License plate sales to fund Lake Erie watershed projects
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission announced nearly $150,000 in Lake Erie Protection Fund Grants for three projects at the Commission’s meeting on June 12, 2024.
The Lake Erie Protection Fund is supported by the Lake Erie License Plate proceeds and tax-deductible donations. The fund was established to help finance research and projects aimed at protecting, preserving and restoring Lake Erie and its watershed.
Since its inception in 1993, the Lake Erie Protection Fund has received $14 million in donations and awarded more than 600 grants.
The 2024 Lake Erie Protection Fund grants were awarded to:
- West Creek Conservancy: $50,000 for the Grand River Casement Floodplain Restoration Project in Painesville, Ohio. The grant will support site assessments and development of concept plans to restore floodplain functionality at a former golf course, reduce high flow velocity and increase sediment capture.
- City of Bay Village: $50,000 for the Cahoon Park Lakefront Bay Point Final Engineering & Design. The grant will go towards developing engineering and designing plans for nature-based solutions for eroding shoreline, as part of a larger project in design at Cahoon Park.
- Ohio Sea Grant: $49,998 will go toward Assessing Marine Debris Prevention & Removal Technologies at marinas. The grant will help support three case studies, one marine debris workshop, five presentations and/or displays and add marine debris prevention to the Ideal Clean Marine toolkit.
The grant applications were scored by a team of technical experts representing the six state agencies that are part of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, and approved projects must assist with the implementation of the Lake Erie Protection & Restoration Plan 2023.
