FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 May 2003
Contacts: David Wilcox • Eaton County Drain Commissioner’s Office • 517-483-3829
Jennifer Wolfin • Pace & Partners • 517-267-9800

Residents along Delta Township’s Carrier Creek between I-496 and Saginaw Hwy. to see drain improvement work this Spring

Construction slated to begin in May; Eaton County Drain Commissioner Brady Harrington taking measures to ensure minimal disruption to residents

May 1, 2003—Delta Township, MI—Beginning later this month, the Eaton County Drain Commissioner’s office will remove specific trees and some brush along Carrier Creek and its adjacent floodplain between I-496 and Saginaw Highway. Trees and brush will be removed in drain easement areas where meanders (bends) will be built into the creek to help alleviate flooding, and in areas where new vegetation will be planted to stabilize creek banks and filter storm water pollutants.

These activities are part of the Carrier Creek Stormwater Management and Restoration Project, funded mostly through a Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI) grant, to help restore the creek to a natural condition and to ensure that Carrier Creek continues to function as an effective drain for Delta and Windsor townships.
"Every effort has been made to minimize the removal of larger trees, and we’re doing everything we can to minimize the disruption to homeowners during construction along Carrier Creek," Eaton County Drain Commissioner Brady Harrington announced during a public meeting held by the Friends of Carrier Creek Wednesday evening, April 30. He said most of the trees marked for removal are silver maples, a fast-growing, short-lived species commonly found in forested floodplains.

For more information about physical improvements to Carrier Creek, call David Wilcox, project manager at the Eaton County Drain Commissioner’s Office at 517-483-3829. The Carrier Creek Restoration and Stormwater Management Project is a working partnership between the Eaton County Drain Commissioner, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Friends of Carrier Creek, Eaton County, Delta and Windsor Townships, and the businesses and residents of the Carrier Creek Watershed.

The project includes a watershed management plan, physical improvements and educational activities, which are funded through a combination of a $1 million Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI) Grant through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Surface Water Quality Division, a Section 319 (Federal Clean Water Act) Grant, and special assessments to the drainage district.
Friends of Carrier Creek is a citizen action group made up of Delta Township residents whose interests are to protect the creek and communicate on a regular basis with the drain commissioner and the Carrier Creek watershed project team.

Carrier Creek is a designated Eaton County drain, located primarily in Delta Township. It functions as a storm water drain for approximately 11 square miles of Delta and Windsor townships, and the City of Lansing.