Ingham Conservation District

Water Shed Map

The Upper Grand River Implementation Project or the UGRIP, is an ongoing project designed to reduce erosion and sedimentation in key areas of the Upper Grand River Watershed (see map) and to improve the overall health of the watershed by increasing community awareness and involvement.  The project is a collective effort of nearly 30 organizations.  The ICD is involved in several components of this project including:

•    Identifying at risk areas and  working with landowners in these areas to implement conservation practices such as filter strips, wetland restoration or conservation easements.

•    The Adopt-A-Stream volunteer monitoring program (see more on AAS below)

•    Education and Outreach programs

•    River Cleanups

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UPPER GRAND RIVER ADOPT-A-STREAM

 Please join in for the next Adopt-A-Stream event!

 The Adopt-A-Stream program is a volunteer based effort that monitors the water quality of our river system by describing the habitats in and around a river and by collecting and identifying benthic macroinvertebrates.  Benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrates (creatures with no backbone, that are large enough to see without a microscope), also called “bugs” for short, are collected from the bottom of the river with nets then sorted and preserved for later identification at “Bug Identification Night”.  The number and type of bugs found are indicative of how healthy the river is.   No prior experience is needed.  All training and equipment is provided.  Come enjoy a chance to be outdoors, learn more about your local ecosystem and help make a difference! 

The contact person is Alison Rauss at Jackson County Conservation District 517-784-2800 ext 210 or alison.rauss@macd.org

 Huntoon Creek Clean Up

Thank you to all the volunteers who made the 2009 cleanup of the Huntoon Creek a success!  With 30 enthusiastic volunteers we were able to clean over a half-mile of the creek and fill the city’s front loader TWICE!  Thank you to our Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts who worked so hard and made the project fun, to the City of Leslie for handling the trash disposal, to the Jackson County Conservation District for their contributions and support, to the Grand River Environmental Action Team (G.R.E.A.T.) and the Dahlem Environmental Education Center for letting us borrow their waders and other equipment and to everyone who contributed their time and energy to this event.  Thank you for being great environmental stewards and community servants.  Keep checking our website for updates on upcoming events.  Also visit www.theugrip.org to learn more about the Upper Grand River Implementation Project and for other opportunities to get involved in making our watershed a healthier and more beautiful place to live.

Six signs are being installed within the Huntoon Creek Sub-basin that identify this area as being part of the Upper Grand River Watershed.  These signs are an effort on the part of the Upper Grand River Implementation Project to increase awareness of the watershed.  The Huntoon Creek Sub-basin is a priority within the larger Upper Grand River Watershed due to water quality problems resulting from off-field soil loss, nitrate-nitrite pollution, lack of adequate riparian buffer zones and loss of wetlands.  The UGRIP is dedicated to working with residents to increase awareness of these issues and to help alleviate them.

If you wish to see the image below at a large scale, click on the little magnifying glass in the bottom right corner..