$225,000 grant to Grand Valley State funds stormwater research

Michigan Sea Grant has awarded Grand Valley State University a two-year grant, totaling $225,000, to conduct an integrated assessment of stormwater in the Village of Spring Lake and Spring Lake Township.

Al Steinman, director of Grand Valley’s Annis Water Resource Institute located in Muskegon, is principal investigator of the project.

“Stormwater management is a major issue for municipalities,” said Steinman. “As increasing amounts of natural land are converted to impervious surfaces, water that was once largely absorbed by the soil or transpired by vegetation is now conveyed to nearby surface waters.”

He said this stormwater runoff increases both pollutant loads and water temperatures, which have adverse impacts on water quality and on fish and aquatic insects. The greater water volume can also result in an unstable system with higher flows, more streambed and bank erosion, and flooding downstream.

Spring Lake Township and the Village of Spring Lake are located near the mouth of the Grand River. These municipalities are located in one of the fastest-growing regions in the upper Midwest.

Steinman says Spring Lake and the Grand River are already impacted by high levels of phosphorus and potentially-toxic cyanobacteria blooms, and the nearshore areas of Lake Michigan are showing signs of impairment from nonpoint source pollution. “An integrated approach is needed to deal with stormwater issues in these areas given their intimate connections to a number of economically and recreationally important aquatic systems,” said Steinman.

For more information, contact Al Steinman at (616) 331-3749 or (231) 728-3601.