The restoration of Mentor Marsh Some worried about chemicals to kill reeds

Phragmites are being replaced gradually by native plants at the 691-acre Mentor Marsh on Thursday, June 29, 2016. Federal dollars made available through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Sustain Our Great Lakes Initiative of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are helping restore the marsh to its natural state.

(Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer)

WASHINGTON - Congress members from the Cleveland area pledged Friday to fight any effort by President Donald Trump to gut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's budget for Great Lakes cleanup.

A leaked draft of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2018 budget proposal indicates the Trump administration intends to suggest cutting the program from $300 million annuallyto $10 million. It would be part of an effort to slash $2 billion from the agency and reduce its workforce by 3,000 employees.

Chad Lord of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition said cutting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by that much would "essentially stop restoration efforts in their tracks in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio."

"If true, the level of cuts being discussed would be devastating," Lord said in a statement.

Bainbridge Township Republican Rep. Dave Joyce said Congress is likely to restore funding for the Great Lakes programs even if the Trump administration forwards a budget that guts them dramatically.

He said Barack Obama's administration routinely suggested $250 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, but Congress boosted that to $300 million. When a house budget panel suggested just $60 million for the program in 2013, Joyce worked successfully to restore its funding.

Joyce, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he and his colleagues were startled when they heard the leaked budget numbers, and called it an unfortunate "indication of where the administration presently stands on preserving what I believe to be a national treasure."

Money from the initiative supports programs such as fighting algal blooms that have threatened drinking water in Toledo, protecting marshes along the lakes, and cleaning up pollution in rivers that drain into the lakes. He said a bipartisan coalition of legislators will work to "make sure we protect, maintain, and preserve the Great Lakes."

Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur agreed that a bipartisan effort could turn back attacks on the Great Lakes funding if Trump proposes them.

"It is hard to imagine a more perilous time for the Trump Administration to abandon efforts that protect and restore our Great Lakes," Kaptur said. "It will be all hands on deck for our Great Lakes."

Ohio's U.S. senators, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman, say they're also committed to preserving Great Lakes funding.

A statement from Brown pledged to "fight like hell in the Senate to restore this funding in full," if the rumored cuts are true. He said they'd stall progress to improve the lake's health and "pose a direct threat to Lake Erie and our drinking water."

"This initiative has been a successful tool in our efforts to help protect and restore Lake Erie, and Rob will continue to fight for it just as he did when the Obama administration proposed cuts to the program," added Portman spokesperson Emily Benavides.

A bipartisan coalition of legislators wrote a letter to Trump last month that urged Great Lakes cleanup remain at $300 million. Ohioans who signed that letter included Joyce, Kaptur, Wadsworth Republican Jim Renacci, Holmes County Republican Bob Gibbs, Marietta Republican Bill Johnson, Warrensville Heights Democrat Marcia Fudge and Niles-area Democrat Tim Ryan.