OTTAWA - Officials from Ottawa and Findlay recently traveled to Washington D.C. to request funding for the Western Lake Erie Basin and discuss flood mitigation plans with state legislators.
Ottawa officials and Tony Iriti, president of the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership, gave Ottawa Council members an update Monday night on topics discussed during the trip.
Iriti explained to council members that part of the reason for the trip was to request $2 million for the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), including $1 million for the Blanchard River Watershed General Investigation Study, which would be used to complete the Feasibility Study necessary to address flood control and mitigation within the Blanchard River Watershed.
Funds have been requested through the fiscal year 2011 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.
According to a handout from the partnership, "the existing Blanchard River General Investigation Study is being conducted under the authority of the WLEB. Our objective is to consolidate all of the work that has been done under the Continuing Authorities Program [Army Corps of Engineers' program] into the Blanchard River General Investigation Study."
Iriti continued that these studies will be rolled into a single, watershed-wide solution by June.
"How far ahead are we?" Iriti asked rhetorically. "If we hadn't done what we did by splitting it into Findlay and Ottawa projects, we wouldn't have started this today."
The funding being requested, he added, will allow the planning study to be completed, which will advance the project to the design and implementation phase.
"After June 1, it will be a watershed study, not an Ottawa or Findlay study," said Iriti, adding that legislators in Washington D.C. are really excited about this project, and the Army Corps of Engineers are even more excited.
"The meeting went smoothly," said Hovest. "Everybody is up to speed and tuned into our projects."
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