One of the largest contributors to the Great Lakes coastal wetlands ecosystem will soon undergo a $30 million environmental cleanup, thanks to help from a $10 million federal stimulus grant.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the grant to the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) to restore some 10,000 feet of "hardened" shoreline containing broken concrete, sheet metal, sawdust and slag from industrial sites. The project includes the removal of over 180,000 metric tons of degraded lake bottom sediment that has impaired aquatic and plant life.
About $20 million for the project comes from additional funding and in-kind support from local organizations.
The GLC has partnered with the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission on the project. Initial estimates indicate the rehabilitation will create 125 jobs, mostly construction and engineering related, and will stimulate tourism and water recreation. Last year, sport fishing alone generated $1.2 million for the local economy; project leaders expect that amount to increase after the restoration.
GVSU's Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) will monitor the results of the rehabilitation to determine the project's success.
"Dr. Carl Reutz will monitor the fish populations," AWRI Director Al Steinman says. "My lab will be looking at the aquatic macrophytes – at what comes back, the numbers, the densities restored. We'll collaborate with Dr. Paul Isley at the SBTDC to look at indicators of the social and economic success of the restoration."
The socio-economic monitoring includes an analysis of Muskegon Lake property values, a survey to determine how much money people spend to get to the lake and while at the lake, and a valuation survey of the lake's users and non-users to estimate how much money they would be willing to pay to use the lake before restoration and after restoration.
The project runs between September 2009 and December 2010.
Source: Al Steinman, Annis Water Resources Institute; Kathy Evans, West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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