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A Tributa ry Without a
Name
BY BOB OTWELL and DAVE DEMPSEY
Special to the Record-Eagle
Editor’s Note: This is a dual column about paying tribute to a tributary close to home by authors Bob Otwell and Dave Dempsey, who will make a presentation about placing an informational sign at the mouth of Willow Creek to the Traverse City Parks and Recreation Commission on Feb.6.
BOB’S STORY
Igrew up (until high school) in Plymouth, Michigan, and lived a block away from Tonquish Creek, a tributary of the Rouge River. I lived close enough that I could visit the creek alone or with a friend, even as a little kid. Everything I encountered was exciting. I thought I had discovered a species of dragonfly one day, never seen before. At least by me. This was my entry into the wonders of Michigan’s plentiful water resources.
DAVE’S STORY
I grew up (until high school) in Dearborn, Michigan, within a short distance of a branch of the Rouge. Though notorious for ugly and toxic pollution downstream by the Ford Rouge factory, the upper reaches of the watershed retained a trace of their pre-European settlement charm. With friends, I played Army in the branch near my house. We turned a little island in the middle of the stream into a fortress, making one small leap from the bank to our outpost. There was wonder in that little oasis from suburban noise and traffic.
Fast forward 20 years, and I’m working in state government. The chairperson of the state Water Resources Commission leads a media tour of the lower Rouge to dramatize the need for funds to clean up the river. At one point he suggests the journalists peek over the edge of a bridge. I join them and am surprised to see thousands of fish swimming in the river. Then I, and they, realize the “fish” are feces, washed into the river after heavy rain overwhelmed the local sewer system.
BOB’S STORY
Fast forward another 30 years, and my friend, Bill, was interested in buying a house in Traverse City that contained a storm drain running under the yard. He asked me to investigate whether there would be some red flags caused by this buried pipe. I gathered information from the city and found that the drain carried an unnamed trout stream that originated in Garfield Township and emptied into West Grand Traverse Bay. The upper reaches of the stream were open and uncovered, but it entered a storm drain in the Slabtown neighborhood. We thought it might be nice to daylight — that is, uncover — the stream and then own a property with a trout stream running through. Bill put in an offer to buy the house but was outbid.
I forgot about this little creek until I
SEE CREEK PAGE 2C
The start of the perennial Willow Creek, emanating from a spring in Hickory Meadows.
Special to the Record-Eagle
Dempsey
Otwell
FROM PAGE 1C
learned the Michigan Department of Transportation was planning to rebuild the Grandview Parkway (M72) in 2025, past where the stream emptied into Grand Traverse Bay. The stream currently enters the bay hidden in a 36-inch pipe. I thought that this might be a good chance to daylight at least the outlet of the stream, so that residents could see it as it flows out into the bay. I contacted MDOT this past spring and met with them regarding this improvement. MDOT staff were receptive to leaving a short reach of natural stream flowing onto the beach as part of the Parkway rebuild. MDOT indicated they were also planning to oversize the culverts and recess them deeper into the ground to create a more natural stream bottom. This strategy is aimed at bolstering the creek’s ecological functionality and laying the groundwork for any potential restoration efforts upstream of the MDOT right-of-way. I visited the outlet with an employee with the MDNR Fisheries Division and she indicated even a short reach of open stream, “would be fabulous to daylight the mouth and get it to wander on the beach like it shouldthat may cause the engineers some heartburn ... but getting it out of the tube makes it better accessible to small fish (shiners/minnows) who would use it to spawn, snails and aquatic insects, and waterfowl.”
I contacted a city resident whom I know that has lived with the exposed part of the stream in his yard for many years and asked about his experiences. He indicated how he appreciated the nature it brought to his backyard, and he provided several photos of blue herons fishing the creek on his property.
He also said he had heard the creek called Willow Creek. There is a huge willow tree on the creek, at the alley between Madison and Monroe. I was glad the creek had a name to help residents and the larger community recognize and care about this urban water resource.
Last spring, I organized a meeting and invited city staff, the Grand Traverse County Drain Commissioner, and a local water resources consulting engineer. The group met onsite, viewed existing conditions, and discussed thoughts on improvements that could daylight more of the creek and convert it to a more natural stream. There seemed to be consensus that it was a promising idea, but tough to implement. There are currently 2,500 feet of stream buried within a pipe running through the Slabtown neighborhood. Most of the stream is upstream of Slabtown, and that portion is open and natural.
