Beth Seibert, Coordinator

Ottawa River Coalition, 219 West Northern Avenue, Lima, OH 45801

Organized in 1993, the Ottawa River Coalition (ORC) is a non-profit organization representing 43 member organizations working together to understand and protect water quality in the local watershed. The Ottawa River drains a modest, yet diverse, 372 square mile watershed situated in the Lake Erie Basin. Ohio EPA has identified the Ottawa River in Lima, Allen County, Ohio, as one of their most impaired streams. Low dissolved oxygen levels, particularly during the hot and dry summer months, are a particular concern. Past studies of the river focused on the stream as it flows through the City of Lima because of industrial and municipal point source discharges. One of the ORC’s first efforts was the compilation and evaluation of all known studies on the river system. These previous studies were often short in duration and conducted over a limited portion of the stream.

A long-term monitoring program was designed by the ORC for the purpose of identifying water quality trends in the watershed. It began in August 1995 and involves chemical analysis of nine tributaries as well as the main channel. Comparisons are being made on the changing water quality of the river system as it proceeds through the basin. The program is dependent on weekly site visits by citizen volunteers and is currently receiving partial funding from a 319 grant. The ORC is in the process of interpreting the 3 years of data collected as well as determining future program modifications.

Organized in 1993 as a result of increasing attention to water quality in the local river system, the ORC initially involved 19 organizations, agencies, institutions and businesses. Today the ORC represents the collaborative efforts of 43 member organizations all working together to understand and protect water quality in the local watershed. Membership currently includes the following:

Ada Village Council Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc.

Allen County Combined Health Department Allen County Commissioners

Allen Co. Emergency Management Agency Allen County Engineer

Allen County Farm Bureau Allen County Sanitary Engineer

Allen Soil & Water Conservation District Allied Environmental Services

Alloway Environmental Testing Service Bassett Associates

Bath Township Trustees, Allen County Bluffton College

BP Chemicals Inc. BP Oil - Lima Refinery

Cargill, Inc. City of Lima, Utilities Department

City of Lima, Parks, Rec., and Forestry Columbus Grove Village Council

Ford Motor Company, Lima Engine Plant Fort Shawnee Village Council

Fowler and Hadding Hardin Soil & Water Conservation District

Johnny Appleseed Metro Park District Kalida Village Council

Lima-Allen Co. Neighborhoods In Partnership Lima-Allen Co. Regional Planning Commission

Lima Lincoln Mercury Maumee Watershed Conservancy District

Metokote Corp. Mid Bus, Inc.

Monroe Township Trustees, Allen County Monsanto Life Sciences

Natural Resources Conservation Service ODNR Division of Wildlife

Ohio State Univ. Extension, Allen County PCS Nitrogen Ohio L.P.

Putnam Soil & Water Conservation District Sugar Creek Township Trustees, Allen County

The Ohio State University at Lima Tri-Moraine Audubon Society

Waste Management

In its first four years, the ORC focused on establishing the organization, building working relationships, and obtaining additional financial support. In 1997 the mission, goals and objectives were revisited to reflect a more evolved and aware organization. The mission of the ORC is to promote the wise management of the Ottawa River and its watershed as a valuable community resource. The goals and objectives identified to accomplish that mission are:

The ORC operates through eight working committees. The Executive Committee provides guidance and direction for the organization. The Monitoring Committee directs the activities of the volunteer assisted strategic monitoring program and evaluates the resulting data. The Watershed Committee addresses drainage issues, agricultural land use, and has been steering inventory efforts. The Community Relations Committee coordinates information and education efforts. The Wetlands Committee demonstrates the use of wetland gardens for on-site home septic waste treatment. The NPDES Committee provides a collaborative approach to understanding the combined impact from OEPA permitted discharging facilities. The Historical Review Committee reviews and archives river survey reports and historical data. The Flow Augmentation Committee is presently considering the concept of increased flow for improved dissolved oxygen levels.

The ORC currently has two full time staff: a Coordinator and a Program Assistant. Both positions are funded through grants. Office space and other support are being provided by Allen Soil and Water Conservation District and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Over 30 volunteers provide support to the ORC programs, with the greatest support to the monitoring program. Volunteers are managed under the USDA NRCS Earth Team Program which assists in tracking the hours contributed as well as providing tort liability protection. The ORC has also hosted college internships, paid and unpaid.

