Over the past two years, the Conservancy and University of Michigan-Flint along with many organizations and individuals in Gladwin and Clare Counties have been hard at work updating the Cedar River Watershed Management Plan. The revised plan was recently approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
Watershed management plans identify impairments in the watershed and create a plan to address them in order to improve the water quality of a community’s rivers, lakes and streams. The revision was required to meet new standards that have been put in place since the original plan was created in 2001.
“The plan is a guidebook for helping improve and protect the water quality of the region,” said Conservancy Land Protection Specialist Elan Lipschitz. “The plan belongs to the whole community, which is why we strove to include the input of as many partners as possible.”
The Conservancy and University of Michigan-Flint hosted several meetings and presentations to raise awareness of the watershed management plan update and gather insights into the Cedar River Watershed.
From these discussions and visits to several locations within the watershed, the plan was developed to address the issues facing the watershed. The plan identified the increased need to permanently protect land within the watershed as well as limiting livestock in the rivers and streams, preventing sediment from county roads entering the waterways, and educating landowners on maintenance of their septic systems.
The Conservancy’s work to improve and protect the water quality of the Cedar River Watershed does not stop here. The Conservancy is continuing to participate in implementing the plan as part of the Cedar River Watershed Steering Committee.
“The establishment of the Cedar River Watershed Steering Committee is encouraging for the long-term health of the watershed and its residents,” added Elan. “The collaboration has lead to a continued focus to improve the watershed by implementing this watershed management plan.”
For more information or to read the Cedar River Watershed Management Plan, click here.
