The Clermont Soil & Water Conservation District celebrated 78 years of conservation with an outdoor open house last week.
The event was held at Shor Park in Milford on Sept. 14 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
As in years past, the annual meeting included a presentation of awards to the Cooperator and Educators of the Year.
Clermont SWCD presented its Cooperator of the Year award to Jennifer Ebbing, who sells produce, eggs and more from Haywire Homestead in Bethel, according to Clermont Clermont SWCD Administrator John McManus.
The Educator of the Year award was presented to Kim Lewis and Tina Vuyancih, two teachers from Marr Cook Elementary and Williamsburg Middle School who helped divert tons of recyclable material from the landfill and collect a combined 270 pounds of usable school supplies, McManus shared.
Joe Glassmeyer and Todd Winemiller were re-elected to the District Board of Supervisors to serve a three-year term on the board, starting January 1, 2022.
Also presented during the event was an award to the Clermont County Office of Environmental Quality for 25 years of protecting and improving environmental conditions in the county, according McManus.
The members of the Clermont County Board of Commissioners as well as State Representatives Adam Bird and Jean Schmidt were on hand to help present the awards.
Dinner was provided by 32Q, and tours were given of a stream restoration project in process at the park.
Following the event, McManus said that he was pleased with the turnout, and added that the nice weather certainly helped.
He said, “This was the first open house we’ve held, and I think it went extremely well. Everyone attending had a good chance to mingle with each other and talk to staff. We were proud to show off the progress of our stream restoration project which we are doing in cooperation with the Park District.”
He added, “Along with several of our cooperators, all three County Commissioners and both our state house representatives were in attendance. The level of support we receive from our elected officials and partners means a great deal to our Board of Supervisors and staff.”
McManus shared some of Clermont Soil & Water Conservation District’s significant upcoming projects:
– The Shor Park Restoration Project, which is in progress, will re-create a natural stream channel in place of a failed concrete storm sewer.
The project focuses on addressing bank erosion problems in Avey’s Run, establishing new pocket wetlands and taking out invasive species.
The project is expected to be finished by April 30, 2022.
Clermont SWCD is working in partnership with the Clermont County Park District on this project.
McManus explained, “The Williamsburg Nutrient Removal Wetland project is supported by numerous grants that Clermont SWCD received to convert the old Williamsburg drinking water reservoir into an “off-channel” nutrient removal wetland.”
“When the project is done,” he said, “Water from the East Fork Little Miami River will flow into the reservoir when the river level rises, and then bleed slowly through the wetland, which will remove nitrogen and phosphorus, the two primary pollutants driving the harmful algal blooms in East Fork Lake.”
The project design is almost finished, and the Clermont SWCD hopes to start construction in early 2022.