The Lower One Subwatershed has a special location with regard to the Rouge River.  Our part of the watershed is considered the “headwaters” of the Rouge River, or the place where the river starts to flow in smaller creeks and streams before they meet the large river.  The protection of our headwater streams is crucial to the quality of water downstream.  Over 50 percent of the total land area in the Lower One is still open space – agricultural land, wetlands, and woodlands.  Because of these natural features, the water quality in these areas remain the best in the whole watershed!  This means that there is a lot of opportunity to proactively protect water quality and our existing natural resources.  The protection of these resources is especially important because new development in our subwatershed is occuring rapidly.  If we do not plan carefully, increasing development could mean the degradation of our waterways.

The good news is that the quality of the creeks and streams within the Lower One Subwatershed have historically been quite good compared to other downstream subwatersheds.  However, the past few decades have seen the impacts of increasing development and a rapidly changing landscape.  In fact, the number of households in this area will double in the next 25 years!  For our waterways, more houses, more streets, and more parking lots mean increased stormwater runoff and increased pollution.  While the Lower Rouge River is still in fairly good condition, there are significant water quality, water quantity, and fish and wildlife concerns in the Lower One Watershed that need to be addressed.

1. Get involved in the Lower One Management Plan:  Local officials in the Lower One Subwatershed have been working together for several years to protect and restore the Rouge River.  Currently, our working group, is developing a subwatershed management plan that will serve as an action plan.  However, because we all impact the Rouge River, we all need to be involved in order to have a plan that will work.
   • Please download a copy of the draft plan and contact the Van Buren Township Environmental Coordinator if you have any comments or questions:
     • Draft of Rouge Watershed Plan
2. Be aware of your impact on the river: Small change in your daily activities can make a big difference – like reducing your lawn fertilizer or inspecting your septic system – that can have a great impact on increasing the health of the Rouge River. Also please stop by the Township Hall to visit our Rouge River display and pick up a copy of the Rouge River Repair Kit and our other information pieces.  These are useful guides that can help us understand how we can all make a positive difference in the water quality in Van Buren.
3. Volunteer to help the Rouge: Friends of the Rouge (FOTR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to citizen stewardship of the Rouge River.  Call FOTR at (313) 792-9900 to find out more about River Day, River Watch, the annual Frog and Toad survey, the Rouge Education Project, and other activities.  Together we can all protect and restore the Rouge River, its creeks and streams, and fish and wildlife to be enjoyed for generations to come.

• Increased recreational opportunities, both passive and active.
• Improved aesthetics
• Potential rise in property values
• Increase wildlife habitat
• A safe place for you and your children and grandchildren to discover and explore.

In the spring and fall, volunteers venture into the local waterways in search of insect larvae to learn more about the stream conditions. These young insects play a role of canaries in the mine in that they react to poor environmental conditions before we do. Aquatic insects depend on healthy streams for their survival. Their sensitivity to changes in the chemistry, flow characteristics (such as velocity and depth), and bottom substrate makes them valuable measures of stream conditions. The volunteers and HRWC scientists measure different components of the insect community to learn more about potential problems and the overall ecological health of the site.

Volunteers with the Adopt-A-Stream Program have monitored Woods Creek where it enters the Huron River in the Lower Huron Metropark since 1996. Results show that this creek supports a diverse animal population and is in acceptable ecological quality. Habitat assessments have identified some bank erosion, trash, and a lack of pool habitat as physical challenges to the animals living in this creek.

In April of 2001, volunteers found two prong-gilled mayflies (family: Leptophlebiidae) living in Woods Creek. Because this type of mayfly is especially sensitive to organic pollution (fertilizers, animal waste etc.), its presence indicates this is stream is in good condition.  Of 56 study sites in the Huron River Watershed, Woods Creek ranks #18, meaning it is in better biological quality than 38 other study sites.

In January, volunteers look for a specific group of insects called the winter stoneflies, which are expected to be living in creeks unless there has been a disturbance. The life cycle of a winter stonefly makes them relatively immune to metabolic stresses during the summer, and climatic conditions in the winter usually ensure adequate oxygen even in moderately polluted sites. For us, their absence is an indicator of toxic pollutants, the effects of which might be masked the rest of the year by low oxygen or other metabolic stresses.  Volunteers have found winter stoneflies in Woods Creek since beginning to monitor for them in 1997. In the past two winters, volunteers have found more groups of winter stoneflies.

There are many ways that you can get involved in this rewarding program that requires only a small time commitment and provides the benefit of learning about and helping to monitor a significant resource right here in our backyard.  For more information on the Adopt-a-Stream schedule/calendar and how to participate in it go to  the Huron River Watershed Council’s website.