Friends of the Maple River


What is a Watershed?

Next time it rains, watch the water run off your roof, your driveway, down the street. The water is on its way to the nearest stream, lake or wetland. Some of it soaks into the soil to become groundwater and slowly replenish streams and lakes. Some runs overland. Add up all the land that drains into the same waterway and you have a watershed.
Upper Maple River Watershed Management Planning Activity

A cooperative effort of local, state and federal government organizations, educational institutions, citizen/landowner groups, conservation groups, and the business community, to provide education, coordination and encourage public participation and support that will benefit the preservation and improvement of the Upper Maple River Watershed.

What are we doing?
Utilizing the information available and through the efforts of volunteers and project members, we are going out and indentifying potential hazards, pollutants, and erosion concerns that might be addressed through the development of this Watershed Management Plan. This will include alternative solutions but execution is dependant on the future availability of implementation resources. We will also identify the opportunities of restoring lost wetland areas within the watershed.

How can you help with this activity?
Get involved. Join a local conservation club or citizens group, learn more about what good conservation practices are, and help improve YOUR watershed. Get more information from the Clinton Conservation District, web site; http://clintonconservation.org, phone (989) 640-4508 or join the Friends of the Maple River (see attached membership form on back).

What can you do as a citizen, landowner or homeowner?
Don’t pollute! Understand what’s in the lawn/garden fertilizers entering our waterways. Recycle. Properly dispose of hazardous waste such as auto oil, old batteries, etc. Maintain your septic systems. Preserve, improve, or implement good buffer/filter strip practices along public waterways and drains. Maintain or improve natural vegetation on stream banks to prevent erosion.

Why is this important?
We are fortunate in Michigan to have such an abundance of natural resources. We are also fortunate to be a significant home of crop, dairy, and other farming industries. Also, we have to consider the continued expansion of urban development. We seek to find answers on how we make all these elements co-exist and yet maintain or improve the integrity of OUR watershed.

Thanks to all the participating partners; Clinton, Shiawassee and Gratiot Conservation Districts and County, Township, City and Village Governments, Friends of the Maple River, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan State University Extension, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Services, Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber Inc., and Wetland and Coastal Resources.

Upper Maple River Watershed consists of 498 square miles. Land uses are 79% agricultural, 7% rangeland, 8% forestland, 3% urban, 2% wetlands, and 1% water.