Lotus Beds and Sturgeon Traditional Cache

This geocache will lead you to one of the most scenic areas of the River Raisin in Monroe, Michigan.  There is parking at the site.  Please be respectful to the park, plants, rocks, bridge, and river.  There is no need to go into the water or under the bridge for this geocache.  Replace the container exactly how you found it. Be careful navigating near the water.

From City of Monroe Website http://www.monroemi.gov/river-raisin-project/:

River Raisin Dam Remediation Project
Reconnecting Waterways – Lake Erie to Dundee 

The mouth of the River Raisin was once home to abundant lotus beds and sturgeon, among many other native wonders.  But the Raisin has also become a major port on the western side of Lake Erie.  In Monroe, mills gave  way to automobile manufacturing plants and eventually became home to one of the largest energy-generating plants in Michigan. The cost of doing business in the midst of this transformation resulted in some chronic pollution problems, including PCBs in river sediments and an on-going need to dredge the lower channel for ship traffic.

In the 1930s, as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, a series of dams were constructed to carry sanitary sewer across the River Raisin’s bedrock bottom (refer to Aerial below).  But the dams have blocked boats and fish from travelling back up the Raisin from Lake Erie.

These conditions have degraded the environmental quality and potential of the river in Monroe.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed the mouth as an Area of Concern (AOC) with “beneficial use impairments” (BUIs), including degradation of fish and wildlife populations and loss of fish and wildlife habitat (EPA River Raisin AOC Webpage).  As part of this listing process, a Remedial Action Plan (2007 Remedial Action Plan Update) has been developed by the EPA, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the River Raisin Public Advisory Council to fix or remediate these conditions.

2009 President Obama created the first-ever large scale financial commitment to address persistent environmental problems in the Great Lakes. This program, known as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was funded at $475 million in 2010 (Article on original congressional funding authorization for GLRI). The City of Monroe’s dam remediation project competed against 1,000 other applicants to become one of the 270 projects funded under GLRI.   When complete, the River Raisin Dam Remediation Project will create fish and small boat passage from Lake Erie to approximately 23 miles of the lower River Raisin.