More than $18 million invested into Lake Erie conservation projects

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More than $18 million invested into Lake Erie conservation projects

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is investing $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership Program Projects this year.

The projects are expected to support an additional $440 million in private funding which supports practices addressing climate change, water quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat.

In the Great Lakes region, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio State Departments of Agriculture have been awarded $7.4 million for the Lake Erie Conservation Partnership which includes more than 30 partners working to improve the health of the lake by reducing nutrient loading and increasing soil health practices.   The departments also received nearly $7.8 million for the Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Collaboration to provide growers with technical and financial assistance opportunities.

In Michigan, the Ottawa Conservation District received more than $3.4 million for the Farmland and Water Quality Conservation Initiative to protect surface and groundwater by developing a watershed model to target conservation practices.  Gladwin County was awarded $5.7 million for the Upper Tittabawassee River Regional Conservation project address sediment impairment on ag drainage channels.

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