Findlay, Ottawa included in U.S. flood control bill

7/31/2009

WASHINGTON A bill that includes $2 million in federal funding for energy and water infrastructure projects in Ohio offers a federal commitment to Blanchard River watershed flood control in Findlay and Ottawa, Ohio, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said yesterday.

The Senate has approved the bill. It now goes to a House-Senate conference committee.

To be put on an Army Corps of Engineers priority list, projects must be designated to the Corps by Congress, said Meghan Dubyak, Senator Brown s spokesman. That s what the bill does. An eventual grant amount would be determined by the Corps, she said.

Flooding in both communities led to formation in 2008 of the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership, which has been endorsed by Findlay, Ottawa, plus Hancock and Putnam counties.