The Rouge River Area of Concern - A multi-year, multi-level successful approach to restoration of Impaired Beneficial Uses
Keywords:
Great Lakes, watershed, ecosystem approachAbstract
Citizen outcry in the 1960s led to passage of the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act. Expansion of industrial permitting and availability of federal grants to municipalities controlled industrial waste and untreated municipal sewage entering the Rouge River. However, many sources persisted – notably wet weather discharges, stormwater runoff, and contaminated sediments. This remaining pollution led state officials to cooperatively craft the Rouge River Remedial Action Plan in 1985. This plan addressed all pollution sources, but was not substantially implemented until 1993 when the federal government, encouraged by Congressmen Dingell and Knollenberg, committed to the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project. The federal government ultimately delivered $350 million that was matched by $700 million in local funds. Efforts have been sustained through multi-year state and federal grants, with additional funding from local communities and other stakeholders. Early focus of the Rouge Project was on untreated sewage from combined sewer overflows, but quickly expanded to address other impairments from sanitary sewer overflows, stormwater runoff, illicit connections and failing septic systems. With major sewage discharges under control, efforts shifted to remediating contaminated sediments and improving in-stream water quality and habitat. In total, over 380 projects were completed by 75 communities and agencies at a cost of over $1 billion since 1988, resulting in improved water, sediment, and biological quality. Prior to the U.S. Clean Water Act, the Rouge River nearly continuously failed to meet water quality standards. After decades of effort and investment, it now rarely violates standards. This miraculous recovery was initiated by a small handful of citizens, facilitated by local municipal leaders, and supported by the federal government. The Rouge River is a model for how a holistic, ecosystem approach to water pollution can result in cost-effective and greater and faster achievement of restoration, while meeting local needs.
References
Arnold, C.L.
, Gibbons, C.J.
, 1996. Impervious surface coverage: the emergence of a key environmental indicator. Journal of the American Planning Association 62(2), 243–258.
Bean, C.J.
, Mullett, N.
, Hartig, J.H.
, 2003. Watershed Planning and Management: The Rouge River Experience. In:
J.H. Hartig
(Ed.),
Honoring Our Detroit River: Caring for Our Home
, pp. 185–198. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA.
Catalfio, C.
, 2008. Rouge River Monitoring and Assessment Report. Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project. Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Diebolt, J.
, 1985. Bad Rouge water may have killed Novi man. Detroit Free Press. October 5 issue. Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Friends of the Rouge
, 2015. 2014-2015 Annual Report. Dearborn, Michigan, USA.
Giffels/Black and Veatch,
Quantity and quality of combined sewer overflows. Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Gnau, T.B.
, 1975. Indian mounds to dumping grounds: a history of the Rouge River. The Dearborn Historian 15(2), 57–75.
Hartig, J.H.
, 1997. Great Lakes remedial action plans: Fostering adaptive ecosystem-based management processes. The American Review of Canadian Studies 27(3), 437–458.
Hartig, J.H.
, 2010.
Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught on Fire
. Ecovision World Monograph Series, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society, Burlington, Ontario, Canada and Multi-Science Publishing Company, Ltd., Essex, United Kingdom.
Hartig, J.H.
, Thomas, R.L.
, 1988. Development of plans to restore degraded areas of the Great Lakes. Environmental Management 12, 327–347.
Hartig, J.H.
, Vallentyne, J.R.
, 1989. Use of an ecosystem approach to restore degraded areas of the Great Lakes. Ambio. 18 (8), 423–428.
Hartig, J.H.
, Zarull, M.A.
, Law, N.L.
, 1998. An ecosystem approach to Great Lakes management: Practical steps. J. Great Lakes Res. 24(3), 739–750.
International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board
, 1985. Report on Great Lakes water quality. Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Jackson, G.
, 1975. A biological investigation of the Rouge River, Wayne and Oakland Counties, May 17 to October 19, 1973. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Water Management, Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
, 1988. Rouge River Remedial Action Plan. Lansing and Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Murray, J.
, 1994. Rouge River watershed management: Implementing a remedial action plan (RAP). Proceedings of 67th Annual Conference of Water Environment Federation. Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Platt, R.H.
, 2006. Urban watershed management: Sustainability, one stream at a time. Environment: Science and Policy of Sustainable Development. 48(4), 26–42.
Ridgway, J.
, 2010. The Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project: Eighteen Years of Documented Success. Cities of the Future/Urban River Restoration. Water Environment Federation. Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Ridgway, J.W.
, McCormack, F.M.
, 1994. Rouge River Watershed Nonpoint Source Management: Significant Components of Urban Pollutant Loads - Crossing the Final Hurdles for Achieving Water Quality Standards. WEFTEC, Water Environment Federation. Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Ridgway, J.W.
, Tolpa, E.R.
, Lindquist, E.
, Schrameck, R.E.
, 1996. One Size Does not Fit All: Stormwater is a Bigger Issue since Local Communities have no Regulatory Requirements beyond CSO Controls. Watershed 1996, Water Environment Federation. Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Rouge Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Advisory Council
, 1994. Rouge River Remedial Action Plan Update. Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Rouge RAP Advisory Council
, 1999. Rouge River Report Card. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Rouge RAP Advisory Council
, 2004. Rouge River Remedial Action Plan Revision. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Schrameck, R.
, Fields, M.
, Synk, M.
, 1992. Restoring the Rouge. In:
J.H. Hartig
,
M.A. Zarull
(Eds.),
Under RAPs: Toward Grassroots Ecological Democracy in the Great Lakes Basin
, pp. 73–91. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Selzer, M.
, 2008. Biennial Remedial Action Plan Update for the Rouge River Area of Concern. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Slocombe, D.S.
, 1993. Implementing ecosystem-based management. Bioscience. 43(9), 612–622.
Vallentyne, J.R.
, Beeton, A.M.
, 1988. The ecosystem approach to managing human uses and abuses of natural resources in the Great Lakes Basin. Environmental Conservation. 15(1), 58–62.
Zarull, M.A.
, Hartig, J.H.
, Krantzberg, K.
, 2001. Contaminated sediment remediation in the Laurentian Great Lakes: An overview. Water Qual. Res. J. Canada. 36(3), 351–365.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
