Currents | July 2022
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Did you know that the Great Lakes are the biggest freshwater source in the world? Lake Erie is the most productive for fishing of all the Great Lakes. Your support helps make our streams clean, clear and healthy so they can support this complex ecosystem. By donating to PCS, you help us reach our goals of restoring rivers that lead to Lake Erie beaches that promote fishable and swimmable conditions for generations. |
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This spring, two restored habitat projects opened with ribbon cuttings: the Sandhill Crane Wetlands expansion of Kitty Todd Preserve and the Penn 7 property on the shore of the Maumee River. As facilitating organization for the Maumee Area of Concern Advisory Committee (MAAC), it’s our pleasure to introduce you to these inspiring sites and share some hopeful news for environmental remediation in our region.
The Sandhill Crane Wetlands are 280 acres of former farmland located west of Toledo, restored to critical wet and upland prairie habitats. This project site strategically links a 13,00-acre corridor of protected land in the Oak Openings region. In the works since 2018, this project included removing 30 miles of agricultural drainage tile, setting the stage to recontour the land and to seed over 200 native species of grasses, sedges, and trees. This seasonally-flooding, biodiverse landscape is situated to become prime habitat for an important indicator species within the Maumee AOC: the sandhill crane.
Moving eastward across the AOC, the 59-acre Penn 7 project site is located within the City of Toledo on the lower Maumee River, near its mouth into Lake Erie. The site was previously a confined disposal facility that accepted sediment dredged from the Maumee River in the late 1960s - early 1970s. Research, design, securing funding, and construction at this site have been part of a process underway for over eight years. Now, thanks to the construction of a new upstream wetland and an excavated connector channel to the Maumee, Penn 7 is poised to provide quality spawning and nursery habitat for 40 species of fish, as well as diverse species of migratory and native birds.
Both of these sites are important pieces of the puzzle to get the Maumee delisted as an Area of Concern, getting our region closer to removing beneficial use impairments currently affecting our waterways.
Partners for Clean Streams staff works behind-the-scenes to highlight many other projects both completed and underway in the Maumee AOC. Head on over to the Maumee AOC website for information on many other projects in our region.
Curious how the Maumee AOC fits into what we do? The answer lies in PCS’s origins as an organization. We told our story in a newsletter earlier this year. Check it out!
Get the Lead Out dates are posted for July! GLO is our marine debris removal program targeting tangled line, lead sinkers, lures, and other fishing trash that could harm wildlife in the Maumee River. Weather and water-levels permitting, join us for one of these family-friendly clean-ups.
We’re kicking off our 18th year of Get the Lead Out (GLO) with a series of Maumee River shoreline and island clean-ups this July. You can register for a GLO clean-up here, plus get more details on these locations.
Sunday, July 10, 2-4pm Orleans Park
Tuesday, July 19, 6-8pm, Weirs Rapids Fishing Access
Saturday, July 23, 10am-12pm, Otsego Park
Tuesday, July 26, 6-8pm, Bluegrass Island
Fishing line collected by volunteers during GLO is cleaned and recycled as much as possible.
Keep in mind that GLO is water-level dependent, since fishing line is often tangled in exposed roots and rocks, so we may need to move locations or cancel a session if an area is inaccessible due to high water. We will email all registered volunteers with 24-hours advanced warning if one of our programs needs to be relocated or cancelled, as well as post an update on our social media.
Last summer, 60 volunteers removed over 200 pounds of marine debris across five GLO programs. Let’s see if we can do even better this year!
A pledge is a significant promise to upkeep. Pledging to reduce lawn fertilizer or pick up your pet’s poo can be actionable and measurable ways to ensure our waterways are protected. Learn more about Clear Choices, Clean Water’s six simple water stewardship actions you can commit to today. You may be doing some already!
Picking up Pet Poo - The connection between our water supply and our pets’ waste might not be obvious, but that doesn’t mean it’s trivial. With an estimated 53 million dogs in the United States, poo that doesn’t get picked up can create serious pollution issues.
Reducing Lawn Fertilizer - Fertilizer is food, but is your lawn hungry? Use too much, and it can escape your lawn and go on to feed runaway algae growth in our waterways.
Utilizing Native Plants - About 70% of pollution in our waterways comes from stormwater runoff. Native plants can slow that runoff to a crawl or stop it altogether. And a good planting also supports our all-important pollinators at the same time.
Waterfowl Management - Feeding geese and ducks can be fun, but what comes out the other end creates dangerous pollution problems in our waterways.
Volunteering - One voice, one gesture, one action can create ripples of change in a community. Ensuring clean water can only be done together.
(New!) Litter and Plastics - Litter is easily swept into waterways through storm drains, leading to biological, chemical, and habitat degradation for wildlife and impacts to human health.
Committing to a C3W Pledge helps our local municipalities estimate how many people are working to make our waterways safe. If some of these pledges are actions you already take, it’s great to let people know you care by affirming it with a pledge. You can share these pledges with friends or family members, and connect with Toledo Lake Erie C3W on social media to make water stewardship a part of your feed:
Twitter: @LakeEriec3w
Facebook: Clear Choices Clean Water Toledo
We’ve been working hard to update watershed plans throughout the Maumee AOC. Now, we need YOUR input to help identify water resource projects in the Tenmile Creek area, such as eroding streambanks or spots in need of habitat restoration. Check out the new draft watershed plan for Tenmile Creek and learn how to give us your feedback and new project ideas.
A NPS-IS is short for Nonpoint Source-Implementation Strategy, also known as a 9-Element Watershed Plan. That may sound like a mouthful, but let’s break it down into simpler parts.
Some sources of pollution are confined and discrete, like a smokestack or discharge pipe. These are called “point sources.” Other types of pollution have more difficult-to-define origins, released over a wide area. These are called “nonpoint sources.” Nonpoint source pollution includes things like excess fertilizers, road salt, bacteria from livestock or pet waste, sediment from improperly managed construction sites, or urban runoff like motor oil.
A NPS-IS is a living strategic planning document that summarizes causes and sources of environmental harm or impairment, identifies specific objectives to address the causes and sources of impairment, and describes projects designed to meet those objectives.
Each NPS-IS addresses a specific watershed, called a HUC-12, which is smaller than our regional drainage basin into Lake Erie. You can find the HUC-12 where your local waterway is located using this interactive Ohio EPA map.
The Tenmile Creek HUC-12 NPS-IS is ready for feedback and input. View and download the PDF here. Please reach out with any information you can provide regarding problem areas and potential solutions in your watershed! You can email your feedback to our consultant, Deanna Bobak, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Partners for Clean Streams Inc. is striving for abundant open space and a high quality natural environment; adequate floodwater storage capacities and flourishing wildlife; stakeholders who take local ownership in their resources; and rivers, streams and lakes that are clean, clear and safe
PO Box 203
Perrysburg, Ohio 43552
phone: 419-874-0727
e-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
© Partners for Clean Streams, Inc. All rights reserved.
