In West Michigan, the Ottawa Conservation District will receive nearly $569,000 from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for helping local stakeholders, like farmers, reduce pollution and excess runoff into local waterways, also known as nonpoint source pollution.
Benjamin Jordan is the Watershed Programs Coordinator with the Ottawa Conservation District. He explains which waterways will benefit from these funds.
“So, the Crockery Creek watershed and the Sand Creek watershed, and both of those are predominantly in Ottawa County. You know, the Crockery goes up into Muskegon County, actually goes a little bit up in Newaygo County as well, and then the Sand Creek goes just a tiny bit into Kent County as well.”
Jordan says the two main sources for nonpoint source pollution are failing septic systems and agricultural runoff, both in rural areas. Much of the grant is dedicated to educating area residents on how best to reduce that pollution, but funds can also be used for cost sharing and reimbursement.
“You can apply for septic assistance. So, if you have a failing system, you can apply for up to 50% cost share to actually get that system replaced.”
In another example, a rancher’s cattle who had direct access to Sand Creek was causing manure to contaminate the water with E. coli bacteria.
“And we paid for new fencing to keep those cattle out, and then we paid for some gates and some additional fencing to basically allow them to move on either side of that creek without actually directly waking through it.”
You can learn more about the grant program here: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/about/organization/water-resources/nonpoint-source
And the Ottawa Conservation District:
