The Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) is the pet project of Jeff Wright, the Genesee County Water Resources Commissioner. “Karegnondi” is a Petan (Wyandot) Indian word meaning “big lake,” associated especially with Lake Huron, the source of KWA’s water.
The Authority is intended to provide potable water to communities in Genesee County and points eastward in Lapeer and Sanilac counties, along the pipeline from Lake Huron. It was created to replace service from the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department (DWSD) in those counties.
Wright and other promoters expect savings to residents and businesses in the service area to be significant, encouraging economic growth.
Construction of the water intake facility on Lake Huron just began. The intake contractor is L. D'Agostini & Sons Inc.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2016. In the meantime, water will be drawn from the Flint River and treated or purchased from DWSD.
The early name for Lake Huron Karegnondi likely comes from the Wyandotte language. Though Karegnondi is said to meaning Lake, the Wyandotte word Yoontaury actually means lake and is the source word for the place name [Lake] Ontario [1]. Karegnondi likely means “where the mouth of the river opens, juts, or pours out”, which is “askarent-iondi” in Wyandotte. On maps of the mid-1600’s, Fluvius Kariendiondi was the name for the Saginaw River, and the Saginaw Bay was called Tekariendiondi. "Tek" meant where. "Areenti" meant river mouth, and "ondi" meant it projects out.
ReplyDeleteThe Algonquin word Sauk and hence Saginaw also means where the river pours out. So, Karegnondi and Sauk have the same meaning. The first word is Wyandotte and the second word is from the Sauk language. Both mean “river outlet”.
Saginaw was once early on called Sankinan, which perhaps is related to the Dutch and German word "schenken", which means to pour out. The Old Latin word for a cupbearer, wine waiter, or one who poured a drink was called an "echanson". The basic meaning was to pour a liquid out.
1. ^ The Historical Writings of the Late Orsamus H. Marshall Relating to the Early History of the West