1. Project Title: Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport Crosswinds Marsh Wetland Mitigation Project
2. Contact
Mr. Robert Braun, Director
Division of Airports, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, L.C. Smith Terminal,
Detroit, MI 48242
Tel.: (313) 942-3563; FAX: (313) 942-3793
or
Dr. Donald L. Tilton
Johnson, Johnson, & Roy Inc., 110 Miller, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Tel.: (313) 662-4457; FAX: (313) 662-7520
3. Agencies Involved
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Land and Water Management Division and Wildlife Division, Lansing, Michigan
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Chicago, IL
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, East Lansing, MI
4. Restoration Goal
To reestablish wetland values and functions lost due to airport expansion by restoring and creating wetlands. Wetland habitat to be restore and created include submergent, emergent, scrub-shrub, and forested areas. Primary wetland functions and values that were to be created were fish and wildlife habitat, water quality improvement, flood storage, and passive recreation.
5. Project Type
Restoration of wetlands that were drained for agriculture and creation of new wetlands from upland habitat.
6. Background and Rationale
The expansion of the Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport required that certain wetland areas on the airfield be filled. As a condition of the permit, regulatory agencies required 189 ha of new wetland to be created. The wetland mitigation project has been completed on 326 ha of land allowing for more than adequate upland areas to be integrated into the overall mitigation complex.
7. Regulatory Considerations
An environmental impact statement was prepared for the expansion of the airport. State and federal wetland permits were obtained from the Michigan DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with consultation of U.S. EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. State threatened and endangered species permit from the Michigan DNR for relocation of plant species. County drain permit for relocation of county drain.
8. Criteria
Vegetation
Implement a revegetation program which will complement the local gene pool, increase plant diversity and control invasive species.
Preserve existing habitats and create new habitats for endangered, threatened and species of special concern.
Fish and Wildlife
Provide a variety of interspersed habitats for water fowl identified in the Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Basin Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.
Provide a variety of interspersed habitats for other birds, mammals, fish and other wildlife.
Develop a long-term wildlife management plan for the site.
Establish a warm water fishery with public access.
Water Quality
Develop a system of shallow water wetlands to remove pollutants from surface water entering the site. minimize impacts of upstream water quality, and maximize the water quality of discharge from the mitigation wetland.
Flood Control
Utilize state-of-the-art hydrologic and hydraulic computer modelling programs to provide stormwater storage through the use of passive low-maintenance detention structures.
Education and Research
Utilize the mitigation site for research on wetland restoration,
creation. and management
techniques.
Develop a resource for environmental education and interpretation for local schools.
Recreation
Develop a plan to identify recreational needs in the community which can be integrated into the mitigation program.
9. Project Design
The project was designed to meet the criteria established for the project in a cost effective manner. We attempted to create wetland habitat that was present on the property prior to European settlement of the area. We have added sufficient land to the project as a buffer against adjacent land uses. We have also attempted to relocate several threatened species of plants from the airfield to the mitigation area.
10. Implementation
Construction began in 1993. The design water level at the spillway was reached in March 1994. Plantings of all wetland types was completed in June 1994. Hydrologic calculations were essential to understanding the annual water level fluctuations in the wetland and to protect upstream property owners from flooding.
11. Degree of Environmental Intervention
Local drainage patterns were altered to create the wetland hydrology for the project. Local topography was altered to create the deep water habitat. but a large area of the project had no earth disturbance.
12. Cost
Construction cost was approximately $4.2 million.
13. Biological Assessment
The project was permitted after an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was prepared for the airport expansion. The EIS identified the alternatives to the proposed action and mitigation efforts that would be undertaken to minimize adverse impacts.
14. Measures of Success
The first year of a five-year monitoring program indicates that the hydrologic setting is successful and initial indications of plant community establishment are positive.
Success Rating (early results): 4
15. Key References
None.
Correct citation for this contribution:
Braun, R., and Tilton, D. 1995. Wayne county Detroit metropolitan airport crosswinds marsh wetland mitigation project, p. 239-242. In J.R.M. Kelso and J.H. Hartig [editors]. Methods of modifying habitat to benefit the Great Lakes ecosystem. CISTI (Can. Inst. Sci. Tech. Inf.) Occas. Pap. No. 1.