Grants: Water Resources

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Ringwood Forest Park Canoe Trail

May 1999

One of the recommendations of the Fisheries Scoping Study was to improve small boat access on the watershed’s rivers. This project dis that. The Friends of the Bad River removed snags and blockages from the south branch of the Bad River between Ringwood County Park and St. Charles River Park. Some of the downed trees were cabled to the banks to stabilize the river; the rest were removed. The snags diverted the river from its natural course, exacerbating bank erosion. They also blocked small boat access. Removing the snags opened river for small boats, restored the river’s natural course, enhanced fish habitat, and helped prevent future bank erosion.

Understanding the Fate of Contaminants in the Pine River

May 1999

SVSU used this grant to kick start a new program to allow environmental chemistry students to monitor the Pine River’s ecosystem over the next 10 years. The Pine River at St. Louis is heavily contaminated with DDT and other toxic compounds. The area has been designated a Super Fund site. The project will allow students to monitor levels of contaminants in the river system as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality clean up the site. The program will provide a safe “hands on” learning experience for students. This seed funding will allow SVSU to implement the program during the first year, after which it will be self-sustaining through the environmental chemistry program. The project is not intended to produce data for any regulatory or enforcement purposes. However, the data will be available to people interested in the remediation of the Pine River.

Outdoor Writers Tour of the Saginaw Bay Area

May 1999

The CVBs partnered to promote the watershed’s outdoor attractions to outdoor writers visiting the area for a national In Fisherman walleye tournament. The tournament was held August 4-6, 1999. The writers’ tour was held July 30 – August 6. The CVBs developed a targeted list of writers and a package of materials about the watershed’s attractions. By exposing a cross section of writers to the watershed’s amenities, the CVBs can generate stories in credible national and regional media about the Saginaw Bay area and the watershed.

Fisheries Scoping Study

November 1998

Shortly after it was organized in late summer 1998, the WRTG identified fishery enhancement as a primary area of initial focus for its work. The WRTG wished to identify areas where it could target its time and resources to make a tangible difference in the quality and public perception of water resources in The Saginaw Bay Watershed. The WRTG asked The Conservation Fund to perform a scoping study to help it develop a practical, broad-based understanding of public perceptions about fisheries in the watershed and the status of those fisheries. The study also identified an array of appropriate project opportunities for WIN and new WIN partners. The WRTG has begun tapping those opportunities and working with new partners. A final report on the Fisheries Scoping Study was submitted to the Bay Area Community Foundation on August 25, 1999.

Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring, Support & Training

The purpose of this project was to educate, train, and assist community and school watershed groups to conduct water quality testing in the watershed. The project spun off of two ongoing projects on Midland’s Sturgeon Creek and an effort being facilitated by Saginaw Public Schools. As part of this project, a watershed database and website was developed for housing existing data, and for making the data available to the general public. Steps were taken to standardize the procedures used by watershed groups to ensure quality and consistency in the results. The project was designed to be a model that SVSU can use throughout the Saginaw Basin.

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