Consumers Energy and FIM Group are the latest of a growing list of sponsors for the Watershed Center’s Adopt-A-Stream Program. “This shows our freshwater community that these businesses understand that Grand Traverse Bay is the heart of our quality of life and local economy,” says Denise Baker, Advancement Director. “We are grateful for their generous support and their exemplary community stewardship.”

The number of streams adopted in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed has doubled during the past year. Families, scouting troops or employee groups adopt their favorite stream and conduct sampling twice a year. They collect, count and sort aquatic insects, which provides an indicator of stream health. They report their findings to the Watershed Center, which then performs quality assurance.

Program Sponsorships from businesses and individual donors provides the equipment that Stream Teams need to perform their monitoring.

Watershed Center Advancement Director Denise Baker interviews Tom Kelly of Inland Seas and Rich Brauer of Brauer Productions during the premier episode of Watershed Moments on TV 2 Up North.

The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay’s new program, Watershed Moments, will premier on TV 2 Up North Monday, November 16 at 10 p.m. and Saturday, November 21 at 9 a.m.

Rich Brauer’s 1984 film Creatures in the Great Lakes is featured in this first episode. Denise Baker, Advancement Director of the Waterhsed Center, interviews Brauer and Tom Kelly, Exeuctive Director of the Inland Seas Education Association. Brauer and Kelly collaborated on the film.

Creatures in the Great Lakes has inadvertently become an historic benchmark of how dramatically invasive species have changed the Great Lakes during the past 25 years. The film features exquisite footage of species that can no longer be found in the Great Lakes.

Stay tuned to TV 2 Up North for more Watershed Moments.

How do you get a head start on your holiday shopping and help protect Grand Traverse Bay? Shop downtown Traverse City businesses on Saturday, November 14 during Shop Your Community Day! Participating retailers will donate 15% of your purchase to the partcipating non-profit of your choice. We hope you will choose the Watershed Center! Just look for the bags and balloons outside participating retailers. The Watershed Center’s proceeds will help protect Grand Traverse Bay–so you and your loved ones can reap pristine water quality, and a high quality of life!

Be part of the biggest day of environmental action in world history!

Be part of the biggest day of environmental action in world history! Show up at the Traverse City Open Space at 1:00 on Saturday, October 24 for a group photo that will be broadcast that day in Times Square and worldwide. This will help urge world leaders to take bold action when they gather in Copenhagen in December to write a new treaty to curb climate change.

The number 350 signifies the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay is partnering with TC 350 because climate change poses risks to the Great Lakes.

A reception will be held at the Traverse City Opera House following the group photo. Speakers include Rep. Dan Scripps, 101st District; Dave Barrons, former 9 & 10 news chief meteorologist; and a special recorded message to Traverse City from Bill McKibben. You can also enjoy live entertainment!

You can also take advantage of restaurant discounts and an education scavenger hunt for all ages from 4 to 7 p.m. Then dance your tush off at the TC 350 Ball at the Opera House beginning at 7 p.m. with live DJ music! For more info, see tc350.org.

Join us for the second annual Freshwater Summit Oct. 2

If you care about issues affecting our freshwater community, join us for the second annual Freshwater Summit on Friday, October 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hagerty Center, 715 E. Front St. in Traverse City. Check-in opens at 9 a.m.

Registration is $20 and includes lunch. To register, pay online at www.gtbay.org or call Denise Baker at 231~935~1514, ext. 4. Preregistering by September 25 is strongly encouraged; last year’s event sold out.

Activities include concurrent workshops, panel discussions and guest speakers to discuss issues and strategies that affect our Grand Traverse Bay region waters. Topics include ecological history of the Great Lakes, watershed forestry, hydrographic survey of Grand Traverse Bay, invasive Phragmites, Milfoil hybridization, Grand Vision, wetlands and much more! A final agenda will be distributed at check-in. You can even take a tour of the Northwestern tugboat and the Inland Seas schooner!

Exhibit booths are $50 for non-profit organizations or $200 for businesses. You can pay online at www.gtbay.org or make your check payable to the Watershed Center and mail it by September 25 to 13272 S. West Bay Shore Dr., Traverse City, MI 49684.

The Freshwater Summit is perfect for members of lake associations, researchers, educators, shoreline property owners, policymakers, environmental advocates, movers and shakers–anyone who cares about our freshwater community!

September on Sabin Pond, acrylic, by Joan Bonney

The Watershed Center is kicking off the third installment of its Art of the Watershed exhibit series on Thursday, September 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. Joan Bonney is the featured artist. A portion of all artwork sales will support the Watershed Center’s vital work to protect Grand Traverse Bay. The exhibit runs through spring.

Celebrate the beauty of the Grand Traverse region and indulge in sumptuous local foods. The Watershed Center office is located at 13272 S. West Bay Shore Drive in Greilickville, in the Bright Blue Building on the Bay across the parking lot from the Children’s Museum.

The Art of the Watershed exhibit series is made possible by the Herrington-Fitch Family Foundation and is proud to be a part of the Lake Affects art movement.

A Natural Solution

The Watershed Center’s A Natural Solution guidebook for low-impact development stormwater management received the Planning Excellence in Best Practices award from the Michigan Chapter of the American Planning Association. The award will be presented at the Michigan Association of Planning’s annual conference, Planning Michigan, on September 30 at the Soaring Eagle Resort in Mount Pleasant. Gerry Harsch, owner of Land Planning & Design Associates in Traverse City, nominated our guidebook.

Program Director Sarah U'Ren and board member Phil von Voigtlander scope out likely algae bed locations in Grand Traverse Bay.

The Grand Traverse Baykeeper tugboat has been busy this summer as the Watershed Center conducts a macrophyte bed study of Grand Traverse Bay. Program Director Sarah U’Ren, Grand Traverse Baykeeper John Nelson, board member Phil von Voigtlander, plus interns Maureen McManus and Mykala Ford have been locating algae beds and assessing their size. They’ve also been taking sediment samples and noting whether invasive zebra or quagga mussels are present. Sediment samples are tested for excess nutrients such as phosphorus, which fuels algae growth.

This study complements two previous studies we conducted in 1991 and 1998. Those studies showed that the algae beds in Grand Traverse Bay had expanded.

Macrophytes include algae such as cladophora. Experts believe that avian botulism is linked to cladophora, which is increasing in Grand Traverse Bay. The study will provide data about any link between algae bed growth, phosphorus and invasive mussels. It will also ascertain any connection between E. Coli and rotting algae mats that have washed ashore.

The 2009 study is funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.