The DRCC is looking for your feedback on its recommendation to remove the 'Restrictions on Dredging Activities' from the Detroit River's list of impaired beneficial uses. The partnership uses a list of 14 potential beneficial use impairments or BUIs to determine the condition of the Detroit River. As of May 2017, the Detroit River has 7 impaired, 6 not impaired and 1 that requires further assessment. The proposed re-designation status brings us all one step closer to removing the Detroit River from the list of Great Lakes' Areas of Concern.

We need your input! Please download the Assessment of Restrictions on Dredging Activities (BUI#7) Detroit River Area of Concern report, read it and submit your written comments by e-mail to [email protected] by Wednesday June 3, 2017. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

The DRCC participated in three community Earth Day celebrations across Windsor. On Saturday April 22, the DRCC hosted an outreach table at Devonshire Mall during the ACT Recycle event with over 200 people in attendance. On the following Sunday, the DRCC participated in a booth at the City of Windsor's Earth Day event at Malden Park with over 1,000 people in attendance. On the other side of town, the DRCC was also busy planting over 2,000 trees with Essex Region Conservation Authority. This site was along the Little River and had over 1,000 people in attendance!

To read the Little River Earth Day planting report by Ian Naisbitt, President of the Little River Enhancement Group and Chair of the DRCC Education and Public Involvement Work Group, click here.

Media Coverage

• Earth Day time to show off battery run vehicles, latest green technology (April 2017)
•  Shovels and seedlings for 2,000 new trees in Windsor (April, 2017)

Caesars Windsor's CodeGreen team of employees partnered with the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, the City of Windsor and the Little River Enhancement Group to remove 8 tonnes of litter along a portion of the Little River watershed near the Twin Oaks industrial complex on Wednesday, April 11. Due to illegal dumping and damage from off road vehicles, annual cleanups are necessary to protect Little River and improve water quality and aesthetics. Having CodeGreen and other partners participate in this cleanup is a great opportunity to connect people to Little River, which is one of the three sub-watersheds that drain into the Detroit River.

To read the full report by Ian Naisbitt, the President of Little River Enhancement Group and the Chair of the DRCC Education and Public Involvement Group, please click here. 

Media Coverage

•  Volunteers pick up trash at Little River watershed (April 2017)
•  Volunteers tackle Little River litter, find evidence of illegal dumping (April 2017)
•  Local groups and volunteers working to cleanup Little River (April 2017)

The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup and Essex Region Conservation joined U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers on the Detroit River last week, who now estimate there are over 6,000 Lake Sturgeon in the Detroit River, and over 30,000 in the corridor from Lake Huron to Lake Erie, making it one of the healthiest populations of sturgeon in the Great Lakes. The data was collected through ongoing mark and recapture studies undertaken by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

 

"This research, as well as data collected from egg and larvae surveys conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, shows the Fighting Island artificial reef expansion, which was completed in 2013 near the Town of LaSalle, has been successful and is aiding in the recovery of Lake Sturgeon and other fish species in the Detroit River," explained Claire Sanders, Remedial Action Plan Coordinator for the Detroit River Cleanup. "Lake Whitefish, Walleye, Lake Sturgeon and native sucker eggs have all been found on the reef."

 

Researchers are excited by this good news because the Lake Sturgeon population in the Detroit River is estimated to be about one percent of its former abundance. Over the past century, fish populations in the Detroit River have been impacted by the construction of shipping channels, loss of coastal wetlands, 'hardening' of shorelines and installation of steel break walls, water pollution, and dredging of limestone bedrock that was spawning habitat for Lake Sturgeon and other native fish species.

 

The creation of the Lake Sturgeon spawning reef at Fighting Island demonstrates binational collaboration, partnership and stewardship of shared resources. The success of this fish habitat restoration strategy will help strengthen and improve the fishery in the Detroit River and the entire Great Lakes. Credit for this successful project is owed to many project partners including Environment and Climate Change Canada's Great Lakes Sustainability Fund, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Ontario Species at Risk Stewardship Fund, DTE Energy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Michigan Water Center, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative .

 

American partners have an additional reef planned near Historic Fort Wayne, the seventh spawning reef constructed within the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers over the past thirteen years. These projects are part of a comprehensive remediation plan under the Area of Concern program. For more information about these projects and other restoration projects taking place in the St. Clair - Detroit River System, please visit detroitriver.ca or scdrs.org .