Huron River Chain of Lakes Meeting Thursday Night

September 22, 2021

By Jessica Mathews / [email protected]

A meeting tomorrow night will focus on improvements and other efforts over the past year on the Huron River chain of lakes.

The Huron River chain of lakes consists of nine lakes in southern Livingston County and Washtenaw County. These lakes are Big Portage, Little Portage, Baseline, Zukey, Strawberry, Whitewood, Gallagher, Ore and Tamarack Lake.

The fall 2021 update and education meeting is scheduled for Thursday at Hamburg City Hall from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Environmental Supervisor Lauren Koloski, of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Public Works Division, told WHMI that this was their annual training and updating meeting, which usually took place. held in the fall. Their department and Progressive AE will cover the management of invasive and native aquatic plants, treatment of herbicides, maintenance of biodiversity, various resources and recreation as part of the ongoing Lake Chain Improvement Project.

Koloski says Progressive AE is their consulting company that runs the Special Assessment District for Lakes and will be looking at the 2021 treatment season, as well as ways in which residents can help in their efforts to promote a healthy ecosystem so that everything the world can continue to enjoy the chain of lakes. . She says the SAD was originally created to run for five years and the project is due for renewal in 2022, so they will ultimately seek petitions from the township for a renewal.

The meeting will review the efforts over the past year and the treatments that have been carried out, including what worked and how they will approach next year with the evolution of treatment options. Koloski tells WHMI that they will also be collecting feedback from residents on how best to plan for next year.

Koloski noted that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Aquatic Nuisance Control Division issues permits for herbicide treatments on Michigan lakes, and last year they severely restricted the use of copper on permits, so they continue to expect this to be an obstacle for the project but try to work around it to maintain the recreational use of the lakes. She noted that copper controls a lot of things and it can be either broad non-selective or very selective control, but most of the time the ones they use copper for are star stanza and invasive algae. .

Koloski says their target audience for the reunion is anyone and anyone who lives or loves the Chain of Lakes. She stressed that the participation of residents is important and that they are eager to hear their feedback.

Thursday’s meeting will feature in-person and virtual options. Those attending the event in person will need to wear a mask and masks will be available.

There is also an online interest survey for residents to give feedback on what they would like to see or what is most important to them.

For those who can’t see or attend Thursday’s meeting, Koloski says it will be recorded and posted online so they can see it at a later date. All questions can be emailed to [email protected]. Details and links are available in the attached event flyer.