Sanjiv Sinha: Restoring the Great Lakes, One Watershed at a Time
The Detroit River has been known for decades as an “Area of Concern” for problems including loss of fish and wildlife habitat and degradation of fish and wildlife populations.
Thanks to grants from President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Friends of the Detroit River will undertake three projects aimed at improving the river, which links Lake St. Clair and the Upper Great Lakes to Lake Erie.
Michigan has been awarded nearly 40 percent, or $63 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, funded at $475 million during its first year.
In its first project, the Friends of the Detroit River plans to spend $1.4 million to reconnect the Blue Heron Lagoon on Belle Isle to the Detroit River. The lagoon, a 41-acre lake and wetland, discharges to the river. But direct access for fish is prohibited by sheet pile walls, grates and drop structures. The project will reconnect and naturalize the mouth of the lagoon to the Detroit River, restoring fish access to 95 acres of wetlands, shallow and deep water habitat and 2.2 miles of canals.
The second Detroit River project involves constructing a coastal wetland downstream of a sturgeon spawning reef near Belle Isle. A previous project here enhanced reproduction of 16 species of native fish in an area where spawning was nonexistent. The new ($497,000) funding will result in a 2.5-acre coastal wetland downstream of the spawning reef and create deep and shallow water habitat to ensure better survival of the fish larvae.
Finally, a third project will use nearly $1.2 million and restore a severely degraded industrial riverfront site into viable shoreline habitat for fish, amphibians, and water fowl within the U.S. Steel property. The work includes restoring 1,100 feet of shoreline, 1.7 acres of emergent wetlands, 750 feet of rock shoal, and creating an acre of fish spawning area in the river. About 4.6 acres of upland habitat adjacent to the shoreline also will be restored.
These projects represent an exciting opportunity for the region, from the standpoint of ecological restoration and creating and retaining jobs. We look forward to additional funding for the state to address other Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes.
--- Photo: Blue Heron Lagoon, Bing Maps
