The grades are in. The Huron takes home a C+.
Today the University of Maryland released a series of report cards for the watersheds of Southeast Michigan. The University’s Center for Environmental Science is the global leader in developing watershed report cards, and this effort was completed with funding from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation in partnership with five regional river groups: the Huron River Watershed Council, Friends of the Rouge, Clinton River Watershed Council, Friends of the Detroit River, and the River Raisin Watershed Council.
The Huron took home a C+, showing the health of the watershed as ‘moderate.’
How do I feel about a C+? It’s complicated. On the one hand, it shows lots of room for improvement. On the other hand, I am certain that if this effort were completed 30 or 40 years ago, it would illustrate just how far we’ve come. I’ll share a few of my key takeaways.
The indicators evaluated in the report card are environmental, social, and economic. These factors are undoubtedly integrated. The health of our environment leads to more social and economic prosperity. It is also clear that a number of these indicators fall well outside the work of river organizations. Many organizations, institutions, and individuals have a role in improving the overall health of our region.
Across many of the water quality indicators, the Huron is doing quite well. For a river in the region that half of all Michiganders call home, the watershed received high grades for some pollutants that we have been working to address for decades. The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 and catalyzed addressing point source pollution (pollution released to the river in pipes). The protection of the Huron River’s floodplain through the Michigan Natural Rivers Act kept critical lands for water quality, undeveloped. These are key strategies that led to this outcome. Further, significant areas of natural lands remain in the headwaters of the Huron. HRWC’s activism to secure a statewide phosphorus fertilizer ban in 2012 was also a big win for nutrient reduction in our waterways.
Recreation is a strength of the Huron River watershed. Our many lakes and streams provide fishing and boating opportunities. Altogether the state recreation areas in and around the watershed (Brighton, Island Lake, Pinckney and Waterloo) make up over 40,000 acres. Nine Metroparks (ten if you include Lake Erie Metropark) line the main stem of the river. And many local parks have been protected by our communities and land conservancies. These parks, along with amenities like the Huron River Water Trail, the B2B Trail, the Downriver Linked Greenways, and the Lakelands Trail provide critical access to the outdoors right here in our backyard.
Where we are not doing as well is largely where new threats have surfaced. Ever-expanding impervious surfaces from urbanization (and shrinking forests and wetlands), along with increased rainfall due to climate change, lead to increased flooding and its resulting costs. Bacteria in our waterways show we have a long way to go to combat the offending sources, which include septic systems, overflows in our wastewater systems, and domestic and wild animal waste. Our fish consumption score shows the mark of PFAS in our watershed. While it is safe to consume some fish from some isolated lakes, gains we made as we recovered from mercury and PCB contamination of fish in the 70s and 80s have been lost to new classes of chemicals.
If we are not careful and we do not actively protect remaining natural lands and build our river’s resilience to the impacts of climate change, we will see the grades associated with ecosystems decline. Now is not the time to ease up. Now is the time to accelerate our investments in our rivers by urgently addressing aging infrastructure, using innovations like Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and creating local and statewide policies that prevent pollution.
The biggest takeaway for me is that we need to be making deep and accelerated investments in our regional natural resources. Together we can improve the conditions of our waterways in Southeast Michigan for the benefit of all.
Report cards for the region and each river
The UMCES report cards assessed the health of the five major rivers in Southeast Michigan individually, and for the overall region. The effort integrated social, economic, and environmental data to provide a holistic view of the current state of the Clinton, Detroit, Huron, Raisin, and Rouge rivers.
Overall, Southeast Michigan scored 49%, a C grade, showing the region in moderate health. Of the river-specific scores, the Huron River had the highest score overall, 58%, a C+. The Rouge River had the lowest overall score, 37%, a D+. The other rivers had Cs (Raisin and Clinton) and C- grades (Detroit).
Get all the report cards at MichiganReportCards.org. Take a deep dive into the grades for the region and each river, including the 6 categories of 33 indicators and the data used to generate the scores.
Get a PDF of the Huron River Watershed Report Card (printable summary)
Watch the recorded video from the Southeast Michigan Report Cards Release (Integration & Application Network, Facebook Live, April 16, 2024).
Read the op ed by the watershed group executive directors, “Investment a pressing need for urbanized water resources” (Bridge Detroit, April 16, 2024).
Thank you!
Our gratitude to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science for their work on the watershed report cards and to the regional stakeholders who participated. We also thank the Friends of the Rouge, the Clinton River Watershed Council, Friends of the Detroit River and the River Raisin Watershed Council for their contributions and collaboration, and the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation for their generous support of the project. And thank you to Laura Rubin from Healing Our Waters for speaking and Nina Ignaczak from Planet Detroit for moderating the panel at the release event.