The Ohio River

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Ohio River Basin Alliance held a briefing outlining how policymakers and community stakeholders can help restore the health of the Ohio River. The Ohio River is an important driver of economic growth for the six states it runs through—Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. It also supplies drinking water for more than 30 million people. However, impacted by toxic waste and sewage, mining and agricultural runoff, and inadequate water infrastructure, the Ohio River is considered one of the most heavily polluted rivers in the country. It also faces conservation challenges, from habitat loss to the spread of invasive species.

This briefing unpacked the challenges and opportunities embedded in increasing the health and resilience of the Ohio River Basin. In particular, panelists addressed the disproportionate impact of both pollution and flooding on economically disadvantaged communities. Policymakers left with an understanding of how collaboration between community stakeholders, industry, and federal, state, and local governments advances pollution remediation work, conservation efforts, and climate resilience projects. 

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Ohio River Basin spans 130 million acres and 15 states with a total population of over 30 million people. Challenges facing the Ohio River Basin include aging and failing infrastructure that inhibits the distribution of goods and clean water; toxic pollution in the water from legacy pollutants, agricultural runoff, and urban stormwater; and extreme weather events. Natural ecosystems in the Ohio River Basin generate at least $50 billion in annual public benefits for the region.  There is currently no coordinated federal investment in the Ohio River Basin. Establishing coordinated federal support through a restoration initiative would make a significant difference in the well-being of ecosystems and people in the Ohio River Basin, as it has in places like the Delaware River Basin, Chesapeake Bay, and Puget Sound.

 

Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.)

• The Ohio River Basin Caucus has 24 bipartisan members from eight states.
• The Ohio River Basin states have made significant progress, on a bipartisan basis, cleaning up the river, motivated by the knowledge that every person who lives near the Ohio River Basin is affected by and uses water from the river.
• The Ohio River Basin Restoration Program Act (H.R.10432) was introduced in the last Congress to establish dedicated federal funding and support for the Ohio River Basin, and members of Congress are preparing to introduce it again in the 119th Congress.

 

Q&A with Rep. McGarvey (D-Ky.)

 

Q: What have you learned as co-chair of the Ohio River Basin Caucus from programs in different parts of the country?

McGarvey

• The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay restoration initiative can be seen as blueprints for the Ohio River Basin.
• There are environmental and economic benefits to protecting the Ohio River Basin, which is why federal funding should be dedicated to restoration projects.

 

Q: How can the federal government work with nonprofit, private, and public stakeholders to encourage Ohio River Basin-related policy-making in D.C.?

McGarvey

• Congress can provide funding for stakeholders to carry out restoration and infrastructure projects in the Ohio River Basin.
• Stakeholders can share their expertise on issues related to the Ohio River Basin with Congress, better informing the decisions made in Washington.

 

Q: What are the economic opportunities that a healthy Ohio River brings to communities?

McGarvey

• Each district’s priorities are different because they use the Ohio River Basin in unique ways, meaning that policy-making concerning the Ohio River needs to be nuanced.

 

Q: Could you describe your relationship working with Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) as co-chairs of the caucus? How bipartisan or nonpartisan are the issues?

McGarvey

• Rep. Houchin is an excellent co-chair of the Ohio River Basin Caucus. Although issues are sometimes approached from different perspectives, both parties share the goal of clean water.

 

Chris Lorentz, Chair, Ohio River Basin Alliance; Professor, Biological Sciences and Director, Biology Field Station, Thomas More University

• The Ohio River Basin Alliance (ORBA) is concerned with the entirety of the basin, which covers 204,000 square miles, runs through 15 states, and serves 30 million people.
• ORBA works in the Ohio River Basin, caring for the river and advocating for clean water.
• Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, are some of the fastest-growing economies in the nation, in large part because there is clean, abundant water.
• Challenges facing the Ohio River Basin include aging and failing infrastructure that inhibits the distribution of goods and clean water; toxic pollution in the water from legacy pollutants, agricultural runoff, and urban stormwater; and extreme weather events.
• Over 40% of streams within the basin are threatened or impaired.
• 74% of voters in the basin, regardless of party affiliation, support cost-effective federal investments in the basin.

