Board Representatives Help Advance HRWC’s Mission

HRWC is a council of the local governmental units that have jurisdiction over property in the watershed. Membership is voluntary.  Of the 7 counties and 68 townships, villages, and cities located wholly or partially within the watershed, most have chosen to join HRWC.

Following is a list of current government members and their representatives on the HRWC Board of Directors. If you live in the Huron River watershed, check to see if your city, township, or village is a member of HRWC.  If it is not a member and you would like it to join, please contact us.

HRWC provides water resource information and research services to member governments. This information includes: water quality issues, land use, groundwater, hydrology, lake management, wetland protection, stormwater management and other related topics.

HRWC staff is available to review and comment on activities likely to affect water resources and advise member governments on lake and river management. For more details, see our Services Available to Member Governments information below.

How to Become a Member Government

Contact our Executive Director, Rebecca Esselman, at (734) 769-5123 or email her here to inquire about your local government unit becoming a member of HRWC. Annual membership dues for townships, cities, and villages are assessed at a rate of $0.10 per capita of residents who live within the boundaries of the watershed. Annual dues for counties are assessed at a rate of $0.05 per capita (watershed population) plus $1.50 per square mile of watershed area.

Water Quality Monitoring and Education

Promote and Coordinate Studies Regarding Water Resources

  • HRWC staff, board members, and volunteers serve on local river/watershed related committees and work with lake associations, municipal agencies and departments as requested;
  • HRWC performs fieldwork to generate water quality information (stream and river quality), and uses this data and other existing water quality and quantity information to develop watershed management plans for priority areas of the Huron River basin;
  • HRWC’s generates creek reports for the creeks and streams in the monitoring program.

Prepare periodic reports concerning emerging issues within the Huron River Watershed

Provide specific information to the public regarding the Huron River, its lakes, streams, flood plains, wetlands and groundwater, and research conducted by HRWC

Distribute newsletters on water resource issues

The newsletter informs HRWC members of activities and emerging issues regarding water quality and the Huron River.  Copies of the Huron River Report (printed newsletter) are provided to each member of the community’s governing board and planning commission.  Additional copies are provided for distribution to the public visiting the municipal offices and through area public libraries.  Additional action bulletins and emails are distributed when the need arises to detail important initiatives affecting the river.

Conduct presentations, workshops, and hands-on educational programs on the Huron River and its ecosystem

  • We train teachers in the use of environmental education materials on rivers, wetlands, and groundwater, and develop new curricula to augment existing curricula;
  • HRWC has developed the State’s premiere monitoring program through which citizen volunteers receive hands-on training to learn stream ecology, assess the health of area creeks and take action locally to protect these sensitive systems;
  • Staff is available to do video and slide presentations.

Technical Assistance and Policy Development

Provide technical analysis of data and reports regarding water resources

Provide technical assistance in the development of water resource protection policy and ordinances

  • We assist local planners in stormwater management planning, and in developing ordinances/policies for protecting wetlands, flood plains, riparian zones and groundwater;
  • HRWC also provides statewide leadership in issues related to watershed protection.

Permit and development proposal review/assessment of potential impacts to surface and groundwater resources

  • HRWC staff and technical advisors review permit applications under Michigan’s Goemaere-Anderson Wetland Protection Act, Inland Lakes and Streams Act, Flood Plain Regulatory Authority, and National Pollution Discharge Elimination Program and other programs administered by State and Federal agencies;
  • We also provide technical assistance on proposed development plans and environmental management plans and practices.

Regional, State and Federal Representation

  • Provide member governments with a forum for the resolution of inter-governmental disputes or inter-jurisdictional problems arising from the management of shared water resources.
  • Provide regional representation by serving on committees.
  • Comment upon State and Federal legislation, polity or planning initiatives that affect local governments and water resources.

Other Services Available to Members on a Contractual Basis

  • Ordinance administration
  • Water quality studies
  • Wetland and/or other natural feature mapping
  • Planning for drinking water protection
  • Inventories of potentially threatening land uses and hazardous materials handling procedures
  • Facilitation of inter-governmental planning