I found a 1908 drawing of Slabtown as the neighborhood began developing more than 100 years ago. Willow Creek (shown with black line, but unnamed) appeared to have been open and meandering as it moved easterly downstream parallel to Randolph Street. The creek then turned north and was straightened to flow along Spruce, Wayne, and Cedar streets. The creek appeared to be running uncovered along those streets. Many kids in the early days of the neighborhood could float toy boats and fish right in front of their house.
Elsewhere in the Willow Creek watershed, the Traverse City and Garfield Township Recreation Authority manages the trails and drainage at Hickory Meadows. The creek first becomes a perennial stream on this property, and flows year-round from there to the bay. This is the section of the stream that contains naturally reproducing trout.
On the upper reaches of the Meadows property, and on the City-owned Hickory Hills ski area property, there are several intermittent branches of the creek. There is also a stormwater basin to treat runoff from the new paved parking lot at the ski area before the runoff enters the stream system.
DAVE’S STORY
In 2000, a property owner who lived on Willow Creek applied to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to relocate the creek on their property to provide a building site for another home. The permission was denied.
The department cited four reasons for its denial, including: • The proposed relocation would have severe negative impacts on the resources of the state.
• Stream relocations can cause erosion and siltation of substrate habitat.
• The proposed project will reduce the length of the stream, eliminating natural habitat.
• The resources that were involved in the proposed activity are rare within the city of Traverse City. A coldwater stream with naturally reproducing trout is a unique and valuable resource within the city limits.
The relocation of the stream was proposed to create two buildable lots after a proposed lot split. The hardships that will result from the lot split are avoidable. The existing, single lot has a buildable area. No stream relocation would be necessary if the owner pursued this alternative.
BOB’S STORY
Last summer I contacted the Hydrologic Studies Unit of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, successor agency to the DEQ, to delineate the watershed drainage area and provide information on flooding potential. EGLE did provide a map of the watershed, but no discharge estimates.
”Tributary to Lake Michigan at M-72 (Grandview Parkway), Section 4, T27N, R11W, City of Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, has a drainage area of 0.73 square miles. (Watershed Basin No. 28L Platte (Lake)). Since the drainage area is less than two square miles, a permit is not required under the provisions of the Floodplain Regulatory Authority found in Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended (NREPA). Flood discharges are not provided for unregulated locations.”
Again, a Tributary with no name. I was mostly interested in the drainage area delineation, but the discharge calculations will become important as discussions are held to daylight more of the stream. If alterations were to be completed to daylight the stream, a permit would be required under Michigan’s Inland Lakes and Streams regulations. The drainage area boundaries for the above map were adjusted in Slabtown due to Traverse City’s stormwater system.
One unique feature of this little creek is that water is added to the drainage area by snowmaking. The drainage area encompasses most of Hickory Hills Ski Area. A new groundwater well was installed recently to facilitate artificial snowmaking at this area. The well draws from a protected aquifer that appears to be hydraulically isolated from the surface water drainage area. Spring snowmelt will add some of this relocated water to the stream.
With the State of Michigan’s extensive Great Lakes shorelines, there are many of these small streams that are not part of the watershed of any larger river or creek. These larger streams have often been studied and cherished. These small streams, many unnamed, can be forgotten. Rules now in place seem to offer protection to these streams. Willow Creek could not have been put in pipes with today’s rules.
DAVE’S STORY
Small streams like Willow Creek and other small headwater streams, although often overlooked because of their size and because parts of them have been buried under streets and lawns, collectively have considerable value for water quality and fish and wildlife habitat.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says “these low stream order systems join together to form larger streams and rivers, or run directly into other streams, rivers, and lakes. They have great influence on the collective health and functioning of the primary stream network to which they belong. Headwater streams and small tributaries tend to be strongly affected by riparian vegetation.”
Perhaps if we bring these streams out from beneath urban development and let them run free in the daylight, if we get to know these thousands of little streams in Michigan, and give them names, we will care more about them, and learn about the benefits they provide to us. We can start close to home — even in our own backyards.
Bob Otwell is a hydrologic engineer, retired. He founded the Traverse City consulting firm Otwell Mawby, and recently published his first book “The Real Two Hearted: Life, Love and Lore along Michigan’s Most Iconic River.”
Dave Dempsey has been involved in environmental policy for more than 40 years. A resident of the Traverse City area, he is also the author of 10 books on environmental and history subjects.
Blue heron fishing on the bank of unnamed creek.
Special to the Record-Eagle
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