By CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

On most days Evans Creek, a tributary of the River Raisin that stretches 14.62 miles and ends at Globe Pond, trickles past Tecumseh resident Nancy Smith’s Hermitage condominium with a wide bank that she and her neighbors can enjoy. It’s when rains such as those that fell consistently over the last week before skies cleared for the Fourth of July weekend that the creek becomes more like a river and flows fast, nearly reaching the platform of a wooden footbridge that crosses the creek behind her home. Trees that normally stand in her neighbors’ backyards stand in the middle of a strong current of muddy brown water.

According to Smith, the creek receives runoff from close to 17,000 acres of farmland and the last 1.25 miles of the stream that runs through Tecumseh receives the brunt of that runoff. While much of the Evans Creek is under the jurisdiction of the Lenawee County Drain Commission, the portion passing through Tecumseh runs through privately owned property outside the drain commission’s jurisdiction.

For Smith’s neighbors the high waters pose a nuisance. It’s a nuisance she and her neighbors live with as residents on the creek. Still, it’s not simply the high water that Smith is concerned about. It’s the environmental impact on the Evans Creek, the extreme erosion to its banks and the high amount of sediment that is deposited because of the runoff that concerns her most.

“Sediment is a major pollutant impacting the fish and other stream life, in turn impacting on other life along the stream. I just want people to understand how important the water is, and we are just messing it up,” Smith said.

Smith currently serves as treasurer for the River Raisin Watershed Council. Throughout the past two years, the council has developed a management plan that details the conditions of the entire River Raisin watershed, including showing Evans Creek with the highest level of sedimentation of all the River Raisin sub-basins. “Evans Creek is definitely a priority sub-watershed of the River Raisin,” said Gayle Mitchell, executive director of the River Raisin Watershed Council. “There are a lot issues with erosion, not only because we are losing land, but some places are in danger.” She referenced Smith’s condominium complex with waters at flood stage eroding banks inches from the homes.
The management plan must be adopted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in order for the council to receive grant funding. Mitchell said that approval for the plan is anticipated to be received by October. In the mean time, the River Raisin Watershed Council is working with the City of Tecumseh to address remediation. “We’ll need support of the general public. We also need more members and partners in order to get these grants,” she said.

Smith did recently send notification to the City of Tecumseh detailing the history of Evans Creek and the goals that she hopes will be addressed, including reducing the sedimentation coming into the stream and remediation of the erosion that already has occurred.