SWMTU has partnered with FOBC for numerous years on this event, and we encourage you and other SMWTU members to participate.
Buck Creek
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, as part of the federal Clean Water Act, has awarded Schrems West Michigan Trout Unlimited (SWMTU) $172,638 for updates to the Coldwater River and Buck Creek Watershed Management Plans.
The overall goal of the project is to update the existing watershed management plans (WMP) to help local communities ensure healthy river ecosystems with clean water for all desired uses.
Buck Creek, a tributary of the Grand River, drains about 51 square miles of land in Kentwood, Wyoming, Grand Rapids, Grandville, Byron Township, and Gaines Township. The watershed is a mix of agricultural land, expanding residential and commercial development, and highly urbanized. In 2003 and 2007, the Buck Creek WMP suggests that sediment, pathogens and nutrients are degrading the watershed, and that trash and debris is the most abundant source of non point source pollution. Despite efforts from the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming to improve the watershed quality, much more work is needed.
Reports on Buck Creek
Photos: 2019 Buck Creek cleanup
About 150 people helped clean up Buck Creek in Wyoming and Grandville in August of 2019.
Buck Creek Clean on August 17
This clean up is just one part of a multi-step process in assessing, improving and conserving Buck Creek. This will be an active event where volunteers will be walking and exercising as they make a positive impact upon the Buck Creek Watershed.
Photos: 2018 Buck Creek Cleanup
The recent cleanup on Buck Creek resulted in nearly a half ton of garbage being removed from the stream through Wyoming and Grandville.
SWMTU awarded $172k to make Coldwater River and Buck Creek safer for humans, fish, wildlife
The overall goal is to update existing watershed management plans to help local communities ensure healthy river ecosystems with clean water for all desired uses.