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Four Township Water Resources Council | |
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News
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FTWRC 2010 Kanoe the Kazoo Paddle Event For the seventh year in a row the Four Township Water Resources Council participated in the Kanoe the Kazoo events. FTWRC partnered with the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council to sponsor a guided tour on the Kalamazoo River on Saturday morning, May 22, 2010. Naturalists and representatives from both organizations provided guidance to natural features and wild inhabitants on the paddle. Close to 40 participants in 23 watercraft traversed portions of the River as it crosses through the southeast corner of the Four Townships and explored the mouths of 2 of the main streams in the Four Townships, Augusta and Gull Creeks, as they join the Kalamazoo River. It is important to connect land uses and potential pollution inputs from tributaries into the larger watershed. The paddle began at the Shady Bend Campground, east of Augusta, and concluded at the Time Out Lounge on the east end of Galesburg. FTWRC Annual Meeting April 26, 2010 The Four Township Water Resources Council held its Annual Meeting at 7:00 PM in the Kellogg Biological Station Auditorium in the Stack Building on Monday, April 26, 2010. In addition to a review of recent Council activities and plans for new programs, we featured a presentation from Jenny Molloy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "Green Infrastructure: Keeping Our Spaces Green and Our Waters Clean". Jenny is an Aquatic Biologist with a background in the ecology of aquatic systems, especially streams and rivers. She spent many years with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality integrating nonpoint source, stormwater, TMDL and other water quality programs from the Kalamazoo, Michigan office and was a resident of Barry Township. She has been the Green Infrastructure Coordinator with the EPA's Office of Wastewater Management for several years and she often travels around the United States to talk about strategies to develop onsite stormwater management through native plantings, sidewalk planter gardens, green roofs, and other green infrastructure elements -- all of which lead to better community design and environmental management. Water Quality Monitoring The Council has conducted studies on the Four Township water resources throughout our existence. Currently we are working with the Gull Lake Quality Organization and the Environmental Health Division of the Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services to monitor bacteria levels in selected surface water bodies in both Barry and Kalamazoo Counties. We are hoping to determine if significant contamination problems currently exist and to establish baseline levels for meaningful future assessments. When there are elevated bacterial counts in the water, it is often difficult to determine what is the source of the contamination. We are beginning to lay the foundation for answers to this question through an auxillary program, funded in part by a grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, which will utilize state -of-the- art DNA typing provided by a Michigan State University laboratory. These tests can distinguish between bacteria from human or cattle origins. It can also indicate if the source is of an alternative type, such as wildlife (e.g. deer,geese), or other livestock (e.g. horses, llamas), etc., although it will not be able to distinguish specifically within these categories. Results of this source typing will probably be available by this printing. The Council is looking into obtaining new grant funds associated with the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to continue and expand our water quality monitoring programs. We remain concerned about a variety of potential sources of nonpoint source pollution. The Council plans to continue research, educational efforts and community discussions on the role of septic systems, public sewer programs, agriculture, residential lawn and garden fertilization, road and stormwater runoff and new development. FTWRC Kanoe the Kazoo Paddle Events For the sixth year in a row the Four Township Water Resources Council participated in the Kanoe the Kazoo events. FTWRC sponsored a guided tour on Sherman Lake in Ross Township in the evening of Thursday, July 9, 2009. Several naturalists provided guidance on the paddle. Among these were Steve Allen , with the Kalamazoo Nature Center for many years and now with Geum Services, Inc., Ecological and Native Plant Consulting, and Jane Herbert, District Water Quality Educator with MSU Extension at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station who discussed shoreline features that protect water quality and enhance wildlife habitat. Dr. Steve Hamilton, Associate Professor, MSU Department of Zoology, and Dr. Lois Wolfson, MSU Department of Fisheries & Wildlife and the Institute for Water Research helped participants appreciate the lake ecology and discussed native and invasive aquatic plant management. The July 9 event began with a short presentation at the DNR boat launch site on North Sherman Lk. Drive. The paddle highlighted shoreline management and erosion control; natural, lake-friendly plantings and native vs. exotic (and sometime invasive) aquatic plants and their role in the lake ecosystem. A unique feature of Sherman Lake is a manmade channel which created an island and many additional home sites with water frontage. There was lively discussion about the special challenges of managing the unique habitat and riparian concerns on the channel where an aeration system has been installed to reduce muck accumulation on the bottom and help manage the aquatic plants.
May 2009 Watershed Sign Program Expanded The
Four Township Water Resources is continuing to work with local partners
to install signs identifying watershed features in the Four Townships.
