Title
Environmental Commission Recommendation on Huron River Impoundment Monitoring
Memorandum
Members of the Environmental Commission have reviewed the Huron River and Impoundment Management Plan and are recommending that the Ann Arbor City Council include sufficient funds in the annual operating budget each year to develop and implement an annual water quality and aquatic plant data collection program.
Staff
Introduced by Commissioner Needham
Prepared by Matthew Naud, Environmental Coordinator
Body
Whereas, the Huron River Impoundment Management Plan recommends that the City establish base-line data about the four city-maintained impoundments; and
Whereas, the City would also benefit from establishing that a minimum level of base-line information for natural lakes to better determine maintenance strategies that are most beneficial; and
Whereas, the data collection should mirror the Michigan Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program, a well-established program of water quality monitoring;
Whereas, establishing a minimum level of base-line data about water quality and the quantity of native and non-native water plants will identify future changes in water quality and areas where invasive species may endanger native aquatic flora and habitat; and
Whereas, the City will benefit from establishing this base-line data as it plans for the long-term health of our drinking water, our natural areas, and the river; and
Whereas, changes in the climate already have increased the amount of precipitation and frequency of extreme storms;
Resolved, The Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council include sufficient funds in the annual operating budget each year to develop and implement an annual water quality and aquatic plant data collection program;
Resolved, the Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to annually collect a minimum level of data to track the health of both First and Second Sister Lakes and the four impoundments upstream of city owned dams beginning in the first quarter of FY18;
Resolved, the Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to collect more detailed information (e.g., bathymetry, detailed aquatic vegetation surveys) from one impoundment each year on a rotating four-year schedule.