Senators Stabenow, Peters Applaud Great Lakes Investment in Northern Michigan

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow, Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, and Gary Peters, member of the Great Lakes Task Force, today applauded the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative announcement to allocate $729,840 to improve water quality in Kids Creek, an impaired stream in the Grand Traverse Bay connected to Lake Michigan. This U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding will be used to help Kids Creek get off the Michigan EPA's Impaired Waters List, which is a list of waters that are too polluted or degraded to meet water quality standards.

"This support will improve water quality, repair deteriorating streambanks, and protect Lake Michigan," said Senator Stabenow. "Today's announcement further underscores the importance of partnerships like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which invests in the health of our Great Lakes and waterways."

"The natural beauty and resources of the Great Lakes and Grand Traverse Bay support Michigan's critically important tourism and agricultural industries," Senator Peters said. "Protecting our waterways from runoff damage is a vital step to ensuring the health of our state's environment and economy for the future."

"We are thrilled that this significant funding from GLRI will allow us to continue to improve water quality and reduce stormwater and sediment inputs into Kids Creek, an urban tributary of Grand Traverse Bay," said Christine Crissman, Executive Director of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. "We have been working for several years to remove Kids Creek from the state's impaired waters list, and this project will bring us considerably closer to that goal."

Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Initiative's Kids Creek restoration project - one of seven projects chosen in Michigan to receive a total of more than $5.7 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative awards - will work with two major landowners to implement Best Management Practices to reduce stormwater and sediment erosion and stabilize 30 deteriorating streambank sites. Currently, a 2-mile stretch of Kids Creek is on the Michigan EPA's Impaired Waters List due to issues related to stormwater runoff.

Sens. Stabenow and Peters have been strong advocates for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is a multi-year plan to restore and preserve the Great Lakes by eliminating toxins, combating invasive species, restoring habitats, and promoting the general health of the Lakes.