzie Conservation District Contact: Ron Harrison ronharrison@charterinternet.com Fairway Park Streambank Stabilization Project: Demonstrating Riparian Stewardship: $10,402 Friends of the Rouge Contact: Sally Petrella picoordinator@therouge.org Implementing and Promoting Low Impact Development for Soil Erosion and Sedimentation: $50,000 Midland Conservation District Contact: Deborah Rogers midlandcd@tds.net Inadequately Designed Road Stream Crossings of Ogletree Creek: $48,830 Antrim Conservation District Contact: Janet Person jperson192@aol.com Nash Creek Erosion and Sedimentation Control Project: $43,245 Kent County Drain Commissioner Contact: Thomas Bennett snellaar@msu.edu Pere Marquette Headwaters Erosion Control Project: $25,000 Pere Marquette River Watershed Council Contact: Fred McLane PMWC@TRITON.NET	Practical Stabilization of AG Land with Multiple Barriers to Soil Erosion: $50,373 Michigan State University Contact: Timothy Harrigan harriga1@msu.edu Rice Creek Natural Stream Restoration Sediment Control Project: $42,500 City of Marshall Contact: Gregg Strand gregg.strand@macd.org Salt Creek Drain Erosion and Sedimentation Control Project: $99,000 Saginaw Bay RC&D Area, Inc. Contact: Richard Kraatz saginawbay@aol.com Shoreline Restoration of Black Lagoon Along the Detroit River: $113,000 City of Trenton Contact: Patrick Hawkins phawkins@tenton-mi.com The Noordeloos Creek Sedimentation Project: $87,500 Macatawa Area Coordinating Council Contact: Beth McDonald Bethmcd@iserv.net
Minnesota
Lake Superior Shoreline and Bank Stabilization at Glensheen Mansion - Phase II – Final: $38,475 Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Contact: Marc Hershfield marc.hershfield@bwsr.state.mn.us	Minnesota’s Lake Superior Basin Forestry BMP Implementation for Erosion and Sediment Control: $81,500 Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District Contact: Brad Matlack, 218-384-3891 ccswcd@myexcel.com
New York
Centaur Stride Erosion and Sediment Control Project: $21,162 Seneca Trail Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. Contact: JoAnn Kurtis senecatrailrcd@yahoo.com Fall Creek Streambank Stabilization Project: $25,612 Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District Contact: Gordie Morgan flyfish2277@yahoo.com Irondequoit Bay Erosion Abatement Project: $50,000 Town of Penfield Contact: Geoffrey Benway benway@penfield.org McKinstry Creek Channel Restoration Project: $48,250 Cattaraugus County Soil & Water Conservation District Contact: Brian Davis briandavis47@hotmail.com	Oneida Lake Watershed Erosion and Sediment Control Initiative: $20,129 Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board Contact: Kathleen Bertuch bertuch@cnyrpdb.org Seneca River Watershed Agricultural Erosion Reduction Project: $13,428 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County Contact: Kelly Fallone kms58@cornell.edu Chautauqua Creek Restoration Demonstration Project: $125,000 Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District Contact: Dave Spann dspann@soilwater.org Erosion and Sediment Control on Grazing Farms in Onondaga and Cayuga Counties: $112,743 Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District Contact: Chanda Lindsay clindsay@ocswcd.org
Ohio
Construction Site Stormwater Control Education Project: $29,179 Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments Contact: Kurt Erichsen P.E. kurt@tmacog.org Cuyahoga County Erosion and Sediment Control Through Stream and Wetland Setbacks: $50,000 Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District Contact: Todd Houser thouser@cuyahogaswcd.org	Honey Creek Sediment Control Project: $41,090 Seneca SWCD Contact: Ann Keefe ann-keefe@oh.nacdnet.org Designing Equine Facilities to Decrease Soil Erosion in the Lake Erie Watershed: $124,525 Ohio State University Extension Contact: Gary Wilson wilson.26@osu.edu
Pennsylvania
Penn State Behrend Erosion and Sediment Control Project: $43,350 Penn State University Contact: David A. Skellie dus18@psu.edu Elk Creek Stream Erosion and Sediment Control Project: $71,250 McKean Township Contact: Edward Hess mckeansec@surferie.net	Genesee River Headwaters Erosion and Sedimentation Control Project: $124,900 Potter County Conservation District Contact: Jack Fleckenstein pccd@adelphia.net
Wisconsin
A Watershed Management Strategy in the Marengo River Watershed: $49,450 Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, Iron County Land&Water Conservation Department Contact: Diane Daulton ddaulton@centurytel.net City of Milwaukee Erosion Control Information and Training Program: $50,000 City of Milwaukee Contact: Martin Aquino maquin@mpw.net Forest Road Building Erosion and Sediment Control Video: $27,210 FISTA Contact: Barbara M. Henderson barb.henderson@fistausa.org	The Slope Stabilization of Two Ravines in Lake Park, Milwaukee: $24,450 Milwaukee County Parks Contact: Paul Kortebein pkortebein@milwcnty.com Reducing Gully Erosion and Peak Flows in the Bark River: $124,919 University of Wisconsin-Madison Contact: John A. Hoopes hoopes@engr.wisc.edu

The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Lt. Gov. John Cherry (Mich.), is a nonpartisan, binational 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.