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| Inside This
Issue
Volume 6, Number 3 --June 1999 The Middle Huron Initiative Download your copy today Word Doc President's Report - Partnering Adobe PDF Doc Michigan AWRA Mission Statement Acrobat Reader Calendar Development of a Decision Support System for River Restoration Membership Benefits |
By: Andrew Brenner, Initiative Coordinator, Huron River Watershed Council
| High levels of
sediment entering the river system, destruction of aquatic and terrestrial habitat, river
flow fluctuations, and excessive bacteria and nutrient levels, impact the communities of
the middle portion of the Huron River Watershed. Phosphorus enrichment of the river system
is of particular concern, driving annual algal blooms in the River’s impoundments.
The phosphorus originates from both "point sources," (i.e., municipal wastewater
treatment) and from "nonpoint sources," (i.e., polluted runoff from lawns,
streets, agricultural fields, leaking septic systems and from the banks of the River
itself). The reduction of nuisance algal blooms was estimated to require reducing current
phosphorus loads by approximately 50%. Since the wastewater treatment plants only
represent 50% of this load (and are heavily regulated), nonpoint sources needed to be
addressed. As a result, middle Huron communities have developed a voluntary strategy to
meet these goals; the strategy coordinated by the Huron River Watershed Council is called
the Middle Huron Initiative (MHI). The MHI conducted analyses of the sources of phosphorus
in the middle Huron based on stream sampling and land use data. A monthly total daily maximum
load (TMDL) was calculated for the watershed for phosphorus, the first community-developed
plan in the State of Michigan. These analyses concluded that of the nonpoint sources in
the watershed, the highest concentrations of phosphorus in runoff came from urban
residential lands. A series of best management practices (BMPs) were developed and evaluated for:
Strategies were proposed for developing The Initiative has been in its implementation stage for about two years, successes so far include:
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Although it is too early to really detect the impact of the Initiative on the River, phosphorus concentrations in Ford and Belleville Lakes and the Huron River have been lower during the summers of 1997 and 1998 than the previous three years, and algal blooms less intense. We hope that continued development of the watershed plans and implementation activities that are currently underway will lead to the achievement of our goals over the next four years. * |
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| President’s Report | ||
| Partnering The MI Chapter of AWRA recently experienced two instances associated with partnering to advance our goal of cultivating effective interaction with individuals, organizations, and agencies. The first example of partnering was our annual meeting/conference held March 31-April 1, 1999, entitled "Effective Watershed Management for a Clean Michigan." The conference was cosponsored with the Institute of Water Research at Michigan State University, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the Michigan Water and Environment Association. Most impressive was the program strength, the variety of speakers, and perhaps of greatest importance was the diversity of participants which greatly strengthened the presentations, discussions, and communication. The ongoing enthusiasm continued throughout the conference. A second instance involves our 1999-2000 Michigan AWRA Board meeting on May 14 with several new members in attendance. Three newly elected members, Bruce Manny, Member-at-Large, Ted Starbuck, Treasurer, and Eugene Jaworski, President-Elect were present. The Board membership symbolizes partnering through representation from private industry, federal and state government, academic institutions, and local elected officials. The Board members come not only from varied backgrounds but many are also elected or appointed officers of other major organizations. The level of enthusiasm at the Board meeting generated many new topics and ideas for this Chapter. An extensive array of important topics were outlined for our luncheon meetings throughout the year. A number of topics for the annual meeting were discussed along with a variety of issues to be covered in the newsletter. |
Jim Smalligan has volunteered to continue editing, publishing, and facilitating the dissemination of our quarterly newsletters. I am confident that his dedication to quality will continue to be reflected in the AWRA newsletters by focusing on timely information and topics as well as providing advance notice of upcoming MI AWRA luncheon meetings and other associated activities. We look forward to a great year and encourage you to send us your "cards and letters" offering topic/issue suggestions and the like. Your willingness to participate in our many activities will help maintain a strong and influential organization. Sincerely, Jon F. Bartholic Board of Directors President: Jon F. Bartholic Members-at-Large Michael Gregg |
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Calendar of Upcoming Events |
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June 29 - July 1 — AG Expo, |
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| Development
of a Decision Support System for
