HRC Selected to Prepare Management Plan for the St. Clair County Northeastern Watersheds

April 19, 2005

The St. Clair County Northeastern Watersheds Advisory Group has selected a team headed by Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc. (HRC) to prepare a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) for the combined watersheds. The team is composed of HRC and Carlisle/Wortman Associates, Inc. (CWA).

The Northeastern Watersheds are comprised of three distinct subwatersheds: the Lower Black River , Lake Huron Direct Drainage and the St. Clair River Direct Drainage. The Advisory Group is made up of eleven municipalities in St. Clair County and eight county agencies, 2 school districts and a community college that are represented by St. Clair County officials. The members are subject to the federal Phase II Storm Water regulations and have received Certificates of Coverage under Michigan 's General Permit . This permit covers Storm Water Discharges from Separate Storm Water Drainage Systems. The Certificate of Coverage requires the group to submit a Watershed Management Plan for the area by November 1, 2006.

The Northeastern Watersheds area has a complex history of activities and situations that have affected the watersheds. These activities include intense agricultural use; mining and processing of salt, oil and gas reserves; filling of low areas with industrial and domestic waste; as well as permitted and unpermitted discharges of industrial and municipal wastes and wastewaters from some of the more complex facilities in Michigan. The tight clay soils and high ground water table in the region make the use of On-site Disposal Systems (OSDS) and the infiltration of storm water challenging. Some of the issues that have, in part, resulted from these activities and situations and that are significant to the Northeastern Watersheds planning effort include:

• Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs);
• remedial planning efforts like the St. Clair River Remedial Action Plan;
• concerns over discharges from industries in Sarnia and Petroleum Valley ; and
• contaminated sediment removal in the St. Clair River.

The HRC/CWA team recognizes the unique nature of this WMP and will include in the WMP the distinctive features and issues of each of the three subwatersheds. The goal of the team is to provide a WMP that it is useful to, and understandable by, a variety of audiences, including the general public and technical professionals; one that addresses the concerns of the member communities, agencies, and schools, the stakeholders and the general public.

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