Tenmile Creek Riparian Corridor Restoration

In the Maumee AOC, we benefit from many local partners who work with us toward AOC goals; even using funding external to the AOC program. We are fortunate that when these “external” projects are closely aligned with a specific AOC impairment, many project leads provide the MAAC with information needed to consider the benefits of that project as part of the solution to the impairment.

One such example is the Lucas County Engineer’s recently completed Tenmile Creek Flood Mitigation and Stream and Riparian Corridor Restoration project. This project is being considered in the overall remedy for impairments to fish habitat and fish and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Tenmile Creek HUC-12.

Major work within approximately 2-miles of Tenmile Creek in Sylvania Township, Ohio has been completed by the Lucas County Engineer’s Office with funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Lucas County Stormwater Utility. The Lucas County Engineer’s Office has completed construction of approximately 9,000 feet of two-stage channel with native plants planted in the bench area and banks of the stream. 

The two-stage channel will improve water quality by slowing the water during peak flows and allowing time for particles to settle out into the bench area, reducing phosphorus loading and sedimentation downstream. The native plantings in the bench will also serve to capture particles and other sedimentation as well as use the phosphorus in the water column as fertilizer. In addition, the two-stage channel will improve flood storage capacity within the banks of the creek and help alleviate flooding on adjacent properties. Construction of two-stage channels have been proven to reduce sediment and nutrient transport into the Great Lakes. 

This project is anticipated to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment loadings in the stream which have been linked to the development of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. The project was awarded a $200,000 grant towards the $1.9 million construction cost from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Management Action Project Spotlight – Toussaint Wildlife Area

Following an article last fall that summarized progress made on the MAAC-recommended management action (MAP) projects for Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) 14b (Loss of Wildlife Habitat), we are excited to spotlight another BUI 14b project.

The Toussaint Marsh State Wildlife Area was an existing impounded wetland complex located near the town of Oak Harbor, roughly five miles from Lake Erie. The site is adjacent to the Toussaint River and includes 125 acres of emergent and lowland shrub wetlands within western Lake Erie’s coastal zone. Habitat in this area of Ohio was historically dominated by emergent and forested wetlands. Human activities dramatically altered this landscape, resulting in the loss of more than 90% of the historic wetlands.

The impetus of project work at the Wildlife Area was failure of existing water control management structures necessary to maintain quality wetland habitat. As such, the ultimate goals of this project have been the restoration and redesign of the existing impounded wetland in order to improve the quality of habitat for fish and wildlife in the coastal region of Lake Erie and the restoration of hydrological connections between the wetlands and Toussaint River.

Project work has been phased over a number of years. Phases I and II of the project are complete and Phase III will be completed this summer (2020). Primary management practices have included;

• The removal and replacement of existing water control and pump structures with improved infrastructure;
• The restoration of sections of the external levee; and
• The removal of more than one mile of internal levees.

The new and improved water control/pump infrastructure will allow for use as flow through systems/fish passage if desired, and also increases the efficacy of invasive species management within the wetland. Removal of the internal levees established one large wetland where four small wetland units previously existed, increasing connectivity and diversity of habitat within the wetland. Project partners predict that the creation of a larger and more continuous area will greatly benefit amphibian, reptile (turtles and snakes), and fish species that reside in the area.

This project was a collaborative effort among the Ohio Division of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, with financial support provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

New Project Rack Cards!

We are glad to announce the availability of a new set of Maumee AOC informational materials. Three professionally designed ‘rack cards’ summarizing a suite of Wildlife Management Action Plan (MAP) projects were drafted this spring with help from many project partners. *A MAP is created for each AOC impairment (e.g., loss of wildlife habitat) and provides details on how that particular impairment will be corrected.

These cards are designed to share Maumee AOC project examples quickly and effectively, and can be shared digitally or in hard copy form at meetings and conferences. The longer-term goal is to create several more sets of these cards to highlight more projects designed to address various BUIs. Many priority habitat restoration projects have been recently completed or are underway in the AOC and will be shared as work progresses.

Completed rack cards are available on the MAAC website, under the Resources tab and then the Miscellaneous document category (also available directly at the following links). The current card list includes; Restoring Coastal Wetlands at Toussaint State Wildlife (MAP 23-17), Maumee State Forest Restoration (MAP 8-16), and Oak Openings Habitat Protection within Priority Conservation Areas (MAPs 10-16 & 4-16). Many thanks to all those that helped to create these cards!

Wildlife MAP Project Call-Out

Part of the MAAC’s outreach and education efforts for 2020 is focusing on publicizing project work that was completed or is being conducted as part of the BUI 14b (Wildlife Habitat) recommendations. As such, a suite of social media posts, informational “rack” cards, and video tours are being generated to spread the word regarding this progress and project successes.

The first social media post was made in early February to the MAAC’s Facebook and Twitter pages. See below for the content displayed on Facebook and stay tuned for more posts and information this year!
Content posted to Facebook @MaumeeAOC on February 4, 2020:

Progress is being made in a number of wildlife habitat restoration projects recommended through the Maumee Area of Concern (AOC) program. A great example this work is the effort to improve degraded wildlife habitat near the Maumee State Forest. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry and the Ohio Nature Conservancy are working to return over 100 acres of previously bare/farmed land to native woodland and wetland habitat. Progress to-date includes the restoration of natural hydrology, the planting of 9,000 native tree seedlings, and the seeding of prairie areas with native vegetation. It is reported that a variety of wildlife (frogs, deer, ducks, etc.) are already utilizing this area! See the following link for more information about the Maumee AOC: http://maumeeaoc.org #GLRI