COLUMBUS — As part of Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio Initiative, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has opened its application process for the 2023 wetland grant program. H2Ohio seeks to fund high-quality natural infrastructure that reduces nutrient runoff and improves water quality.
The H2Ohio Statewide Wetland Grant Program is a reimbursement grant program that provides up-to-100% funding for projects across Ohio. Each project’s budget must be justified in the application with a minimum funding request of $50,000. There is no maximum funding cap.
This competitive grant program was once only open to projects in the Ohio River Basin. Now, the statewide program has been expanded to also include projects in the Central Lake Erie Basin. In 2021, the state announced $5 million in grants for 13 wetland projects in 11 counties. Last year, ODNR announced the selection of nine wetland projects with $3 million in grant funding.
Types of eligible H2Ohio projects include the following:
• Wetland creation;
• Hydrologic restoration of wetlands on hydric soils;
• Hydrologic enhancement of existing wetlands, floodplains and riparian corridors;
• Stream, conservation channel design and floodplain restoration;
• Restoration of forested riparian buffers;
• Acid Mine Drainage abatement projects;
• Dam removal and associated restoration;
• Property acquisition if associated with water quality restoration project; and
• Stormwater retention and/or green infrastructure projects.
Grant applications must be submitted to ODNR’s H2Ohio Program in a searchable PDF format by Aug. 25. H2Ohio projects in the Western Lake Erie Basin watershed are funded in an open, rolling framework outside of this competitive process.
Interested applicants with projects located in the following Western Lake Erie Basin watershed counties are eligible for alternative H2Ohio funding: Williams, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert, Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby, Allen, Putnam, Henry, Fulton, Lucas, Wood, Hancock, Hardin, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Wyandot, Marion, Crawford, Erie, Huron and Richland. If your project is located in one of these counties, contact H2Ohio@dnr.ohio.gov before submitting an H2Ohio Wetland Grant Program application.
For more information, visit the ohiodnr.gov/buy-and-apply/apply-for-grants/grants/h20-grant.
