Grant Awarded to SWMLC to Ensure Clean Water for Augusta Creek and Kalamazoo River

The Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC), in partnership with the Four Townships Water Resources Council (FTWRC), was recently awarded a $444,000 matching grant by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to restore and permanently conserve land in the Augusta Creek Watershed.

“We were ecstatic to find out we received the largest sum of money awarded in the state during this round of funding to conserve land along Augusta Creek,” said Emily Wilke, SWMLC director of land protection. “The creek was identified as one of the most pristine water bodies in Michigan and therefore a priority to conserve to keep it that way.

Pictured here is Augusta Creek as it flows toward the Kalamazoo River.   

In December 2010, SWMLC and FTWRC completed the Gull Lake/ Prairieville Creek Conservation Project utilizing a similar MDEQ watershed grant, which protected the water quality of Gull Lake. The two groups protected over 6,000 feet of frontage on the two-mile-long creek through six conservation easements, a total of 310 acres of land.

“We were extremely pleased with the success of the Prairieville Creek watershed project,” said Joe Johnson, president of FTWRC and former director of the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. “Now we will move our efforts one watershed to the east and conserve more land to protect the water resources in the Four-Townships region and Kalamazoo River.”

Augusta Creek in southeastern Barry County and northeastern Kalamazoo County has been studied intensively by ecologists and is the site for ongoing research by the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. According to Steve Hamilton, professor of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry with the KBS, Augusta Creek carries clear, cool water.  It remains in good ecological health not only because it remains largely free-flowing, but also because it has extensive wetlands surrounding its headwaters, and because forest lines much of the stream valley, he notes.

Said Hamilton, “The combined effect of cool groundwater inputs and shady channels maintains the summer water temperature low enough to support trout fisheries. Brown trout is currently the primary target of fishermen and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources stocks several thousand brown trout into Augusta Creek every year.”

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced the awarding of 11 water quality grants totaling more than $3.2 million to support watershed planning efforts and permanently protect and restore rivers and wetlands statewide. The funding is available from Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act.

“Our plan is to work with landowners during the next two years to protect critical water resource-related land, such as forested floodplains and wetlands, through conservation easement,” stated Wilke.  “We will initiate the project in September with an informational landowner meeting.”  

SWMLC is partnering with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on watershed management planning projects for the Rocky River, Paw Paw River, Black River, Gull Lake watershed and now Augusta Creek.