Tremendous improvements have been made in the health of the Ottawa River.
In 1987, 82% of the Ottawa River failed to meet the EPA's water quality standards. By 2010, only 3.5% of the river was out of attainment. Ottawa River Coalition Executive Director Lydia Archambo told us that this huge improvement can be credited to a number of things including the formation of the Coalition in 1993 which brought together some 45 member and partner organizations, all working together to understand and protect water quality in the Ottawa River watershed. The ORC and its partners conducted a number of educational programs for both children and adults, they sponsor regular cleanups including the annual Ottawa River Cleanup and the Tired of Tires program which removes approximately 200 tires and other junk from the river each year. She told us we can all do our part to help with simple, everyday things, like properly disposing of trash, not dumping anything down storm drains, planting trees and native plants, and following directions when applying fertilizer and pesticides.
Also at Monday's meeting, we were joined by Kevin Werst from the Wapakoneta Rotary Club, who will be our assistant district governor for the 2026-2027 Rotary year. He wanted to introduce himself and told us that we can contact him if we need anything.