New funding allows HRWC to invest in climate resilience

In 2025, HRWC will launch several new projects. Two of these are incredibly innovative endeavors: funders recognize the capacity of HRWC to develop cutting edge solutions to threats that many watersheds face throughout the country, and our goal is to share what we learn through these projects with others to replicate or build upon. The third project carries out a well-established methodology for assessing problem areas so we can prioritize our investments and future areas of work.

All these efforts will help build resilience in a river system that is seeing more rainfall as global temperatures rise and is facing additional pressures of increased development and loss of habitat diversity.

Forest land protection

The Huron River watershed faces threats from high development pressure, industrial contamination, and climate change. Forested lands protect against environmental degradation caused by these threats, but only 12% of the watershed is protected—and rapid suburban expansion is expected to develop virtually all unprotected land in the watershed by late-century. With new funding from the United States Forest Service, HRWC will work with land conservancies, local governments, landowners, and experts to explore feasible strategies for a watershed investment program that would enhance the protection of land for water quality and climate resilience.

Flow forecast network and model

Flooding is the leading cause of natural disaster fatalities and property damage in the US—more than earthquakes and wildfires combined. Simultaneously, communities are facing unprecedented ecological challenges, such as harmful algal blooms, polluted waters, and degraded fish habitats. With funding from the National Science Foundation, a team of researchers and professionals from the University of Michigan and HRWC will develop and pilot a new predictive flow forecasting tool to help managers address flooding and flow management. The pilot program will develop the tool with a dam managers network, optimize flow management guidance for aquatic habitat protection, and share the pilot products regionally to encourage broader use.

Mill Creek road-stream crossings

By far the largest creekshed in the Huron River watershed, Mill Creek is also the creekshed with the largest amount of agricultural land. Over the years, many of the streams in Mill creekshed have been channelized, straightened, and deepened to drain wetlands and allow for a greater amount of land to be farmed. The creek undergoes further degradation at Mill Creek’s 190 road-stream crossings, as improperly sized or deteriorating culverts back up water, increase water velocity, and erode and scour stream beds and banks.

This summer, with support from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, HRWC staff and interns will be visiting each of the road-stream crossings on Mill Creek to determine their condition. Our findings will be distributed to community partners so we can work together to fix the crossings that do the most damage to the creek.

—Dan Brown, Ric Lawson, and Paul Steen

This blog post is also published in the Huron River Report, Spring 2025.