Ecological targets for the
Rouge River
The National Wet weather
Demonstration Project on the Rouge
River is one of the largest restorations ever attempted in an urban
river setting. We were contracted to provide long-term biological
(fish community), thermal and hydrologic targets for this restoration using
ecological criteria developed from the statewide MRI databases. Based on
the observations of physically similar rivers elsewhere in Michigan, we
designed goals for the restoration of the fish community of the Rouge.
In addition we provided RPO hydrologic engineers target temperatures and
hydrologic yields (wet weather, dry weather, and annual flow duration curves)
necessary to support a rehabilitated fish community.
Public benefits: The
project is developing new and sorely needed quantitative techniques for
planning the rehabilitation of urban river systems. For the Rouge restoration
we are providing the first real glimpses of what a rehabilitated Rouge
could look like. Because the emerging picture of the Rouge's fishery potential
is much better than many residents had anticipated, our analyses are playing
both an important technical and political role in the rehabilitation of
his river system. Funded by Wayne County (EPA Prime)
Collaborators: Paul Seelbach
(MDNR/SNRE), Mike Wiley (SNRE)
Final Project Report
Wiley, Michael
J., Paul W. Seelbach, and Stephen Bowler. 1998. Ecological targets for
rehabilitation of the Rouge River. Final Report 68 pp. Rouge Project Office.
[RPO-PI-SR08.00]
|