 

Glen Delaney, Director of Partnerships, Earth Economics

• The Ohio River Basin spans about 130 million acres and 15 states with a total population of over 30 million people. Of these 130 million acres, about 69 million acres are filled with natural ecosystems, including 64 million acres of forest and two million acres of wetlands.
• Natural ecosystems in the Ohio River Basin generate at least $50 billion in annual public benefits for the region.
• Increasing resilience efforts along the river can result in economic benefits. Natural ecosystems along the basin have the potential to contribute $1.17 trillion over 30 years to the economy due to the abundance of extractable resources (e.g., food, timber, and water) and ecosystem services (e.g., clean air and clean water).
• Funded restoration and resilience projects in the Ohio River Basin are imperative. A healthy and resilient river can host biodiverse ecosystems, reduce flood risk, and provide economic, recreational, and agricultural opportunities.
• Natural spaces also increase communities’ quality of life. Having nature near communities can reduce ambient temperatures, thereby increasing public safety and reducing heat-related hospitalizations. Wetlands can decrease potential flood damage. More plants increase levels of pollination, boosting crop yields.
• The full economic value produced by the ecosystems of the Ohio River Basin, if restored and functioning properly, is likely greater than the estimated $50 billion in public benefits per year and will continue to increase if the basin receives significant, sustained federal investment.

 

Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, Director, River Restoration, American Rivers

• The ecological improvements that can be made in the Ohio River Basin will positively impact humans, not only the natural world. For example, clean water provides a viable habitat for the animals people hunt and fish.
• A healthy river basin attracts people to live in the region, bringing in new populations, new jobs, and a new workforce, which is what communities need to remain economically viable.
• There are no sources of coordinated or dedicated federal investments for the Ohio River. Yet, groups like those in ORBA continue to find creative ways to fund restoration work in the basin.
• American Rivers has identified that at least 90 federally-funded, on-the-ground projects—including investments that improved rivers, floodplains, wetlands, and forests—have occurred over the last 20 years in the Ohio River basin, but these projects were not coordinated through any specific program.
• These projects have invested approximately $6 million in the basin, matched by $14 million in non-federal funds.
• Coordinated federal support through a restoration initiative would make a significant difference in the well-being of ecosystems and people in the Ohio River Basin, as it has in places like the Delaware River Basin, Chesapeake Bay, and Puget Sound.

 

Lauren Anderson, Program Manager, Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville

• Pollution in the Ohio River Basin is multi-source and cumulative, with the most common sources being industry, agricultural runoff, urban wastewater, urban runoff, and legacy pollutants from historical activities.
• Pollution exposure not only impacts fish and other wildlife, but it also impacts humans through air, water, and food sources. For example, in South Shore, Kentucky, drinking water must be piped in from Ohio because its own sources are contaminated by PFAS (forever chemicals).
• The impacts of pollution exposure on health include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, waterborne diseases, and algae-related irritation to the skin, eyes, lungs, and other organs.
• Remediation of the Ohio River Basin can improve public health outcomes. For example, in the 1990s, chemical storage and spill sites were identified in the Rubbertown Industrial Corridor in Louisville, Kentucky. During the 2000s, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (P.L. 94-580) and Superfund (P.L. 96-510), the region worked to clean up this legacy pollution. The public health results have been positive and the sites are no longer listed as contaminated (researchers at the Envirome Institute continue to monitor them).
• Similarly, in Ironton, Ohio, soil and groundwater were contaminated with legacy pollutants from Allied Chemical and Ironton Coke facilities. Now the site has been remediated and turned into a vibrant shared commercial and recreation space.
• Cincinnati’s and Pittsburgh's green street initiatives mitigate urban runoff and reduce the amount of sediment that is reaching the Ohio River.
• Recreational access and riverfront restoration can improve human health. Time in nature can reduce oxidative stress hormones, which improves health. Green and blue spaces (i.e., being near, in, or on the water) improve psychological and physical well-being.
• Coordination between governments and communities is key. Communities can use their expertise to inform projects, creating long-term positive change.

 

Q&A

 

Q: What is it about the Ohio River Basin that makes it unique and worthy of national attention?

Delaney

• The Ohio River Basin is home to incredible biodiversity.
• The Ohio River Basin includes the Tennessee River and the Duck River, which together are the most biodiverse river system in the United States.

Hollingsworth-Segedy

• The Ohio River Basin is gigantic, meaning it affects many people across many states.
• The Ohio River Basin has diverse habitats for animals ranging from large fish to over 120 species of freshwater mussels, which filter the water.

Anderson

• The accessibility of the Ohio River to surrounding communities is what makes it special.
• Local improvements to Chickasaw and Shawnee parks in Louisville, Kentucky, increase the community’s ability to interact with the river.

Craig Butler, Executive Director, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District; Chair Emeritus, Ohio River Basin Alliance

• The bipartisan effort to improve the health and resilience of the Ohio River Basin is commendable. Reps. McGarvey and Houchin share a strong passion for the protection of the Ohio River that spans across party lines.
• The Ohio River Basin is vast and has the resources and capability of being an economic engine, if treated correctly.
• ORBA partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to create an ecological restoration strategy for federal and state agencies, Healthy Waters, Healthy Communities, Healthy Economies: A Collaborative Plan to Restore and Protect the Waters of the Ohio River Basin, based on successful models in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. 

 

Compiled by Olivia Benedict and Hailey Morris and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.