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Maumee River Islands Restoration Plans – Public Open House

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, City of Toledo, and the Maumee AOC Advisory Committee (MAAC) are hosting a public open house to share new and refined draft designs and to seek input for these plans intended to help improve water quality and aquatic habitat while helping to restore and protect Clark Island and Delaware/Horseshoe Islands. These islands are in the Maumee River near Walbridge Park and are owned by the City of Toledo.

Tuesday, March 14, 2023
4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Walbridge Park Shelter House
2761 Broadway St., Toledo

Plans for the H2Ohio-funded activities at and near the islands are focused on nutrient reduction through the settling of sediment and uptake from plants. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-funded planning activities are focused on improving habitat for fish and benthos (small organisms that live on the river bottom). Island habitat in the Maumee River is particularly important for the prosperity of fish and benthos.

Engineering and design activities are being completed under the direction of the collaborating and funding agencies and are led by engineers and scientists at Verdantas (formerly Hull & Associates), with input from several specialists, including modeling experts at LimnoTech and biologists at the University of Toledo.

If you attended the September open house or viewed the draft designs shared at that event, the Clark Island design reflects minor refinements. The Delaware/Horseshoe Islands draft project design is now much more fully designed building upon the preliminary design prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2021-2022.

We hope you can join us on March 14th anytime between 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to learn more about these projects and to provide your thoughts for the design team’s consideration. For more information about these projects or this event, please visit www.toledoport.org/projects/clark-and-
delawarehorseshoe-islands-restoration-projects/ or call or email Jenny Carter-Cornell, APR, (567) 200-4355 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you, and we hope to see you at Walbridge Park!

MaumeeIslandsOpenHouseLogos

Maumee Islands Recent and Draft Restoration

GLRIDraftDesign

H2OhioDraftDesign

Management Action Project Status Going Into 2023

Last year was a productive one for management action projects securing funding and reaching completion. For Wildlife Management Action Projects, 75% (15 of 20) were complete by the end of 2022, expanding habitat for key species in the Maumee AOC, such as the sandhill crane and wild turkeys. For Aquatic Management Action Projects, combining both the AOC-funded and non-AOC funded projects, 90% of AquaMAPs are fully funded. Looking ahead, several more AquaMAPs will have design and construction underway in 2023.

We are proud to share our AOC’s progress toward BUI removal and looking forward to what this year brings.

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Project Feature: Maumee Bay Wetland Restoration

4Maumee Bay State Park is a 1,336-acre public recreation area on the shores of Lake Erie. In 2022, construction got underway and completed on a wildlife habitat management action project focused on enhancing the park’s wetlands.

This project enhances about 130 acres of critical wildlife habitat around the shores of Lake Erie, an area that has been dramatically altered by industry and agriculture. In particular, the Maumee Bay State Park wetland has been degraded by the invasive reed, phragmites. This project enables water level control for invasive species management, which will facilitate the return of native marsh vegetation and high-quality fish and wildlife habitat.

Project objectives included improving 4,362 linear feet of a rock dike wall originally constructed in 1982 and installing a fish-friendly water control structure to enable water level control and allow fish passage to and from the wetland.

Maumee Bay State Park’s wetland restoration project was led by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) – Division of Parks and Watercraft, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. It was funded by a grant from Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) with additional funds from H2Ohio.

A more robust project feature will be up on maumeeaoc.org later this year.

New Educational Materials Ready for Distribution

This year, the Maumee AOC’s facilitating organization, Partners for Clean Streams, had the opportunity to order hard copies of eight different management action project “rack cards,” as well as our updated Maumee AOC informational brochure. PCS would like to get these educational materials out into the community to keep residents informed about efforts to improve their AOC.

Please contact Kris Patterson (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to request hard copies of any educational materials for distribution. Hard copies of the Maumee AOC 2021 Annual Report are also available. Digital copies of all materials are available at maumeeaoc.org.

2022 Year In Review

An map of the Maumee Area of Concern with sub-watersheds highlighted in different colors.

Highlights:

  • BUI 1, Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption, was removed!
  • Management Action Projects:
    • AquaMAPs – 32 of 35 projects are funded and several projects are underway.
    • SedMAPs – 3 of 8 projects are fully funded, while the remaining 5 are partially funded. The 3 funded projects are completed as of November 2022.
    • WildMAPs – All 21 of 21 projects are funded, and 14 projects have been completed as of November 2022.

Outreach:

  1. MAAC Voting Member Applications Open for 2023-24
  2. Clark Island and Delaware/Horseshoe Islands Restoration
  3. Tenmile Creek NPS-IS Available for Comment
  4. BUI 1 Recommended for Removal
  5. Project Feature: Prairie Ditch Restoration at Secor Metropark

The Maumee AOC Committee works toward fishable and swimmable waters in the Maumee Area of Concern and delisting the beneficial use impairments. The Committee is working towards all major restoration projects being completed by 2025, through collaboration of partners and volunteer opportunities by its facilitating organization, Partners for Clean Streams. The committee is made up of representatives from various organizations, citizens, businesses and non-government agencies to build long term solutions to the area’s water quality issues.