Sandusky Bay Strategic Restoration Initiative

A Strategic Implementation Plan prioritizes coastal wetland restoration projects for implementation to maximize water quality enhancement, nutrient and sediment reductions, and fi sh and wildlife habitat improvements.

Sandusky Bay, a major commercial and recreational hub for northern Ohio, is a unique bay ecosystem that holds some of the most significant coastal wetlands in the Lake Erie basin. Over the years, these wetlands and nearshore aquatic habitats have been altered by high Lake Erie water levels, infrastructure construction, nutrient loadings, shoreline hardening, and changes in land use practices. In addition, the nutrient loadings are stimulating harmful algal blooms. The Bay has been deemed a priority management area by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

With grant funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the City of Sandusky, launched the Sandusky Bay Strategic Restoration Initiative (SBSRI), an implementation plan for a portfolio of projects designed to enhance the quality of life for the entire region, maximize nutrient and sediment reduction, enhance coastal and fish habitat, and ensure that economic benefits that are derived from a clean Sandusky Bay continue.

Biohabitats led the 18-month planning effort that yielded a portfolio of restoration projects through the use of Landscape Conservation Collaborative (LCC) and Design (LCD) principles.

In collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders that included federal, state, and local agencies within three counties; scientists from local academic institutions; NGOs; practitioners; and private sector partners, Biohabitats assessed and analyzed proposed sites, set goals, and prioritized restoration projects to create a strategic restoration implementation plan.

TAGS

• Analysis+Planning
• Assessment+Monitoring
• Conservation
• Ecological Restoration