Cedar Creek Township residents, especially those living along Maple Island and River roads, should do everything they can to assist with the survey of the Muskegon River in their neighborhood.
It's their chance to help fix a long-standing problem and possibly improve the use of Muskegon County's natural resources and the land they own. The survey may also result in suggestions that prevent the thousands of dollars in damage or losses created when extensive flooding occurs.Mike Wiley, a professor in the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment, and doctoral student Mike Fainter are surveying the Muskegon River, particularly in the floodplain near Maple Island and River roads, to explore the effects of reopening the Maple River. The Maple River was blocked more than a century ago during the lumbering era to increase the flow in the Muskegon River and more quickly move logs to the lumber mills downstream.
Wiley predicts the Muskegon River will change its course in Cedar Creek Township in the next 50 years because of the closing of the Maple River and partial damming of the Muskegon River under U.S. 31. He said sediment in the Muskegon River has raised the river channel, creating a delta prone to flooding.
He's already held a community meeting to ask residents what they want the Muskegon River to look like in the future. The researchers are seeking photos of the river and past floods, especially those that show how high the water was. Photos can be dropped off at Maple Island Grocery, 3465 N. Maple Island, Twin Lake.
While the flooding is on a much larger scale, perhaps there are lessons for Muskegon County residents from the Netherlands, where two-thirds of the people live and 70 percent of the Dutch economy is generated in a floodplain.
In the past, the Dutch response has been to build up the dikes and install other manmade devices to further control the river. But since unprecedented flooding in 1993 and again in 1995 there's been a change in strategy.
Beginning in 2006, the Dutch implemented 35 “Room for the River” projects that will restore natural floodplains and marshes that serve as water storage areas. They are focused on restoring natural floodplains in the places where it is least harmful in order to protect more heavily populated and developed areas.
Dutch water managers also are teaching communities to retain water where it falls, using cisterns, green roofs and floodable parks. This reduces the flow into the river as it washes off of large paved parking lots and roads with nowhere else to go.
The idea is to prevent the recurring hundreds of millions of dollars in flood damage by learning to live with the main rivers running through the Netherlands rather than trying to control them. A side benefit has been the creation of new recreational areas and improved animal and fish habitat.
Again, Muskegon County doesn't face near the threat that the Netherlands does. But working with our natural resources instead of against them is a valuable concept.
As Cedar Creek Township farmer John Thiel told Chronicle reporter Megan Hart, “I would rather have water flow naturally (through my property) than have it overflow and have nowhere to go.”
In the end it all comes down to that well-known adage, you can't fool Mother Nature.
Let's find out if restoring the Maple River will improve the lives of those living on the former riverbed and improve the health and the use of both the Maple and Muskegon rivers.