However, portions of the river system fail to meet minimum water quality standards or provide designated uses. Although reductions in point source phosphorus discharges since the late 1970’s have resulted in significant improvements in water quality, the pattern and intensity of land development and use of the river for wastewater disposal have taken their toll on the integrity of the aquatic system. Nutrient enrichment, sedimentation, and excessive and erratic flows are identified as specific concerns in the Huron River system. All of these factors have had a measurable impact as the Michigan 303(d) List of Impaired Waters identifies twenty-one (21) water bodies or river segments within the watershed that require MDEQ to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)-- more than in any other river basin in Michigan. Concern over the entire Huron River system is such that the river is cited on the State’s Unified Watershed Assessment as a Category 1 watershed, indicating highest restoration priority.

The Huron watershed is made up of 24 subwatersheds and covers 910 sq. miles. Current land use cover data, derived from 2000 aerial mapping data, shows the following breakdown for the Huron River Watershed:

• 24% agriculture
  
• 33% developed
  
• 14% open/old agriculture
  
• 29% wetland/woodland/water

There are currently seven sub-watershed management plans in the Huron Watershed (Kent Lake, Brighton Lakes, Chain of Lakes, Mill Creek, Millers Creek, Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Area, and Lower Huron Watershed Management Plans). In these plans, the primary pollutants were prioritized during the planning process. The consistent top three pollutants (primary) are: altered hydrology/high stormwater peak flows; sedimentation and soil erosion; and high nutrient load. Known sources of these pollutants reveal that nonpoint sources of pollution are the main contributors and must be mitigated if the watershed is to be improved and protected. Additionally road stream crossing inventories and visual surveys of throughout the watershed show a lack of vegetation on riparian banks.

Michigan is experiencing a continuing migration of people away from urban centers into low-density rural areas; that is, extensive urban sprawl. The negative impacts are widespread, including the loss of unique ecosystems and biological diversity, expanding problems with non-point source pollution, and massive transportation and infrastructure costs. All of these problems are particularly acute in rapid growth regions such as Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, within the Huron River Watershed. In the next twenty years, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments predicts that more than 40% of the remaining open spaces within the watershed will be converted for residential and commercial development.

The Huron Watershed is currently the cleanest river in Southeast Michigan. It supports a multi-million dollar recreational fishery, is home to numerous endangered and threatened species, a number of bogs, wet meadows, and remnant prairies of state-wide significance, and is the only state-designated scenic river in Southeast Michigan. The watershed contains two-thirds of the region's public recreational lands.

The high quality of the lands and waters within the watershed is largely due to the relatively large amounts of open space that still exist within it. Open spaces and natural areas provide:

• wildlife habitat
• habitat for rare plants and animals
• a healthy hydrology/water cycle
• air & water pollution control
• recreation
• biodiversity

If current development trends continue, the watershed's remaining open spaces will continue to be lost to development, destroying wildlife habitat and forever altering the hydrology of the watershed.

Not all open spaces and natural areas are created equal. And, given the projected growth in the headwaters areas of the Huron Watershed, it will not be possible to protect all of the remaining open spaces from conversion to houses and shopping malls. In order to help state and local planning agencies, land conservancies, and local communities make better decisions about where to encourage growth and where to target preservation and restoration efforts, the Watershed Council has created a preliminary conservation planning map of the remaining natural areas in the watershed.

Last Updated: February 2006