Ohio's 23 large rivers are close to reaching the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s goal for 80% to meet water quality standards by 2010, the Port Clinton News Herald reported.
A new report from the Ohio EPA reveals that 78.7% of the state's large rivers now meet clean water goals, the paper reported. The public can comment on the report through Feb. 25.
Although progress also has been documented in smaller streams, more serious work is still needed, the paper reported. The average score for smaller streams that make up Ohio's 331 watersheds increased from 46.6 in 2002 to 54.7. Since 1996, the Ohio EPA has developed plans to improve water quality in about 100 of the 218 Ohio watersheds that have been assessed.
For the report, which includes 243 of Ohio's 331 total watersheds, a priority point system was used to rank them based on severity of impairment to determine which systems need the most immediate attention, according to the paper.
