Swan Creek Watershed Data
presentation
-Jeff Grabarkiewicz

Swan Creek Watershed Balanced Growth Plan
Goals and Process

The Swan Creek watershed was selected by the Ohio Lake Erie Commission in 2005 for a pilot project to test the use of incentives as a tool to promote balanced regional planning. The plan calls for the 23 jurisdictions in the watershed to work together voluntarily to define local needs. The technical committee has worked to define preferred priority areas for conservation, agriculture, and development. When the plan describing regional preferences is complete, and if 75% of the jurisdictions in the watershed agree with the plan, incentives will be available for communities to implement elements of the plan. The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is working with state agencies to develop the incentives that will support the plan's goals. (For more information, see Lake Erie Balanced Growth Program
http://www.lakeerie.ohio.gov/BalancedGrowth.aspx

First steps involved inventory of existing uses of the land. Next, the participants developed a point system to help them weigh potential uses of other land. Areas that were weighted more heavily for priority development, for example, are those areas closer to existing roads, with access to utilities and water supply. Areas that are priorities for conservation are those undeveloped, along waterways, and/or part of the Oak Openings Region. Not all areas fell neatly into one category but all areas have been weighted and mapped accordingly.

Before the plan can be submitted to the state of Ohio for approval, priority areas must be approved by at least 75% of the political jurisdictions in the Swan Creek watershed. To gain approval throughout the watershed, the technical committee will be presenting these draft priority area maps to the jurisdictions for their feedback. In 2008, the committee completed the final draft, and asked each jurisdiction for formal endorsement. More than 75% of jurisdictions have endorsed the plan.

The creation of the draft plan has been the work of representatives throughout the Swan Creek watershed. Thanks are due to Pete Gerken, Lucas County commissioner and chair of the Swan Creek Pilot Program; Steve Brown, regional planning director for Fulton County and vice chair, and Lucas County Soil and Water Conservation District.

To learn more about the planning process, to review the plan in detail, or to learn more about the public input process, please contact a staff member of TMACOG Environmental Planning:

Matt Horvat, Maumee River Coordinator, TMACOG
horvat@tmacog.org, 419.241.9155 ext. 123

Kurt Erichsen, Vice President Environmental Planning, TMACOG
kurt@tmacog.org, 419.241.9155, ext. 126

Swan Creek Balanced Watershed Growth Plan

Final Report

TMACOG Resolution (Draft)