By Lea Mitchell A newly funded project in Ohio’s Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District aims to reduce water nutrients and sediments that flow into Lake Erie, causing excessive growth of algae. With a bit of help, the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program provides grants to local and state governments and nonprofit organizations to install erosion and sediment control practices in the Great Lakes Basin. The commission was established in 1955 to address threats to the Great Lakes, and the nutrient reduction program began decades later. “The Great Lakes Commission issued a grant to the Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District to address runoff concerns into Lake Erie,” said District Program Administrator Mike Libben.