River Rouge Habitat and Fish

Project Dates: Summer 2023–Fall 2023

Client: Friends of the Rouge (FOTR)

SEAS Faculty Advisor: Karen Alofs, Assistant Professor, Ecosystem Science & Management

SEAS Student: Olivia Williams, MS '23 Ecosystem Science and Management 

About the Client

The Friends of the Rouge River is a non-profit organization that was founded to restore, protect, and enhance the Rouge River watershed through hands-on stewardship, education, and collaboration. Dozens of FOTR’s restoration projects that have taken place in the Rouge watershed have largely focused on remediating toxic substances, controlling invasive species, dredging, dam removal, and improving fish passage. 

The aim of this project was to assess whether improvements in the Rouge River watershed made from previous restoration projects also created improvements for fish communities, and to determine whether these past projects would ultimately result in removing beneficial use impairments (BUIs) for fish habitats.

About the Project

The project evaluated the progress of restoration projects towards removing BUIs for fish communities. Alofs and Williams had been working with FOTR for two years prior to this project to collect the necessary data to evaluate improvements in fish communities. The team compared that data with current and historical records, and modeled expectations given changes in water temperature, land-use, water quality, flow, and habitat characteristics. For the historical data, Alofs and Williams examined state of Michigan reports that summarized community sampling in the watershed in 1975, 1986 and 1995 to obtain baseline fish community data of the Rouge River before the Clean Water Act, restoration and cleanup occurred. The team derived present data from FOTR, the University of Michigan and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

Alofs and Williams also created an ESRI Story Map that allows FOTR to share information with local actors and community members about the fish populations and their habitat, information about the ecosystem, and restoration efforts that contribute to population recovery. Clinic funding enabled the team to translate the culmination of years of research into tools that could be used for monitoring, improved preparations for changes to the Rouge River ecosystem, and communicating with stakeholders, partners and the community. Among the team’s findings was a recommendation that delisting criteria go beyond just the evaluation of game species, and instead examine the presence of species and fish communities that indicate overall stream health. The report was presented to FOTR and can be used by local, state, and federal partners for future decision-making.