The University of Toledo has received a new $897,557 subrecipient agreement from the Great Lakes Commission, funded through NOAA, to complete the final construction phase of the Swan Creek restoration, on university land north of the UT Medical Center.

With the new award, total project funding now exceeds $1.2 million. An initial award of more than $242,000 came in 2023.

Crews are scheduled to begin clearing trees and building an access route in mid-November to reach 1,700 linear feet of creek. The work is expected to take 6-8 weeks, weather permitting.

The project aims to reduce erosion, sediment buildup, stormwater impacts and habitat degradation in the lower Maumee River Area of Concern.

Swan Creek is one of two aquatic projects under construction this fall in the Maumee River Area of Concern. The other is the Ottawa River in Point Place. Great Lakes Commission project manager Jill Estrada is quoted in the University of Toledo announcement, and the goal is for all non-sediment Area of Concern projects to be done by the end of 2027.

UToledo News published the announcement Nov. 5, 2026, and updated it Nov. 6. The Blade covered it Nov. 6, 2026.

Illustrative image: The Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio, photographed Aug. 5, 2020, by David Wilson (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons. This is an illustrative image, not a photo of the Swan Creek work site.

Sources: UToledo News | The Blade via NewsLocker