The increase in Toledo’s water usage provided the $100 million needed to build the reservoir, Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken said.
TOLEDO, Ohio – The city of Toledo is one step closer to a major project aimed at avoiding a repeat of the 2014 water crisis.
Local real estate team NAI Harmon announced the closing of the deal in suburban Toledo on Wednesday. The $3.78 million deal, which was completed April 29, involves a 135-acre parcel of land in Oregon that will house the city of Toledo’s backup reservoir.
A secondary water source is something many officials, such as Lucas County Board of Commissioners President Pete Gerken, have been asking for ever since water crisis.
For years, Sylvania Mayor Craig Stowe, a member of the Regional Water Commission, has said that if excess water abstraction had existed at the time, the water crisis probably never would have happened.
Stowe and Gerken told WTOL 11 in March that the funding came from an increase in the cost of Toledo’s water. About 100 million dollars will be spent on the construction of the reservoir.
NAI Harmon Group’s Joshua Paysant said the reservoir could only be built in five years or more. The site is currently farmland, and Payzant said the city of Toledo will allow the previous owner to continue farming until construction begins.
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https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/protecting-our-water/city-of-toledo-water-backup-reservoir-site-purchased-in-oregon/512-e93d4bf3-7291-42ff-9a6f-2eb7cede8ebd
