U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, today announced that the Allegan Conservation District has been awarded an $180,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC). The Allegan Conservation District Project will encourage the implementation of best management practices to reduce sedimentation in the Gun River Watershed through a performance-based incentive program.

“This is a significant recognition of the Allegan Conservation District’s work to protect the health of our Great Lakes, waterways, and communities,” said Upton. “This grant will have an immediate, positive impact. It also highlights the need to continue funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative now and into the future. We must continue working together to protect our Great Lakes so that all may enjoy their brilliance and beauty.”

“Working with local partners to implement these conservation practices is critical to protecting water quality in the Great Lakes region,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the GLC and commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “This program enables communities to take specific, measured steps toward reducing the sediment and nutrient runoff affecting their local watersheds.”

Every year, tons of polluting phosphorus and sediments enter the Great Lakes Basin, causing massive economic and environmental losses and contributing to the formation of Harmful Algal Blooms and dead zones. The GLC manages the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program which strategically addresses this problem with a unique, targeted, grassroots approach which awards grants to non-federal agencies and non-profit organizations in priority watersheds throughout the region. 

Funding for this program is provided by the GLRI under a cooperative agreement between the GLC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services.

Upton has consistently fought for full funding for the GLRI, despite administration attempts to cut the program. To learn more about his work on Great Lakes issues, please click here.