Recently, the Ohio House Finance Committee proposed a nearly 45% funding cut to Ohio’s key water quality program, H2Ohio, in the state operating budgets for 2026 and 2027. The H2Ohio  program helps clean up and protect the state’s most precious water supplies from Lake Erie to riverways across the state.  

The H2Ohio program helps achieve a clean Lake Erie, as well as provide safe and clean drinking water for all Ohioans through three key state agencies that implement the program:

• The Ohio Department of Agriculture helps farmers implement best management practices to improve soil health and reduce nutrient runoff from farm fields, keeping nutrients in the crops where they are needed and preventing them from reaching Ohio’s waterways. 
• The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) creates, restores, and enhances wetlands. Wetlands filter out pollutants and nutrients, making our waters safer and cleaner. They also provide flood risk reduction and habitat for wildlife. 
• The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) supports water infrastructure improvements across Ohio by improving community drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, replacing failing home sewage treatment systems, and replacing lead service lines. Updating Ohio’s drinking water infrastructure is estimated to come with a $30 billion price tag over the next 20 years. This includes replacing Ohio’s nearly 740,000 lead water service lines still in place that threaten the safety of Ohioans’ drinking water. 
• ODNR and Ohio EPA work together to restore Ohio’s rivers by removing dams, conducting river clean-ups, and monitoring water quality. 

Take action now to let your representative know this funding needs to be restored!