BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that $70 million will be invested across the nation in unplugging blockages from the nation’s rivers, including the Middle Great Miami River in Ohio.
Across the country, millions of dams and other barriers are fragmenting rivers, blocking fish migration and even putting communities at higher risk of flooding. Improving aquatic connectivity can be an effective way to help conserve vulnerable species while building safer infrastructure for communities, improving climate resilience, increasing recreational opportunities and strengthening local economies, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For the Middle Great Miami River Restoration Project in Ohio, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will work with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and partners to remove two low dams, reconnect a more than a mile-long oxbow channel and create a bank to bank nature-like fishway riffle across a 12-foot-tall sheet pile dam that provides drinking water for the town of Piqua.
This proposal is part of a larger initiative to provide fish passage in the entire upper watershed of the Great Miami River and reconnect 80 stream miles for state and federal species of interest. The dam removal and fishway projects will eliminate barriers to fish passage, eliminate safety hazards, reduce flood risk and increase recreational opportunities.
The Midwest region will see $26 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In addition to the Middle Great Miami River Restoration Project, these funds will be distributed between projects across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri. For more information, visit fws.gov/.
