H2Ohio Commits to Water Conservation
In partnership with: Ohio Department of Agriculture
Governor Mike DeWine launched H2Ohio in 2019. Since then, Ohio has renewed its commitment to clean water in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB). With local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) as active partners, H2Ohio incentivizes local ag producers with conservation opportunities.
Quality of Life
The Ohio General Assembly has invested nearly $200 million into the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s H2Ohio since 2022. For decades, however, harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie have affected water quality, the economy of lakes and rivers, and the health of people and animals.
See more: Water Quality Expands with H2Ohio Program
“The H2Ohio program targets improving water quality and water sources in the state for all of its citizens,” says Terry Mescher,
manager of the H2Ohio program at ODA.
A major contributor to algal blooms has been phosphorus runoff from cropland in the northwest Ohio region. Row crop agriculture is dominant in the WLEB, and the application of fertilizers can contribute to phosphorus runoff.
In collaboration with ODA, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, H2Ohio has made nutrient reduction and water quality a priority.
H2Ohio has enrolled nearly 1.5 million acres of farmland, which constitutes about 35% of farmland in the Western Lake Erie Basin. H2Ohio partners with SWCDs in 24 counties to deliver the program locally. Because not all farmland is the same, not all producers will implement the same best management practices on their land. Practices will differ based on the geography and prevalent crops in each district. The people on the board of each SWCD are vital to distributing that knowledge.
Boots on the Ground
Aaron Siebeneck is a participating farmer and a member of the SWCD Board of Supervisors for Putnam County. As a third-generation farmer on Siebeneck Farms, he takes a personal interest in the area’s water conservation efforts.
“Our family has been in this community for a long time,” Siebeneck says. From the start, H2Ohio garnered local interest with hundreds of farmers attending the first informational meetings in Putnam County. Since 2021, $6.74 million of H2Ohio incentives has gone back to producers in the county.
“It’s helping everyone in the agriculture sector from seed suppliers to equipment manufacturers,” Siebeneck says. Siebeneck Farms alone has been able to reduce its fertilizer usage by about 50% in areas of the farm while maintaining improving crop yields. “Conservation is a step-by-step process, and you have to discover what works best for each individual because, at the end of the day, bushels of grain are what keep farms alive,” Siebeneck says.
See more: Ohio Organizations Help Farmers Protect Water
Expanding H2Ohio Reach
Water quality issues have stemmed from agricultural practices of decades past. Overall awareness of best management practices, including voluntary nutrient management development, implementation of cover crops, variable rate phosphorus application, and subsurface phosphorus placement, is a significant step toward keeping the region’s water clean.
“The amount of cover crop implementation and overall awareness are very positive trends,” Mescher says. “We have seen a long-term downward trend of phosphorus sales across Northwest Ohio. That is a good sign.”
Under the new state budget, approved by Governor Mike DeWine on July 1, 2023, H2Ohio will begin a statewide expansion. With a goal of adding an additional 500,000 acres to the program, SWCDs will remain an essential part of that outreach.
“Soil and Water Conservation Districts are a local contact, and they have a local foothold in what is going on,” Mescher says. “They have been a huge benefit to the H2Ohio program.”
To learn more, visit h2.ohio.gov.