CITY OF DEFIANCE, OH

The City of Defiance is uniquely located at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers and relies on Upper Maumee River in the Western Lake Eerie Basin (WLEB) for its drinking water supply. Numerous federal and state reports have identified WLEB as impaired due to excessive loadings of sediment and nutrients. Source water protection is a challenging endeavor for small resource-constrained communities such as Defiance especially in a region that encourages stewardship of the land enabling agriculture to remain productive while decreasing the impacts to water quality.

Moonshot team of experts is working collaboratively with City of Defiance to maximize environmental outcomes and community benefits by assisting the City of Defiance to work in direct partnership with the City’s watershed management - especially in the agricultural sector to reduce nutrients in runoff. Moonshot will also provide guidance on implementation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) action plan. This is an ongoing effort and successful completion of this project will result in:

• Development of replicable strategies for source water protection and nutrient reduction particularly targeted for small and low-income communities

• Long-term improvement in water quality by preventing pollutants from entering the waterways

• Public health protection, through improved understanding and stewardship of the watershed

• Enhanced regulatory compliance, and opportunity for credits associated with compliance

• The potential for reduced treatment or contaminant management costs

• Social benefits from collaboration and partnership-building with local government, utility, and environmental groups

• Improved preparedness and response capacity for emergency HABs events

• Enhanced aesthetic quality and recreational value of the watershed

• Habitat and ecosystem services protection