Water/ Watershed/ Climate

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
http://www.neorsd.org
The District governs the operation of three major wastewater treatment plants and associated water pollution control facilities on Lake Erie, the Cuyahoga River and Rocky River. The District serves 59 suburban communities and the City of Cleveland.  New Stormwater program  is taking a watershed approach that cuts across local community boundaries, creating a storm water utility that will generate funds for local storm water restoration and enhancement projects via impervious surface fees to residential, institutional, commercial and industrial customers. The District and Cuyahoga County Health Department will get more than $500,000 on three different projects in the ongoing bacteria battle in Lake Erie over the next two years. The grant money will come as part of the first wave of President Obama's $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - this first portion is about $161.5 million. 

Ohio Balanced Growth Program
www.balancedgrowth.ohio.gov/balancedgrowthplanning.aspx
In 2004 the Ohio Lake Erie Commission (OLEC) adopted the Balanced Growth Blue Ribbon Task Force recommendations for a voluntary, incentive based program to achieve balanced growth in Ohio's Lake Erie watershed.  Balanced Growth is a voluntary, incentive-based strategy to protect and restore Lake Erie, the Ohio River, and Ohio's watersheds to assure long term economic competitiveness, ecological health, and quality of life. A series of four pilot planning partnerships were funded in 2006 and a best local land use practices training program was launched later that same year. The success of this initiative prompted the Ohio Water Resources Council (OWRC) to move forward with statewide implementation of the program starting in the summer of 2009.   The Ohio Balanced Growth Program pilot watershed plans that have been completed in this region are good examples of locally driven collaborative land use planning. A group of local governments in a watershed get together and designate priority conservation areas (PCAs) and priority development areas (PDAs), and then take these agreed-upon designations back to their individual communities and obtain endorsement, and incorporation into the local plans. Projects within designated PCAs and PDAs that align with the designations are eligible for state incentives.

Ohio Water Resource Council
http://www.ohiodnr.com/tabid/15378/default.aspx
The Ohio Water Resources Council is designed as a forum for policy development, collaboration and coordination among state agencies, and strategic direction with respect to state water resource programs.  It is part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and is located in Columbus, Ohio.   The Ohio Water Resources Council is a partner in the Ohio Balanced Growth Program, funding Balanced Growth plans in the Ohio River Valley (the southern 2/3 of the state, south of the sub-continental divide).

Youngstown EPA Climate Showcase
http://ytowncda.blogspot.com/2010/07/cda-proposes-gray-to-green-project-to.html
The City of Youngstown and Youngstown Neighborhood Development Council (YNDC) with assistance from Global Green have submitted a proposal for EPA's Climate Showcase Communities for cities modeling innovative climate mitigation strategies.  The proposal is titled "Youngstown Neighborhood Transformation: Gray to Green Project" and is a comprehensive program aimed at making inner-city neighborhoods in Youngstown healthier, greener, and more sustainable through three primary activities: deconstruction, home energy-efficiency retrofitting, and vacant lot reclamation. The project will also examine the larger environmental problems of greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste management.

If you know of an initiative that should be listed on this page, please download the NEO Initiative Submission Form.doc located at the bottom of "Regional Initiatives" page.