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Restoration Activities
Case: Kalamazoo River, MI

With the cooperation of all stakeholders, the trustees plan to dramatically improve the Kalamazoo River environment. The overall goal is to restore and maintain a riverine ecosystem with structural and functional components that mimic the Kalamazoo river corridor prior to modification by dams and waste disposal.

The trustees have developed the following preliminary restoration objectives:

Ecological
  • Diverse healthy ecosystem dominated by native or naturalized species, a naturally vegetated riparian zone, not a grassy park-like setting
  • Habitat should meet requirements for semi-aquatic species, such as turtles, amphibians and reptiles (minimize rip rap or other hard barriers)
  • “Riparian zone” encompasses the river valley between the upland forest on each side of river (not limited to the floodplain)
  • riverine habitat should support diverse, healthy mussel beds as well as essential host fish (for transport of mussel larvae)
  • in-stream movement of fish is restored to the maximum extent possible (pursuant to DNR management goals)
  • habitat supports native important predator species such as mink, otter, eagles and others
  • strive for continuity of riparian and forested habitat to link with Gun Lake and Fort Custer (to preserve genetic diversity of plant and animal communities)
  • Enhance various types of wetlands habitat
Geophysical/Chemical
  • Enhance degraded areas, and protect existing areas, that provide important surface water/groundwater interchange (the hyporheic zone) - often associated with diverse plant communities.  
  • Restore natural river flow flux and channel forming geophysical forces to allow meandering channel and dynamic floodplain
  • Provide substrate that supports ecosystem and species management objectives (not artificial or non-supporting material)
  • Water, nutrient and particulate input and flow is restored to that consistent with vegetated watershed
  • Achieve reductions in non-point source pollutant loading
Recreational Access
  • Increased public access pursuant to decisions by State land managers
  • Provide access without degradation to existing (or restored) habitat
Other Remediation Goals
  • Eliminate loading of PCBs to Lake Michigan
  • Eliminate the fish consumption advisory for PCBs on the Kalamazoo
  • Balance short-term habitat losses with overall restoration objectives
  • Consider potential habitat uses in contained areas (e.g. prairie)
  • Remedy does not “transfer” or create problems in adjacent areas

  • Restoration Activities
  • Case Documents
  • Case Team Contacts
  • Additional Links
  • Kalamazoo Watershed
  • Case Home
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