City of Toledo and Community Partners Celebrate Completion of Bandore Park Stream Restoration Project
The City of Toledo and community partners celebrated the completion of the Bandore Park Stream Restoration Project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today. The project restored approximately 1,000 feet of Hill Ditch by realigning the stream and reconnecting it with its floodplain, helping improve water quality, reduce erosion and create better habitat for aquatic life.
"Taking care of our parks and waterways is an investment in the quality of life of Toledo residents. This project helps protect our natural resources while making our community more resilient to heavy rainfall and erosion," Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said.
The restored floodplain gives high water more room to spread out while helping capture sediment and nutrients before they flow downstream toward Lake Erie. A constructed wetland also helps filter stormwater runoff, while native vegetation and in-stream features improve stream stability and provide habitat for fish and other aquatic species. Restoring natural curves to the stream creates more shoreline for native vegetation, while expanded floodplain areas help absorb excess nutrients and pollutants, store water and reduce the risk of damaging floods.
"Lake Erie is one of our region's most important natural resources, providing clean drinking water, supporting wildlife, recreation and more than 130,000 jobs. Projects like this help protect our precious fresh water by improving water quality and reducing sediment and pollutants that reach our waterways," Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) said. "I will always work to bring home resources to protect our Fresh Water Kingdom here in Lake Erie's Western Basin."
The City secured $714,610 in grant funding for the restoration. In 2021, the City received $299,610 through a Section 319 grant for stream restoration along Hill Ditch. An additional $285,000 from H2Ohio funded stream realignment near Bandore Road, and the City's work with the Maumee Area of Concern Advisory Committee secured $130,000 through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to enhance aquatic habitat.
The project also included regrading upland areas to restore 0.19 acre of floodplain wetland and establishing 0.80 acres of native riparian buffer. Additional features include rock protection along portions of the streambank, cross vanes, toewood, root wads, riffle habitat and live brush layering to improve stream stability, reduce erosion and support aquatic life.
The restoration's design was completed in 2022, and construction began in 2025. The City also completed roadway improvements along Paisley Road in 2025 to help reduce local street flooding in the area.
Project partners include the Lucas Soil and Water Conservation District, Partners for Clean Streams, the Toledo-Lucas County Rain Garden Initiative, the Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission, the Toledo Metropolitan Council of Governments and H2Ohio.
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