River Up! Intiative Aims to Improve Huron River Watershed

Dexter Village Council Trustee Paul Cousins joined a long list of regional dignitaries, community activists and other interested parties in Ann Arbor’s Island Park Tuesday afternoon to announce the official start of what is being called the ‘River Up!’ initiative.

In addition to Cousins, U.S. Rep. John Dingell and Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje were on hand to mark the occasion.

The collaborative project represents an effort to improve the environmental health of the Huron River Watershed, update its accessibility-related infrastructure and increase public awareness of recreational opportunities the waterway affords, according to River Up! Project Manager Elizabeth Riggs.

Cousins, who has been involved in Huron-related conservation efforts in various capacities for nearly 38 years, said multi-community collaborations such as River Up! promote a sense of collective responsibility by showing how one area treats its water can have a direct impact in its neighbors.

“All of us are connected by what happens on the river,” he said in part. “It’s really important to show that what we do upstream, downstream, effects the whole river and it’s the common thread, once again, that ties our communities together.”

Riggs expressed a similar view, saying many people around the region will benefit from what River Up! has in the works. She said the project and its goals have been widely embraced.

“It’s good news for Michigan and it’s good news for Southeastern Michigan,” said Riggs, who is also watershed planner for the Huron River Watershed Council. “It’s a real marriage of public and private support.”

A statement released by River Up! officials Tuesday said the project is being funded initially by $75,000 in donated funds.

Riggs gave several examples of how she and colleagues envision carrying out their plan, including repurposing a promised stretch of land adjacent to the former Visteon facility in Ypsilanti.

Angstrom USA currently owns the complex, and Riggs said company officials have given word they plan to donate a 100-foot conservation easement that would allow for the construction of a segment of walking path designed to connect Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township along the waterway.

Riggs also said she has been in contact with DTE concerning clean-up of the former MichCon site off of Broadway Street in Ann Arbor. Once revitalized, she said the space could be used to connect the downtown corridor to the adjacent river.

Laura Rubin, a River Up! coordinator as well as executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, said tying the Huron to its surrounding cities and towns is an essential part of the project’s overarching mission.

“River Up! is a renaissance for the Huron River,” she said. “Our vision is to turn our community to face the river, to realize the recreational and economical and environmental potential.”

Rubin said the past several decades have been tough on the Huron River Watershed, suggesting she feels as though it was utilized as more of a back alleyway than an environmental treasure.

“The river was clean originally, became dirty (and) is getting cleaner,” she said.

Dingell, who has long been known for his advocacy of environmental causes, praised all those who continue to contribute to the River Up! campaign.

“I’m delighted to be with you and to say thank you for what you are doing here in the Huron,” he said. “It’s a wonderful river; it’s a great treasure.”

Hieftje also commended the collaborators’ efforts, saying the River Up! project fits in nicely with one of the city’s major goals of pressing forward with environmental initiatives.

 “It honors our natural heritage and gives us a new appreciation for something that has been here, right over there, for a very long time,” he said.