ODNR expo in Columbus educates contractors on H2Ohio initiative

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources hosted a contractor expo Wednesday as part of the H2Ohio initiative.

H2Ohio builds wetlands to help with pollution, especially in the northwest part of the state, but it is also important to central Ohio. Governor DeWine created H2Ohio in 2019 to enhance our water quality and infrastructure.

“Here at ODNR and H2Ohio, our bread and butter is building wetlands around the state to decrease the amount of pollution and runoff making its way into our waterways,” says H2Ohio assistant program manager Kevin Nemer.

The goal of Wednesday’s expo was to educate contractors about the program, but also for H2Ohio project managers to hear about other areas in the state that could benefit from new wetland projects.

“We do need more contractors for the program. We’ve had some projects where we just haven’t had the type of bidding we would like to see on some of the projects so that outreach and getting more contractors involved in the program,” says Nemer.

People came from all over the state to attend the contractor expo. One woman at the expo is the owner of an environmental consulting firm and her company is currently working its first wetland build with H2Ohio in the Toledo area.

“We are working with a project that has been funded by H2Ohio. It’s our first opportunity,” says Cynthia Paschke, the owner and principal of Land Solutions LLC. “We’re hoping to get more information about how to bid on more projects, what type of information they’re looking for and just kind of a list of what’s coming up.”

A contractor could have many different jobs within just one H2Ohio wetland build, including construction work, design, permitting and regulations. Nemer and other H2Ohio program managers hope the benefit of this expo is two-fold.

“They can learn more about the program and be able to see the projects that we’re doing and come out and do work for us,” says Nemer. Learn more about H2Ohio and the work it does here.