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Hello and welcome to the web site dedicated to the Millers Creek Watershed. This web site was initiated as part of the Millers Creek Watershed Improvement Plan, funded by Pfizer Global Research and Development, Inc. The Millers Creek (once known as the North Campus Drain) is located on the northeast side of Ann Arbor, Michigan and drains to the Huron River.
About the Huron River Watershed CouncilHRWC is a nonprofit coalition of local communities, businesses, and residents established in 1965 to protect the Huron River and its tributary streams, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater. HRWC works to inspire attitudes, behaviors, and economies that protect, rehabilitate, and sustain the Huron River system. Services include hands-on citizen education, technical assistance in policy development, and river protection and monitoring projects. See www.hrwc.org for information.
Millers Creek Rainwater Project Rain Garden Tour, June 23, 2010Join us on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, at 7pm for a walking tour of the neighborhood rain gardens we planted last summer. Representatives from HRWC, JFNew and Insight Design Studio will be on hand to talk about the Rainwater Project and answer questions about the rain gardens. We'll visit the installations at Thurston Elementary School, Prairie/Briarcliff and one or two private gardens. Tour meets and starts at Thurston Elementary School. Contact Pam, plabadie@hrwc.org or (734) 769-5123 x 602 for details.
New Rain Gardens Installed at Thurston Elementary School and BriarcliffDuring the early fall of 2009, a 1,400 square foot rain garden was installed at Thurston Elementary School in Ann Arbor, and another installed down the street at the corner of Briarcliff and Prairie. The successful projects were a result of a partnership between the Huron River Watershed Council, environmental consulting group JFNew, the city of Ann Arbor, landscape company Michigan Hardscapes, and a large group of dedicated volunteers. Rain gardens are a great way to keep water bodies like Millers Creek and the watersheds they make up clean and safe from stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are planted in low depressions in the ground with native water-loving plants. When it rains, water collects in the rain garden instead of making its way into storm drains, through sewers, and thus emptying into rivers like Millers Creek. Millers Creek is then safe from stormwater runoff, which can include high concentrations of pollutants, and keeps water levels lower to prevent high water speeds and erosion. Rain gardens also clean water before it enters groundwater collections by filtering it through plant roots and soils, which take up the excess nutrients or bind them into particles that will not travel into other water bodies. Rain gardens are a great way to keep our watersheds healthy! Click here to visit the Huron River Watershed Council's Millers Creek Rainwater Project website for more information on HRWC's rainwater mitigation activities in the Millers Creek watershed. Click here to read more about this and other Fall 2009 rain garden installations in the Ann Arbor area. Click here to view the installation plans for the Thurston Elementary rain garden. Visit the Huron River Watershed Council to get more information on how to install your very own rain garden, or other ways to help keep Millers Creek clean and healthy. Raingardens.org also has good information on the how-to's of rain gardening.
Get Ready for the Fifth Millers Creek Film Festival!The Huron River Watershed Council wants you to help us reach new audiences. We want you to incorporate our ideas and concerns for protecting the watershed into YOUR short film. FILM ENTRY DEADLINE: Tuesday, February 2, 2010. FILM FESTIVAL: March 19, 2010. On the BIG SCREEN at the Michigan Theatre Our Festival consists of THREE CATEGORIES: Spread the word about the 2010 Millers Creek Film Festival by posting a flyer (2.5mb pdf file) at your place of work or where people gather. For details on what to do and how to enter see the official Millers Creek Film Festival web page at http://www.hrwc.org/events/film/. Oak Savannah planting at Thurston Nature CenterOn April 25, 2009, nearly 50 volunteers came out to plant 4 species of native oak species in the northern part of the Thurston School property in the Thurston Nature Center. The enthusiastic volunteers planted White Oak, Bur Oak, Swamp White Oak, and Chinkapin Oak as the first step to creating an oak savannah, an ecosystem once common to this part of Michigan, right in the Thurston Nature Center! There was fun to be had as volunteers enjoyed a day in the sun, children learned how to plant trees, and later went looking for frogs around Thurston Pond! Oaks live an incredibly long time and grow quite large, ensuring that the trees planted today will be supporting plant and animal life in the area for years to come. Stay tuned for more updates on this multifaceted project that will include plantings of native shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers in the future! The Orchard Hills-Maplewood Homeowners Association has covered this project in two of their newsletters. Click to read articles by Neal Foster and Margaret Weiss, which delve into more detail on the importance of oak savannahs to the environment and the community impact of this volunteering opportunity.
Fourth Millers Creek Film Festival a Great Success!A crowd of about 350 people enjoyed 16 entertaining short films about the human connections to all parts of the Huron River system at the fourth annual Millers Creek Film Festival of locally made films organized by the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) in the Michigan Theater on Friday, March 13th.
View some of winning films from the past on YouTube (click here). NEWS in the NeighborhoodWhat is happening to the creek along Huron Parkway?! The City has stabilized the west bank of the Creek between Hubbard and Glazier Way to protect the sidewalk. HRWC held a training session at the project site in November, 2009. Here is a photo of that activity, which shows some of the large cement pieces used to stabilize the banks.
NEW TREES at Thurston!
Thurston Pond in the News: An article with full description of the situation in the Pond appeared in the Chronicle! Thurston pond gets its thirst on
See the steps that people have taken to protect our creek. Open the Millers Creek Map and check out the pushpin photos at each home that has told us how they are helping Millers Creek. Please let us know how you are helping the Millers Creek. Fall Festival in the Neighborhood: Read about the first Orchard Hills-Maplewood party and learn about some changes underway and being planned. More news is avaliable at the NEWS page.
Underwater Life in Washtenaw County110 People Studied Millers Creek and other parts of the Huron River on Sept. 20, 2008. Click HERE for details.
Award for Millers Creek work!Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus won an "MDEQ Neighborhood Environmental Partners Gold Award" for their collaboration with the local community on the Millers Creek Project. Well done, Pfizer! Mission StatementThe mission of the Millers Creek Action Team is to work together to establish and implement socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable watershed management standards and practices that will improve the quality of the Millers Creek Watershed. GlossaryFor a glossary of terms you may encounter while exploring this website, click here. Any Questions?If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about the study or this website, please email us at jmartin@hrwc.org or call (734) 769-5123 X11 and leave Joan a voice message. Partners
Sponsored by the Michigan Tech Research Institute DisclaimerInformation provided on the Millers Creek website is accurate to the best of our knowledge and is subject to change on a regular basis, without notice. While the Millers Creek Project Team makes every effort to provide useful and accurate information, we do not warrant the information to be authoritative, complete, factual, or timely. Information is provided on an "as is" and an "as available" basis. The Project Team disclaims any liability, loss, injury, or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, resulting from the use and application of any of the contents of this web site. |
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