River Restoration University of Michigan Group Leads Efforts to Develop Practical Assistance for Citizens and Agencies By: Paul J.L. Richards with assistance from Joan Nassauer, Gloria Helfand, Andrew Brenner, and Dave Allan Water quality, biological diversity, and the ecologic integrity of aquatic ecosystems are currently being threatened by diffuse land use activities. We suggest that nonpoint source pollution, habitat deterioration, and declines in diversity have their common origin in changing land cover and land use. Rehabilitation and restoration of degraded river systems is an urgent priority. To accomplish this, we require deeper understanding of the impacts of land management at the landscape-scale on river ecosystems, and of the likely restorative effects of alternative land uses and management. An understanding of the socioeconomic factors that influence land use management alternatives are also sorely lacking. Methods are needed to assess the multiple human impacts on hydrological processes, and in turn their impacts on stream ecosystem integrity. In order to address these issues, we are undertaking an ambitious three-year, interdisciplinary research program to develop a decision support system for river rehabilitation. The program involves faculty and graduate students of the School of Natural Resource & Environment, and key personnel from local county governments, not-for-profit groups, and land developers concerned with the restoration of the Huron and River Raisin Watersheds. The study area is the Huron and River Raisin Watersheds, a region that has experienced tremendous growth in the past and where urbanization is still taking place. The purpose of the decision support system (DSS) is to better understand how landscape change affects aquatic ecosystems and evaluate appropriate rehabilitation priorities from socioeconomic perspectives. It has been designed based on the following hypotheses: 1) Landscape variables that are effective predictors of stream degradation can identify stream and catchments that are suitable candidates for restoration efforts. 2) This program will identify landscape variables that need to be better managed. |
3) A cost-effective
program for river restoration can be developed by using relationships between land use and
ecological integrity to design alternative landscape strategies and assessing the social
and economic acceptability of these strategies. Although the DSS has been designed to be used anywhere, it will be developed using field data on land use and stream integrity collected from 60 subbasins in the study area (Figure 1). The sampling program will include the collection of fish and macroinvertibrates (to evaluate IBI and ICI indexes), flow and channel morphometrics (to evaluate stream habitat), and water chemistry data (to evaluate water quality). This information will be used to identify the landscape variables of greatest ecologic concern and to calibrate a hydrology and nonpoint source pollution that will enable the testing of alternative landcover scenarios that may improve stream health. The DSS will include an economic analysis and a survey of social acceptability to ensure that the alternative landcover scenarios developed are economically viable and socially acceptable. To date we have developed an extensive GIS database of landcover, imperviousness, soils, roads, hydrography, topography, and population for the study area and are getting ready for a summer field campaign in 30 of the subbasins. Landcover statistics and topographic indexes are being extracted for these watersheds and will be tested later in the fall to see which ones are strongest correlated with ecologic integrity. We expect this research program to generate a practical DSS to assist citizens and agencies in identifying river rehabilitation needs/opportunities. Decisions must still be made by individuals sharing that responsibility, but this tool provides a scientific basis for integrating information and weighing alternatives. The expected benefit is a reduction of risk to aquatic ecosystems through the identification of alternative land management practices that are socially, economically, and ecologically, and preferable to existing practices.* |
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| Membership Benefits Why Join MI-AWRA? The Michigan State Section—American Water Resources Association (MI-AWRA) provides a common forum in which professionals in water resources and related disciplines, and other interested individuals, can meet, discuss, debate, and exchange information and ideas about all aspects of water resources research and management.If you are not a member or have not renewed your membership, consider these benefits of belonging:
To become a member, simply fill in the form provided in this newsletter and send it with the $20 annual membership fee to the address listed. If you are currently a member of the MI-AWRA, introduce a friend or colleague to the benefits of membership! |
Become Involved in MI-AWRAWe encourage our
members to share their expertise by volunteering to serve on one of these committees:
The Program Committee welcomes suggestions on luncheon topics and speakers. Meeting hosts are also needed. A host is responsible for selecting a luncheon site and making the necessary arrangements. Promotions, handouts, and all other costs of the program are paid by MI-AWRA, although we appreciate sponsors for room charges, parking, or other associated costs. Call Jon Bartholic at (517) 353-9785. If you want to serve on one of the committees or contribute an article or information to this newsletter contact Jim Smalligan, MI-AWRA President at (616) 676-3824. |
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1999 Michigan State Section — AWRA Membership Application |
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| Please enclose your check in the amount of $20.00 for 1999 annual membership dues. | Mail to: MI-AWRA, P.O. Box 21151, Lansing, MI 48909 | |||||||
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MI-AWRA
PO BOX 21151
Lansing, MI 48909
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policies to protect sensitive areas, developing an education and information
plan, improving design and construction of storm water detention, and increasing the
effectiveness of current controls on building site soil erosion and septic systems. The
strategies also recommended the voluntary establishment of filter strips, wetlands and
stream bank restoration projects, and a voluntary agreement by the wastewater