In 2006 and 2007, the Barry Road County Road Commission and
Prairieville Township Park Commisison installed signs created by the
Council marking the Pine Lake-Gun River Watershed and road crossings of
Augusta and Prairieville Creeks and some of their tributaries in Barry
and Prairiev In 2009, the Kalamazoo County Road Commission has installed signs marking
road crossings of Augusta and Gull Creeks and Spring Brook in Richland
and Ross Townships, plus some of the tributaries and wetlands feeding
these streams. We are hoping to raise awareness of the relations between the roads, land features and water resources in the Four Township area and foster a sense of citizen "ownership" of our natural heritage. December 2009 $500,000 Grant Used to Develop Conservation Easements The Four Township Water Resources Council is partnering with the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) on a third grant under the federal Clean Water Act. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which administers these Section 319 grants in Michigan has awarded a matching grant to purchase development rights in the Prairieville Creek watershed. This will help protect water quality and wildlife habitat for Gull Lake. Conservation of Prairieville Creek has been a FTWRC goal for many years and is now one of the priorities established in SWMLC's recently completed Land Conservation Plan. The $500,000 MDEQ grant - the largest grant ever awarded to SWMLC - provides funds to purchase conservation easements on wetlands, land along the stream corridor and uplands that will remain undeveloped and serve as a riparian buffer to filter out harmful nutrients and sediment from adjacent land uses. The project began January 1, 2008 and is continuing through 2010. Our partner in a large MDEQ grant, the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, has made considerable progress toward the development of conservation easements in the Prairieville Creek Watershed. By the end of 2009, there have been 86 acres protected through the purchase or donation of conservation easements on a significant portion of the lands on the east of the Creek and Mud Lake, a pond within the course of the creek. Mud Lake remains open water through most winters and provides a haven for waterfowl in the area. Prairieville Creek is the most significant surface water contributor to Gull Lake, supplying about 21% of Gull Lake's water. Maintaining water quality, water quantity and wildlife habitat are of utmost importance for the health of this watershed and, ultimately, for the health of Gull Lake. Protecting this corridor through land acquisition and landowner education will reduce the impact from residential development, harmful agricultural practices, and invasive species, the three greatest threats. Additional funds in the MDEQ grant are supporting the update of the Watershed Management Plan in the Four Townships area, which is required by the MDEQ and will assess the health of the water resources and provide guidance on how to maintain and improved water quality. This work is being done with the assistance of the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council. The Four Township Water Resources Council will leverage the grant to continue its extensive citizen education programs and assistance to local governments and other environmental and conservation groups. In addition to the Prairieville Creek conservancy effort, attention will be given to the role of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in our area, lakeshore management for water quality and improving the Council's website, www.ftwrc.org, as an information source. July 2008 Paddle Tour on Pine Lake on July 17 For the fifth year in a row the Four Township Water Resources Council participated in the Kanoe the Kazoo events. FTWRC sponsored a guided tour on Pine Lake in Prairieville Township in the evening of Thursday, July 17, 2008. Naturalists helped participants appreciate the lake paddle. Among these were Steve Allen , a naturalist with the Kalamazoo Nature Center for many years and now with Geum Services, Inc., Ecological and Native Plant Consulting, who discussed shoreline features that protect water quality and enhance wildlife habitat. Graduate students in Biology from MSU at the Kellogg Biological Station, Mary Ann Evans and Jarad Mellard, provided a guide to the lake ecology and demonstrated biological sampling from the lake. And Dr. Lois Wolfson, MSU Department of Fisheries & Wildlife and the Institute for Water Research helped with aquatic plant identification and control.
The launch site and facilities at the Michigan Career and Technical
Institute (MCTI) on the North shore of Pine Lake were excellent.The
weather was perfect. Participants said that they appreciated the
mixture of education and entertainment.
Additional information about the Kanoe the Kazoo Program is available
at Kingman Museum - Battle Creek,
Michigan January 2007 Four-Township Water Resources
Council focuses on education The
Four-Township Water Resources Council (FTWRC) has been continuing its
efforts to protect water quality by focusing on citizen education and
involvement. In 2006 the Council began working
with the
Barry Co. Road Commission to place signs along roads to raise awareness
about local water resources and their relationship to the watersheds,
with signs marking the Pine Lake-Gun River Watershed and many road
crossings over Prairieville and Augusta creeks or their tributaries. In
2007 the Kalamazoo County Road Commission will begin erecting similar
signs marking Augusta Creek and Spring Brook and their watersheds. June 2006 Crooked Lake Paddle Tour
June 2006
New road signs identify Pine Lake area Travelers and
residents of the Pine Lake area can now see approximately where their
watershed starts thanks to new signs developed The goal of the
project is to raise awareness about area water resources and their
location. Road signs for other watersheds will be added in
the future. | |
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by the Four-Township Water
Resources Council. These attractive new signs were placed
near major road intersections so that travelers from any direction will
notice when entering the Pine Lake area.