Shiawassee River Water Trail Coalition
3/22/18 Meeting Notes
Introductions: Dave Richardson, Gary Carlson, Michelle and Rich Holbrook, Rex Mathewson, Phil Hathaway, Bryan Mulanx, Brian Saad, Teresa Sherman, Deb McCarty, Jannell Tillman, Deb McCarty, Susan Julian, John Horvath, Daniel Hummel, Rob Vandemark, Dave Lossing, Sarah Baker, Tom Weaver
Dave – Updates
Barbara Nelson Jameson’s replacement will be Andrea Irkand. Her contact info is [email protected]; Work: 440-717-3775; 1664 W. Main Street, Peninsula, OH 44264
Fenton Winery and Brewery Events May 30th volunteer event to make the beer; June 24th – RiverFest by Keepers of the Shiawassee; and August 19th for “Paddle, Pizza and Pints” fundraiser for the Water Trail Coalition at FWB.
Tom Weaver US Geological Survey Stream flow data in Michigan
CLICK HERE TO VIEW TOM'S PRESENTATION
Currently only one USGS gauge on Shiawassee River in Owosso
Only is funded 20% to run organization the rest comes from selling gauges multiple kinds
166 real time continuous record steam gages, crest stage gages, stream flow and water quality, staff plates to indicate water level,
Gaging stations allow for satellite transmitters every hour for depth $11,000 and is federally controlled very accurate
NWIS Data base houses all data taken from these gages
You can look up various things on the tabs Hydrographs can show the discharge, Peaks over time and rating produces logarithm.
Statewide Stream flow Current Conditions and then you can choose which location, you are then allowed to view all the history from that gauge. 96 values are taken per day.
Many people ask what the triangles are on the discharge parameter – it’s the typical flow at that location
Gage height, in feet, you can view up to 120 days
Subscription Form - Water Alert for people concerned about flooding, fire departments concerned about roads flooding. This is included in the cost
Water quality sampling PH, and others
Suggested all those stepping around in river get Hepatitis A and B, TDAP vaccines.
Main branch USGS has done work at 76 locations total in the Shiawassee Watershed, including tributaries and has had 5 continuous record sites on the Shiawassee River.
Spring to fall is when you want to do water quality; some groups just pay for 6 months.
Owosso gage may not tell you much about what’s happening upstream in Holly Fenton Linden,
How would you get a USGS stream gage? We should seek out a governmental partner
USGS often has Cooperative Match Funds available to help offset installation costs
What does a continuous-record stream gage cost to install? Installations are running $16,000-18,300
In Conclusion: There may be some “homemade” or cheaper options but how do you post those results?
Submersible pressure transmitter is a small gage reader
Could use a staff plate and put a camera on it.
National Weather Service is the one that determines flood stage.
Flood plan is mapped out at townships and municipalities.
6100 a stage only gage a full service
His contact is [email protected] or 517-887-8923
Places that may be a good location: Linden or Byron and you could certainly go further upstream.
It was asked if Drain Commissioners ever partake in this? Not typically due to cost.
Partner Updates
Friends has lots of upcoming events, Pestival, water quality monitoring. We will need people to sign up for pouring our beer at River fest
- Holly Twp. board submitted a resolution for Fish Lake launch.
- Waterworks park building was voted to be torn down but is now for-stalled until April, they (the Township) would like support at that meeting. There is a concept drawing of the building that will have bathrooms, the historical info on the wheel and a kiosk with different parts of the river.
- Holly River Clean Ups – May 17th Training, May 19th &20th – Sign up on water trail website
- Keepers of the Shiawassee: City of Fenton will be submitting a DNR Trust Fund application to fund both their trail walk program and a launch site on the river.
- Vernon is getting ready to put in grant for launch Civil Engineer is donating personal time, Vernon will allow from Shiatown to Lytle trip which is very long to be 45mins shorter
- QWS booth was a success Headwaters/Keepers and Friends were all there, dam removals were a big interest
- Shiawassee County Signed on to MOU!
They have 6 access sites on the river and are very supportive
Dam bids on Shiatown are due in April and it should be out by the Fall
Corunna Dam permit has been stalled
Phil showed the Dam Removal and Restoration Plan for Shiatown area
Henderson Park launch will be open year around now
Baker College Launch area off of M52 will be a future launch site
- Paddle permits? It really isn’t anything we need to worry about at this time. If it becomes an issue, we may want to write to our Reps
- PST Lake association retained services for weed control
- Byron River regatta July 14th, duck race, April 12th is the next meeting to discuss ideas
- Argentine Twp: Walking Trail near Silver Lake Road future hopes to go up Hogan Road. Brian Saad hopes that we will support them on that.
Next Meeting April 26, 2018; 6:30pm @ Argentine Twp Fire Dept. Speakers will be from the LAFF pathway and the Shiawassee County trail project. This will feed into a potential Trail towns and trail communities program.
Future meetings:
May’s meeting may conservation districts from the four counties talking about SISMA planning
June - maybe someone from Huron River Watershed to talk about the economic impact of paddling
Then decide if we want to meet during the summer months.
It was suggested we could have someone come talk about triathlons