Inventories and Surveys

Our water resource inventories and surveys are one of many approaches that the Watershed Council uses to protect Northern Michigan's water resources. We have a long history of performing inventories and surveys for watershed management planning or as a service to lake association, local governments, riparian property owners and others. Here are a few of the services we provide:

Aquatic Plant Surveys
We perform detailed aquatic plant surveys and use results to assist lake associations and others with aquatic plant management plans for, using survey results. These surveys are typically done lake-wide and provide information and maps about the location and densities of aquatic plant communities, aquatic plant diversity, invasive plant species, and fish habitat. Click on the following to see examples of plant survey reports and maps:

Walloon Lake Aquatic Vegetation Survey (2013)

Aquatic Vegetation Surveys on Lake Bellaire and Clam Lake (2013)

River Road/Stream Crossing Inventories
RSX inventories serve as a useful watershed management tool. They help identify sediment pollution entering surface waters from poorly designed, maintained, or aging stream crossing infrastructure. Inventories also reveal fish passage barriers due to perched culverts, as well as altered stream hydrology from inadequately designed or installed crossings. Performing regular RSX inventories allows road commissions and resource managers to note changes in stream and structure conditions over time, as well as rank RSXs as minor, moderate, or severe, as a means of prioritizing them for improvements or replacement.

Click here to learn more and view our road/stream crossing inventories.

Lake and Stream Shoreline Surveys
Our staff conduct surveys on lakes and streams to document and assess shoreline conditions that have the potential to impact water quality and ecosystem health. These surveys are typically performed for lake associations to provide a lake-wide assessment of the shoreline. Every property is surveyed for nutrient pollution, erosion, greenbelts, altered shorelines, and other relevant factors. Survey information is used to work with individual property owners to address any problems on the shoreline. Information about individual properties is kept confidential.

Mapping and Natural Resource Inventories
We develop and print maps of lakes, streams, or other water features. Maps can be made for entire water bodies, individual shoreline properties, or specific areas. Any information available can be included on the map, such as lake-bottom contours or survey results.

We perform natural resource inventories at any scale (county to individual property) to assist local units of government, lake associations, and others with planning efforts. Data layers available for inventory maps include wetlands, lakes, streams, landuse, soils, water tables, contours, roads, water quality data, contaminated areas, zoning information, and more.

To address specific water resource problems or questions, we perform spatial analyses using geographical data. Examples of spatial analyses include examining land-use changes over time and prioritizing land conservation for water quality protection.

See an example of the priority parcel analysis in the
Walloon Lake Wetlands and Tributary Assessment 2012

For more information about these services, please contact (231) 347-1181.