Meet the
President Elect for 2000
Hello, my name is Eugene Jaworski,
and I am a professor at Eastern Michigan University in the Department of
Geography-Geology. My research and teaching interests include freshwater wetlands,
stormwater management, soils, remote sensing, and environmental assessment. Some of you
know me through my small, private consultant firm and wetlands work being provided to
several communities in southeast Michigan.
Thanks to Past President, Jon Bartholic
I wish to thank Dr. Jon Bartholic for
his assistance during the past year when I was Vice President of the Michigan Chapter of
the American Water Resources Association (AWRA). It is gratifying to know that this
organization has the support of the Institute of Water Research at Michigan State
University, including the services of the Director Dr. Jon Bartholic as well as Dr. Lois
Wolfson. Bruce Manny of the USGS Great Lakes Center in Ann Arbor has also been very
helpful.
My Water Concerns
Please know that I take the presidency
of the Michigan Chapter of the AWRA very seriously. There are a number of current water
issues in Michigan, which require our thoughtful review and possible involvement. For
example, with the below average precipitation in the Great Lakes Region comes the need for
maintenance dredging of harbors and connecting channels of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence
Seaway navigation system. In addition to congressional authorization for dredging, the
sediments to be dredged must be sampled to ascertain the potential contamination level. If
contaminated according to United States/Canadian agreements, the polluted dredged material
must be disposed of in special confined disposal facilities (CDFs). Other issues that
concern many of us is the high cost of stormwater management, as in the case of Mallett
Creek in the City of Ann Arbor, as well as continued wetland loss, consumptive water loss
in our irrigated agricultural areas of Michigan, and urban stream restoration. While there
have been recent conferences and workshops on watershed management, we do not seem to be
able to do very much about fixing the direct discharge from existing storm sewer pipes in
our urban streams. Some researchers suggest that we need to discharge stormwater in the
lower portions of our streams during rain events as soon as possible in order to prevent
augmentation by upstream flows. But how do we achieve stormwater pre-treatment when there
is no detention? On the other hand, most stormwater detention basins are only 40 to 70%
efficient anyway as regards contaminant removal. Michigan is growing quite rapidly. We see
urban sprawl, as well as re-development in cities such as Southgate and townships such as
Van Buren of Wayne County where 5 to 10 years ago there was very little growth. Sometimes
we wonder who is purchasing all these nice new houses in the new subdivisions! This growth
stresses our existing infrastructure, including water supply systems, roadways, and storm
sewers. Adequate water supply and water quality are part of the real concerns as growth
takes place. Fortunately, Michigan is located within the humid part of the country and is
surrounded by the Great Lakes - - the world largest supply of freshwater. Nevertheless, we
need to plan today, so that some of the water problems of tomorrow may be minimized. With
access to data, as provided in part by information technologies, we can encourage the
general citizenry and the private sector to take voluntary action.
Luncheon Meetings
Our new Vice President of the Michigan
Chapter of the AWRA, for the year 2000, is Mr. Michael Gregg. He will be largely
responsible for setting up two or three luncheons during the year. If you have luncheon
ideas or other input for Michael Gregg, please contact him at greggm@state.mi.us
Sincerely, Eugene Jaworski,
Ph.D. Professor
