Ohio EPA Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program (WRRSP)

Ohio's Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program provides roughly $15 million a year for stream and wetland protection and restoration by pairing project implementers with communities that are taking Water Pollution Control Loan Fund loans.

The Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program (WRRSP) is a distinctive Ohio funding mechanism that turns clean water loan activity into on-the-ground habitat protection. A community obtaining a WPCLF loan agrees to sponsor a separate stream or wetland project, and the interest savings generated by the loan pay for that project. Implementers do not repay anything. Protection projects fund long-term safeguarding of high quality streams and wetlands through fee-simple acquisition. Restoration projects address impairments such as dam removal, channel restoration, and wetland re-establishment, paired with permanent protection. Every funded site is encumbered with an environmental covenant. Typically up to $15 million a year is available through a competitive nomination and scoring process, and Ohio EPA allocated $24.6 million to WRRSP across Program Years 2026 and 2027. The annual cycle runs on a fixed schedule: pre-nomination site review requests are due by July 15, full project nominations by August 15, the draft WPCLF Program Management Plan with proposed WRRSP projects is issued in October, and the final plan in December. Pre-nomination coordination with WRRSP staff is mandatory for any new site. The Program Year 2027 nomination window closed August 15, 2026, so Ohio-side H2O members should begin pre-nomination coordination now for the Program Year 2028 cycle. Trails, boardwalks, parking areas, appraisals, and in-house staff costs are not eligible.