Mitchell Creek Watershed Protection Strategy

The Mitchell Creek watershed is approximately 15 square miles and crosses the following four municipal boundaries: Traverse City, East Bay, Garfield and Blair Townships. It is a sub-watershed of the Grand Traverse Bay watershed, which covers 974 square miles in Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Antrim and Kalkaska counties. In the late 1980s Grand Traverse County was considered to be at a critical development point. An outgrowth of the county's concern for guided development led to the Mitchell Creek project which asked four municipal entities to create a master plan and zoning approach for an area using ecological, rather than political boundaries. (Conners, 1994) Although individual land owners, townships, and municipalities may managing their property irrespective of adjacent lands, this coordinated effort on a watershed basis was perceived to be the best approach for preserving and enhancing the natural resources on which these entities rely.

The Mitchell Creek Watershed project was undertaken to study the effects of various types of development on the environment including water and habitat quality. According to one of the hired consultants, because of the availability and abundance of scientific watershed data, the impact of different kinds of proposed land use and construction practices could be predicted and monitored. He cited the example that both water quality and habitat could be measured.

How can these parameters be measured and by whom are they defined?

Are there issues associated with established measurement methods?

The county drain commissioner stated that the community was faced with the decision of what to do with its property. The decision was not whether to develop, but rather what was the most appropriate way to develop and where were the right areas for development. She added that once any watershed was developed, only remedial action could be taken (if problems arose).

Should incremental development and its cumulative effects be considered a dilemma? If so, why? Furthermore, by engaging in proactive land use planning can the dilemma be avoided?

The purpose of the watershed effort was:

to review a plan for development at the watershed level,

to address land development within the context of environmental constraints, infrastructure demands and fiscal responsibility, and

to develop an integrated land use approach that recognized and encouraged reasonable development while enhancing the water resources.

The Mitchell Creek Watershed Master Plan represents a coordinated planning and zoning effort for the watershed area. The plan was developed for the city, townships and county drain commission office by three consultants* (Becker and Raeder, 1996).

* Becker and Raeder Inc. of Ann Arbor, Resource Management Group of Big Rapids and Gourdie-Fraser Associates of Traverse City.