Ninety-five percent of the ORC’s revenue is grant funded. In 1995 the ORC was awarded $298,696 from the Ohio EPA through a Section 319 Grant. In 1996 ORC received $40,000 in support of natural resource conservation planning and assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service . In 1997 a total of $3,500 was received from ODNR Division of Soil and Water Conservation in support of nonpoint source pollution prevention projects. Only three percent of the ORC’s annual revenue is derived from membership dues, while the remaining two percent is the result of retail activities. Annually the ORC benefits from over $60,000 of in-kind contributions from its members and other community supporters.

The Ottawa River Watershed encompasses 372 square miles including portions of five Ohio counties. (Reference Figure 1, Lake Erie Basin Map) The Ottawa River is a headwaters tributary to the Maumee River of northwestern Ohio. The entire Maumee River Watershed drains into the western basin of Lake Erie, the southernmost of the Great Lakes.

The Ottawa River Watershed lies upon a low relief glacial till area of Ohio (Reference Figure 2, Ottawa River Watershed Map). The elevation drop over 60 stream miles is slightly over 200 feet (less than 4 feet per mile). The soils are generally high in clay content, leading to increased sediment runoff and accelerated erosion. NRCS has designated 25,000 acres of cropland within the watershed as being highly erodible.

The Ottawa River Watershed is populated with 100,000 residents, 40,000 being located within the city limits of Lima, Ohio. Lima serves as a hub for a thirteen county area, taking commuters into consideration, the population in the watershed easily doubles on any given day. Besides the City of Lima, the watershed extends to fifteen other smaller communities. As a resource, the Ottawa is utilized for public, industrial, and agricultural water supply.

Located within the historic Great Black Swamp, aggressive drainage practices to make the land productive and habitable have led to dramatic changes in the hydrologic conditions within the watershed over the past 100 years. Current land use within the Ottawa River Watershed is approximately 80% agricultural, 5% woodland, and 15% urban. The predominantly agricultural area is realizing the constant pressure of urban development, especially in the areas immediately surrounding the City of Lima.

While efforts, such as conservation tillage, have been adopted within the agricultural community to reduce soil erosion the urbanized areas presently practice very little in the way of runoff and sediment control. Allen County is in the process of developing Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Regulations that should positively impact water quality in the river basin.

Previous studies of the Ottawa River have identified various point sources of pollution. Historically the regulated community has been targeted for water quality improvements. Ohio EPA’s 1996 study of the river concluded that point source impact has declined despite industrial growth. The ORC has concluded that nonpoint pollution sources have not been investigated thoroughly or properly addressed. Many of the contributing pollutant loads are nonpoint in nature. Through watershed inventory and stream monitoring efforts the ORC is trying to understand the nonpoint source impacts.

The Ottawa River and the majority of its tributary miles have been designated as warm water habitat by the Ohio EPA, although portions still do not meet this criteria. A recent study commissioned by the Ohio EPA (URS / Limno-Tech, 1993) indicated low dissolved oxygen and excess sedimentation to be major problems for the stream system. Other studies performed on the Ottawa River from 1956 to present have indicated nonpoint source pollution to be a contributing component of the water quality problem in the Ottawa River. The ORC has created an expansive library containing all of the historical studies of the watershed.

Based upon all available information, the ORC has concluded that the issue of nonpoint source pollution must be addressed and thoroughly investigated. The nonpoint source water quality concerns within the Ottawa River Watershed can be categorized into five major areas: 1) urban nonpoint and point source runoff, 2) agricultural runoff and its associated sediment, nutrient and pesticide loads, 3) stormwater runoff from residential areas, 4) physical condition of the river and river banks, and 5) current land use within the immediate riparian corridor of the river and its tributaries.

The ORC Monitoring Committee is responsible for the development of the strategic monitoring program and interpretation of resulting data. The committee is composed of members of the ORC representing academia, industry, municipality, regulatory, environmental, and community business leaders. Based on gaps in available data, the monitoring committee proposed a strategic watershed monitoring program. The strategy being to monitor each of the nine major tributaries and a corresponding upstream point in the main channel. These efforts are designed to identify water quality trends and contributions of the nine different tributaries throughout the watershed.

