CLEVELAND — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is providing assistance to residents whose properties have been impacted by Lake Erie’s record high water levels.
Many residents who own shoreline property have been affected by erosion damage caused by heavy weather and high lake levels. News 5 has reported on the erosion problems residents in Geneva-on-the-Lake have been facing, where erosion has erased 35 feet of shoreline in one week.
Programs available for residents include:
Temporary shore structure permits: Available to coastal property owners to allow them to install emergency shore protection to protect their property from erosion-related damage. Applications can be found here.
Free on-site technical assistance: Available to coastal property owners by ODNR coastal engineers to provide recommendations for erosion mitigation. Residents can call the ODNR Office of Coastal Management at 419-626-7980.
Coastal Management Assistance Grants: Available for coastal planning habitat restoration, public access, research and water quality improvement projects. Local governments, county and regional planning agencies, universities, school districts, port authorities and some nonprofits are eligible. More info can be found here.
The Coastal Erosion Area Loan Program: Provides low interest loans for the design and construction of erosion control measures for properties within a designated coastal erosion area. Find more info here.
Special improvement districts: Provide local financing to facilitate erosion improvements along Lake Erie. ODNR works with SIDs to ensure projects are well designed and minimize adverse impacts of Lake Erie.
RELATED: Erosion may affect property values, taxes in Ashtabula County
