Ohio Governor DeWine, Lt. Governor Husted, ODNR, Intel Announce New H2Ohio Partnership

ZANESVILLE, OH – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Intel’s Executive Vice President met today to announce a new H2Ohio partnership.

The Officials met at Dillon State Park to discuss the partnership that will help protect and improve water quality in the Licking Watershed.

Governor DeWine said Intel has the most sophisticated water filter that will be able to put clean water right back out into the community.

“That was a major, major, investment that we, obviously, participate in as well,” DeWine said. “We’re doing something in Ohio that I don’t think any other State is doing. First of all we have a lot of water, we have an abundance of water, but we have to take care of it. One of the ways we take care of it is by wetlands that we’re announcing today for example. We’re going to continue to build wetlands.”

DeWine said the Licking River project will help to restore 90 acres of retired farmland along the Licking River. Once it’s restored, the floodplain wetland will capture phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment in flood waters and prevent them from contaminating the Licking River.

Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted said this project is just a small step in a bigger plan.

“It’s worth noting that we’ve put hundreds of millions of dollars into replacing water lines, funding water treatment facilities, for communities around the state to improve water quality,” Husted said. “It’s a big picture, it’s the wetlands which are part of the natural process but the man made processes as well that need to be modernized and invested in to make sure that we keep it all clean and safe for people of Ohio.”

The ODNR projects for this project begin this summer and wrap up by the fall.