The presentation will showcase two very different project sites where the City of Lorain used ecological solutions to address environmental challenges stemming from urbanization and heavy industry. The Martin’s Run Ecological Restoration Project will highlight how Lorain decreased localized flooding through the conversion of low-yield agricultural land into a high-quality stream and wetland complex that provides nearly 20 acres of publicly accessible space and 19 acre-feet of stormwater retention. The Reclamation Site Restoration Project marks a major milestone—the final Management Action in more than a decade of coordinated work to remediate legacy environmental impacts along the Black River and its riparian corridor stemming from historic steelmaking operations. Attendees will gain insight into how the City of Lorain completed over 20 projects and implemented large-scale solutions over 15 years that contributed to habitat restoration, the recovery of the Black River, and its eventual delisting as an Area of Concern.
