A dedication was held Sept. 6 to celebrate the Johnson Creek rehabilitation project at Fish Hatchery Park with all the parties involved. The three-year project cleaned up the creek, stemmed erosion from the banks, and restored the natural habitat along the waterway that winds through the park and meets up with the Middle Rouge River. Hosted by the Alliance of Rouge Communities (ARC), John O’Meara, ARC executive vice president, introduced the speakers: Mayor Brian Turnbull, Township Supervisor Mark Abbo, EPA Region 5 representative Crawford White, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell.
O’Meara said that ARC has completed 19 projects with funding of $23 million. The Fish Hatchery Park project accounted for $1.2 million of that total. He noted that investments in the environment pay back $3.5 to $6 for every dollar spent.
Mayor Turnbull said Northville Fish Hatchery Park has historically been a gateway to the community and is named for one of the area’s early industries. “The topography was perfect to establish the Northville Fish Hatchery in 1880. In 1889, when the establishment was fully operational, the facility contained 2.1 million lake trout eggs, 207,000 Brook trout, 120,000 Brown trout and 58,000 Rainbow trout. Shipments were made throughout the U.S., Mexico, England, France, Germany, South America, New Zealand, and other places.
“We’re truly enthused about the future and appreciate the support from all our stakeholders at this park who are also assisting in transformational regional initiatives along our riverbanks. We ‘re daylighting a section of the river that was buried last century at Northville Downs, renovating Ford Field on the river walk, bolstering riverbanks to decrease erosion and creating a new Farmers’ Market Commons area on the river which will be used for regional activities.”
Township Supervisor Abbo noted that Fish Hatchery Park was the first cooperative arrangement with the city of Northville and “It blossomed from there.” The city and township have a shared service in the Parks & Recreation Dept., which manages all city and township parks. He also noted that the project is keeping the environment safe and healthy, which is a benefit to all.
Crawford White spoke on behalf of The Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), which coordinates U.S. efforts with Canada under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem. GLNPO manages and implements programs such as Areas of Concern, of which the Fish Hatchery Park project was a recipient. Of 31 habitat restoration projects in recent years, more than half – included this one – have been completed.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) – which goes by the pronunciation: Jill-er-i – is both a funding source and a strategic program that ease threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and accelerates progress toward long-term goals. Combining GLRI resources with agency base budgets, the EPA works with non-federal partners to implement projects that protect and restore the Great Lakes and their tributaries.
Sen. Stabenow said wherever you go in Michigan you are only six miles from a body of water, noting the Great Lakes make up 95% of the country’s fresh water. She spoke of GLRI’s capability to finance and strategize about how to keep Michigan’s waters clean and be able to deal with emergencies. When she learned that invasive carp from the Mississippi River had made it to Illinois waters and were heading toward Lake Michigan, she took action to set up the fund. An amount of $475 million was authorized through 2026 and she is working to get it extended to 2031. She noted the EPA has driven $1.4 billion in water-related funding toward 3,000 projects in Michigan over the years. And, she and others got another $1 billion in federal infrastructure funding directed toward projects that impact bodies of water in the state.
She said she’s excited to celebrate the completion of the natural habitat at Fish Hatchery Park, applauding the vision and hard work it took of those involved.
Rep. Dingell, whom Meara called ‘the closer’, recalled the passion that her late husband John (Rep. John Dingell) had for the environment when he and Sen. Edward Muskie co-authored the Clean Water Act in the 1970s. She noted the impetus for that legislation was when the Rouge River caught on fire. She recalled that the trout population had nearly diminished but is now restored in this catch-and-release creek. She said keeping the Great Lakes clean is imperative, especially since it supplies more than 20 percent of the fresh water supply in the world. She concluded by saying “It’s not a partisan issue to protect the Great Lakes” and noted that “We all have a responsibility to protect natural resources for generations to come.”
ARC is a non-profit organization consisting of local municipalities, counties, educational institutions and stewardship groups working together to improve the Rouge River. The non-profit encourages watershed-wide cooperation and support to restore beneficial uses of the Rouge River to the area residents while meeting water quality permit requirements.