Lake Avenue wetland restoration astounds admins

Lorain County commissioners were in awe Aug. 14 during a presentation on the newly completed Lake Avenue wetland restoration in Elyria Township.

Don Romancak, deputy director of the county’s stormwater district, presented the commissioners with the final report on the project that has been in the works for at least four years.

“This project is approximately 18 acres,” Romancak said and was made up of 206 separate parcels as part of an old subdivision that was never developed.

The initial plan was to do something straightforward and simple such as a water retention basin, or what Romancak refers to as “a hole in the ground,” but he said the condition of the land and the more than 1,900 feet of lineal ditch necessitated something more nuanced.

“On the surface, that would look to be a much more expensive project if we had gone the way we proposed, originally thought it out and had been bullheaded, we would have had to go over a year of just permitting activity working with the Army Corps of Engineers, working with the Ohio (Environmental Protection Agency),” he said. “We would have to have spent hundreds of thousands of

dollars just on wetland mitigation.”

Instead, the county partnered with Coldwater Consulting, which has an office in Lorain, and decided to do something “more innovative,” Romancak said.

Including the planning costs, the project cost a little more than $800,000 which is less than the county would have spent on the permitting for the original plan.

As part of the presentation, Romancak showed aerial views of the site before the restoration showing what looks like a big, muddy pit with a thin line of water cutting at a 90-degree angle through it. The pictures from after the project was completed shows a solid stream surrounded by overflow basins.

The commissioners released a series of oos and ahs when the after picture was shown.

“You can see now how the stream actually meanders now, those areas that outline it are actually flood plain,” Romancak said. “So even now, we’re maximizing the use of that land for flood control as well it’s providing us with a huge water quality benefit.”

The restoration functions better the more rain falls, he said.

“This was designed to hold back almost 100 percent of the 100-year rain,” he said. “This actually works when we need it most.”

SUBMITTED An aerial view of the Lake Avenue stream before it was reconstructed.

SUBMITTED A Lake Avenue stream restoration project in Elyria Township is shown here.