Hamilton Reef
05-07-2006, 08:09 PM
Grant to help with 'buffers'
Watershed council would create natural borders along waterways
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1146996953187040.xml&coll=2
Sunday, May 07, 2006 BY TRACY DAVIS News Staff Reporter
tdavis@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6856
A $141,000 grant will help the Huron River Watershed Council pilot a regionwide initiative aimed at enhancing the environment alongside rivers and streams.
Through work with local communities, officials hope the state Department of Environmental Quality grant will result in "buffers'' along critical waterways. Those buffers - a natural border of native plants, bushes and trees - help filter pollutants and slow runoff, which reduces erosion.
It's one a series of recent efforts to help improve the health of the Huron River. Parts of the river are under a federal mandate to reduce phosphorus pollution, which is largely caused by storm runoff and sewage treatment plant discharges.
The Huron, the source of about 80 percent of Ann Arbor's drinking water, is one of the cleanest urban rivers in Michigan, said Chris Riggs, a watershed planner for the Council.
"As natural areas in the watershed are increasingly developed, we have to work harder to maintain that title,'' Riggs said.
The two-year program's goals are to educate people who live alongside lakes and streams about the importance of such buffers, and to get more local communities to adopt ordinances mandating the buffers.
Ann Arbor already has such a rule as part of its zoning ordinance, said city Land Development Coordinator Jerry Hancock. The 14-year-old rule requires buffers alongside waterways and wetlands.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the buffers can also provide protection for a water body during a construction project by ensuring areas closest to water are undisturbed, he said.
Buffers also provide wildlife habitat, including in the waterways.
Educational efforts will include demonstration sites. The watershed council also plans to develop a model buffer ordinance that communities can use.
For more information, call Chris Riggs at the watershed council at 734-769-5123 ext. 13 or see www.hrwc.org.
Watershed council would create natural borders along waterways
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1146996953187040.xml&coll=2
Sunday, May 07, 2006 BY TRACY DAVIS News Staff Reporter
tdavis@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6856
A $141,000 grant will help the Huron River Watershed Council pilot a regionwide initiative aimed at enhancing the environment alongside rivers and streams.
Through work with local communities, officials hope the state Department of Environmental Quality grant will result in "buffers'' along critical waterways. Those buffers - a natural border of native plants, bushes and trees - help filter pollutants and slow runoff, which reduces erosion.
It's one a series of recent efforts to help improve the health of the Huron River. Parts of the river are under a federal mandate to reduce phosphorus pollution, which is largely caused by storm runoff and sewage treatment plant discharges.
The Huron, the source of about 80 percent of Ann Arbor's drinking water, is one of the cleanest urban rivers in Michigan, said Chris Riggs, a watershed planner for the Council.
"As natural areas in the watershed are increasingly developed, we have to work harder to maintain that title,'' Riggs said.
The two-year program's goals are to educate people who live alongside lakes and streams about the importance of such buffers, and to get more local communities to adopt ordinances mandating the buffers.
Ann Arbor already has such a rule as part of its zoning ordinance, said city Land Development Coordinator Jerry Hancock. The 14-year-old rule requires buffers alongside waterways and wetlands.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the buffers can also provide protection for a water body during a construction project by ensuring areas closest to water are undisturbed, he said.
Buffers also provide wildlife habitat, including in the waterways.
Educational efforts will include demonstration sites. The watershed council also plans to develop a model buffer ordinance that communities can use.
For more information, call Chris Riggs at the watershed council at 734-769-5123 ext. 13 or see www.hrwc.org.