Explanation
In compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, the State of Ohio monitors streams and rivers and prepares standards for achieving target water quality levels. These targets are used to guide state and local actions and inform such regulations as the City's NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit. A water quality report and target standards have been prepared for Blacklick Creek by OEPA.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) has received a three year grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to conduct a Watershed Action Plan for the Blacklick Creek Watershed. The Plan is intended to identify problems, opportunities, and priorities associated for the waterway in collaboration with local jurisdictions and stakeholders. Similar plans have been developed for the Big Walnut, Olentangy, Alum Creek and Rocky Fork watersheds. In addition to providing consistent direction on how best to protect and improve water quality, these plans allow local communities to be more competitive for grant dollars to fund watershed improvements.
The ODNR funding provides $105,000 over three years. In order to conduct the project, additional local funding of $135,000 is needed by MORPC. The Blacklick Watershed includes 17 local governments and approximately 83,000 residents. MORPC has established a local share rate of 50 cents per capita per year. Columbus residents account for 28,403 or approximately 34% of the planning area total. The Columbus share of the local cost is $14,000 per year over three years for a total contribution of $42,000. This legislation authorizes the expenditure of these monies from Water and Sanitary Sewer Enterprise funds within the Department of Public Utilities. The plan schedule calls for a completed draft by the end of 2009 followed by submission to the State of Ohio for review and endorsement.
The Blacklick Creek Watershed Action Plan will provide recommendations for prote...
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