The City of Cleveland is using a federal grant to reduce beach closings and improve water quality in Lake Erie.
The grant was awarded by the EPA through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The funds will be used to control storm water runoff.
Kristin Hall, Sustainability Manager for the city, says most of the funds will go toward bioretention cells, commonly referred to as rain gardens, to contain goose feces, which spread diseases like E-Coli into Lake Erie through runoff.
“The large goose population, living at or near that park, with plenty of droppings throughout that parking lot; when that runs off and goes eventually into the lake that stays there. You know, especially in conditions like we have today, that E-Coli can just continue to breed and it makes it unsafe for folks to actually enter into the water.”
Hall says the design process for the cells will begin in January of next year.
Cleveland Metroparks and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District will be helping with the bioretention cells.
Cleveland is one of 13 cities to receive the grant.
