Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 15, Number 6 • Spring 2007
Lake Huron
Basin Update - U.S.Side
Grayling Stormwater Project Leads the Way for Small Communities
By Chris Grubb, National Wildlife Federation
Steve Southard considers the Au Sable
River in Michigan’s northern Lower
Peninsula one of the finest rivers east of
the Mississippi. He’s not alone. It was
along the banks of this gem near
Grayling, Michigan that one of the
United States’ most respected
conservation organizations, Trout
Unlimited, was formed. In addition to
providing world class trout fishing, the Au Sable River is home to
an annual canoe race, as well as scenery and wildlife that define
Michigan’s “Up North.”
The tremendous natural resources found in northern Michigan,
like the Au Sable, are often compared to the goose that laid the
golden egg. A spokesperson for the Grayling Chamber of
Commerce attributes at least 60 percent, and possibly up to 80 or
90 percent, of the city’s economic activity to tourism. Much of
that tourism is driven by the Au Sable. So it’s no surprise that
Steve,local conservation groups,city leaders,and others saw fit to
deal with an issue that could damage the Au Sable: stormwater
pollution.
A Big Goal
After an initial study on the impacts of stormwater from the city
of Grayling on the Au Sable River, the Grayling Stormwater Project
was born. Local partners set an impressive goal. They aimed to
retrofit the city’s stormwater system using low impact development
techniques to reduce the amount of stormwater reaching
drains by 80 percent.Of the remaining stormwater that did reach
the drains, they intended to use best management practices like
oil/grit separators to treat the stormwater before it reached the
river.
Anyone who has embarked on a fundraising campaign knows it’s
critical to have an arm twister on board. Steve Southard, the
proprietor of a local fly fishing shop in Grayling (the Fly Factory),
was in a fortuitous position to rally conservation groups in the
area and around the state behind the effort. About half a dozen
chapters of Trout Unlimited, along with groups like the “Trout
Bum Bar-B-Q” and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club, answered the
call raising $120,000. With a team that now included financial
and in-kind contributions from the City, the local Chamber of
Commerce, the non-profit Huron Pines, and others, the group was
able to secure funding from the state’s Clean Michigan Initiative.
Even the Michigan Department of Transportation has gotten in
the act, contributing $90,000 to mitigate for runoff from a
nearby highway.
Construction for the project began in September 2005. Taking a
page from communities in the western United States, the project
leaders targeted right-of-ways along residential city streets as
ideal spots for rain gardens. In Phase I of the project, 86 rain
gardens were installed and have been planted with shrubs and
perennial flowers. In addition to the rain gardens, the project
leaders have purchased and installed seven Vortechnic oil/grit
separators to treat the remaining stormwater that does reach the
pipes before it enters the Au Sable.
The Snowball Effect
The final phases of the project will be completed this year. But
before the project is even finished, Brad Jenson, Executive
Director of Huron Pines in Grayling, is thrilled with the feedback
he’s getting from other communities in northern Michigan. Brad
has been approached by local government officials and residents
in a number of other communities in the area about initiating
similar projects. The part that Brad particularly loves is that none
of these communities in northeast Michigan are large enough to
qualify as "Phase II" communities - those that have to meet
stormwater standards established by the U.S. EPA. That means
the communities can see the benefits of finding innovative ways
to deal with stormwater that will protect the area’s famed
waterways and strengthen local economies, all without being
told to do it!
To learn more and watch a video about the
Grayling Stormwater Project, visit www.huronpines.org.
For more information:
Chris Grubb, National Wildlife Federation
PH: 734-769-3351 • FX: 734-769-1449
E-mail: grubbc@nwf.org
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