On behalf of the CRA Michigan Wetland Board and the Road Commission of Oakland County in order to provide wetland mitigation for future road improvement projects, Niswander Environmental created approximately 15 acres of self-sustaining wetlands by restoring a historic, substantially degraded wetland that had been in agricultural production for more than 50 years in the Clinton River Banking Watershed and Ann Arbor Moraines Ecoregion. The Bank has been sited to ensure a successful restoration that maximizes the benefits to the Clinton River Watershed in an area that has very limited mitigation opportunities. The siting of this bank will reduce downstream flooding and improve water quality in the Clinton River and ultimately Lake St. Clair. The site design and location address several water impairments identified in the EPA approved Clinton River Watershed Management Plan (2008) and EGLE Nonpoint Source Program 319 approved Clinton Main Subwatershed Management Plan (August 2010) including altered hydrology, sediments, excess nutrients, water temperature and pollutants (i.e. pathogens, organic compounds, heavy metals, and debris and litter). The mitigation bank addresses each of these impairments by the restoration of wetlands (habitat, sediments, and nutrients), preventing and regulating the spread of non-native species, and by improving flood storage reducing stream peak flows during storm events (hydrology). The removal of surface drainage and the installation of low berms will hold water on-site creating natural wetland conditions. The project was funded through the MiWB using the Michigan Transportation Fund.
A video of the project during construction can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmyzxCnfM6E