News & Stories

Protecting Northern Michigan’s Waterways

Five people, including a child, examine samples on a table during an outdoor educational activity on a forest path.

Photo credit: Benzie Conservation District

Image description: A small group gathers around a table in a wooded area, exploring nature-themed materials like water trays and vegetation during an outdoor learning activity.

Protecting our region’s water quality not only serves area residents today but also puts in motion plans to preserve this vital resource for future generations. The Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition, spearheaded by our grant partner, Benzie Conservation District, is doing just that: empowering communities to make better choices to protect our water quality.

Active since 2011, the Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition has grown its service area to include Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, and Manistee Counties, has provided awareness and educational opportunities, and has supported the development of watershed protection plans, and its parent organization readily puts its resources and connections to good use in the name of conservation.

Northern Michigan is fortunate to already have good water quality, but as a destination with a growing population, the region needs stronger protections in place, which means the Watersheds Coalition has its work cut out for it.

“The work of the Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition, with Community Funds grant support, is to set up structures and resources so that everyone living up here, recreating, and visiting has a solid understanding and access to information to make good decisions about protecting our water quality,” said Jon Throop, Benzie Conservation District Executive Director.

With the Community Funds grant, the Coalition will update the Platte River Watershed Protection Plan to guide the next decade of conservation activities, implement a state-of-the-art database to proactively monitor water quality, and grow its collaboration by actively engaging water quality partners so that everyone is represented, including residents, farmers, and business owners.

“The Benzie Conservation District is in responsive partnership with the community,” said Jon. “As such, we were able to communicate its needs to the Community Foundation, whose flexible funding grant was some of the first money in the door for the new direction of our Watersheds Coalition.”

By partnering with the Community Foundation, county residents, and other conservation organizations, the Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition can proactively work to protect our region’s water quality for generations to come.

Writer: Alex Dailey