Monitoring is conducted on a weekly basis from March through September (Reference Figure 3, Field Data Sheet). Parameters were chosen based on known point and nonpoint issues. Field measurements include temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. Laboratory analysis is conducted on monthly composite samples for the following nutrients: nitrate/nitrite, ammonia-N, and phosphorus. Total suspended solids analyzed from grab samples collected twice a month. Due to the high cost of metals analysis, composite samples are collected every other month from March through September (four times per year). Laboratory analysis is done through Alloway Environmental Testing Services Inc., a local EPA approved facility, and is costing the ORC approximately $6,500 annually.

The monitoring program is dependent on a minimum of 11 volunteers to cover a total of 20 monitoring sites. (Reference Figure 4 Monitoring Sites) The committee pursued volunteer assistance as a way to involve the general public. Volunteers have come from various walks of life including students (middle school to college), landowners, agency personnel and other professionals, retired persons, etc.. The ORC spends approximately $2,100 per year to equip the volunteers for field analysis and sample collection. The ORC staff trains the volunteers and provides them with backup assistance.

While the positive side of utilizing volunteers far outweighs the negative, there are some limitations that have resulted. For example, there is no way to regulate the monitoring times or days, which adds difficulty to interpreting a parameter such as dissolved oxygen that is impacted by a diurnal cycle. Also, very few volunteers remain with the program past a year due to the weekly time commitment, so there is always the challenge for the staff to keep all sites manned and data coming in.

To date the ORC has accumulated over 2.5 years of data which is managed electronically through an MS-Excel spreadsheet program. Periodic metals analysis has been conducted for Copper, Cadmium, Lead and Mercury. Copper and Cadmium were recently dropped from the monitoring program due to all samples registering below method detection limits. Lead and Mercury are frequently registering above method detection levels but well below water quality limits.

Since the monitoring effort was begun in 1995, the data collected has shown a minimal number of exceedences of the State of Ohio water quality standards for nutrients. While no correlation’s have been made to date on nutrient loading data for the Ottawa River, the ORC continues to closely evaluate the data and compare it to rainfall volume and intensities.

Based on results from a synoptic survey conducted in September 1995, the decision was made to add periodic coliform bacteria testing to the monitoring program (two times per year). Further coliform bacteria testing continues in order to evaluate potential impacts from urban combined sewer overflows and rural septic systems.

Dissolved oxygen levels taken during volunteer sampling have not shown wide variation. Since most of the sampling is being performed during daytime hours we have not been able to reproduce the known diurnal dissolved oxygen swings which have been previously reported (URS/Limno-Tech, 1993). Therefore the ORC has considered 24 hour mechanical sampling. At this point in time the ORC is searching for funds in order to obtain the necessary instrumentation.

The monitoring program is periodically reviewed by the monitoring committee. Based upon data results and trends necessary changes are made continually to improve the program’s effectiveness. A result of the monitoring program has been the identification of individual tributaries which are contributing a considerable pollutant load to the river system. In addition, the citizen volunteer base is able to assist in communicating with the individual communities on just how valuable a resource we have.

Irregardless of the present and historical water quality issues encountered in the Lima, Allen County area, the contribution of the Ottawa River to the Auglaize River / Lake Erie watershed continues to remain of high quality. The ORC has been well accepted by the community, business and government officials. Over the last five years overall perception of the Ottawa River as a community resource has been greatly enhanced by the many efforts of the ORC.

The strength of the ORC monitoring efforts have been in the fact that the entire program has been locally designed and managed. While other watershed organizations may desire to draw upon existing monitoring programs they should focus upon the specific needs and issues of their local watershed area.

Recognition must be given to the Ohio EPA for the foresight to assist in watershed management programs by providing Section 319 grant funds. Thanks to all the member organizations and volunteers who have graciously donated their time and efforts to the Ottawa River Coalition. Also to Alloway Environmental Testing without whom the logistics and cost of sample analysis would have simply been overwhelming.