Main menu

Otter Creek

Otter Creek has a long history of site investigation and partner engagement spanning over 20 years. In 2021, the lower 1.7 miles of Otter Creek and its confluence with the Maumee River underwent contaminated sediment removal through the Great Lakes Legacy Act program. Approximately 50,400 cubic yards of sediments were removed from Otter Creek and its confluence within Maumee Bay. Immediately after the sediments were removed, a sand cover enriched with organic matter was placed in the project area and habitat restoration work began to support the return of a thriving community of bottom-dwelling aquatic organisms.  In 2022 Otter Creek was repopulated with mussels native to Ohio.  A one-year assessment of the mussel mitigation work will be completed in 2023.

Project Location:

The lower 1.7 miles of Otter Creek and its confluence with the Maumee River.

Project Benefits:

  • Reduce or remove impairments negatively affected aquatic fish and bug communities.
  • Improve overall environmental health and usability of this area.

Project Objectives and Milestones:

  • Improve water quality, habitat, and biological communities.
  • In 2021, contaminated sediments were removed and habitat features, and an organic matter-enriched substrate installed to support bottom-dwelling aquatic organisms.

Project Links:

Project Partners:

U.S. EPA, U.S. ACE, the Otter Creek Partnership (comprised of three industries) worked with community partners and other federal, state, and local governmental agencies to evaluate and clean up contaminated sediments and restore in-stream habitat utilizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and other non-federal funding.

FUNDING

This publication was financed in part through a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency with funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The contents and views contained within are those of the authors and have not been subject to any Ohio EPA review and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Ohio EPA or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.

GLRIOEPA standard logo color email

The Maumee AOC Committee works toward fishable and swimmable waters in the Maumee Area of Concern and delisting the beneficial use impairments. The Committee is working towards all major restoration projects being completed by 2025, through collaboration of partners and volunteer opportunities by its facilitating organization, Partners for Clean Streams. The committee is made up of representatives from various organizations, citizens, businesses and non-government agencies to build long term solutions to the area’s water quality issues.