Utilize Green Infrastructure in Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Part of the reason why remediation of a legacy of industrial pollution identified as Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the St. Clair River-Detroit River corridor is taking decades to achieve is the over-reliance on concrete and steel projects where green infrastructure would be more effective.

For example, as a means of stormwater control, public and private interests in New York City (including one auto company, Toyota) determined to plant a million trees in 10 years. They achieved that goal in eight years.

In the metro Detroit area (home of three auto companies), large-scale tree planting has been forsaken out of preference for huge concrete and steel projects like the so-called retention-treatment basins (RTBs). Nevertheless, downstream pollution, including sedimentation and turbidity, continues to be problematic.

Kuhn RTB - Oakland County, Michigan

One such, the massive Kuhn RTB (formerly known as Twelve Towns) in Oakland County, recently expanded, continues to divert partially screened and treated, sediment-laden surges down the Red Run Drain to the Clinton River and on to Lake St. Clair when overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms, instead of pumping the effluent to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant as usual.

Better water quality in Great Lakes AOCs can be hastened by greater reliance on green infrastructure.

Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge

The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is a binational sanctuary created in 2001 to preserve ecosystems in the river and on the western edge of Lake Erie. The achievement is the result of the combined efforts of Canada and the U.S., the only such international reserve on the continent.

“The [original] refuge [consisted] of nearly 6,000 acres of unique habitat, including islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands within an authorized boundary extending along 48 miles of shoreline.” The 400 acre Humbug Marsh was added in 2004.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Detroit_River/about.html

Canada greatly expanded the boundaries of the sanctuary in 2012 by creating the adjoining Western Lake Erie Watersheds Priority Natural Area, another first of its kind.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/detroit_river/what_we_do/partnerships/priority_natural_area.html

U.S. area, left; Canadian, right

The Detroit River and Lake Erie watersheds “...lie fully within the Carolinian Zone, which supports the greatest diversity of plant and animal species of any region in Canada.”

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Canadian%20PNA%20News%20Release%20October%202012.pdf

Rare and endangered fish species in the Detroit River include the Northern Madtom (a small catfish) and the Mooneye. “There are only three known populations of Northern Madtom in Michigan, and they are rare or critically imperiled throughout their range.” Mooneye of the family Hiodontidae resemble shad. “Although historically found in Lakes Michigan and Huron, recent accounts suggest that Mooneye only persist in the St. Clair-Detroit River System.”

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/04_wap_stclair_detroit_river_system_500064_7.pdf