Interested in learning more about the Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan and local Lake Macatawa issues? Please join us on Wednesday Sept 8th for a boat tour of Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan. Sponsored by GVSU, the 1 to 1.5 hour tours will leave the Yacht Basin Marina at 9am, 1pm and 3pm, rain or shine. If interested, RSVP to Stephanie Beyer at sbeyer@the-macc.org or by calling 616-395-2688.

We wholeheartedly support the overall message of this Holland Sentinel Opinion article  which is that the entire community needs to take ownership of water quality problems in Lake Macatawa before we will start seeing substantial water quality improvement. The Macatawa Watershed Project is trying to lead the way . .

The Macatawa Watershed Project recently secured a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment to complete in depth sediment monitoring in the Macatawa Watershed, in partnership with Hope College. The sampling project will involve forensic analysis of many sediment samples across the watershed to determine the relative point of origin of each sediment type. This information is critically important to the success of future projects as it will help us target areas of the watershed that are shown to be the largest sources for sediment. Please see the Monday August 16th Holland Sentinel article for more information or contact Mary Fales at mfales@the-macc.org if you have any questions.

The June 2010 edition of the Watershed Project newsletter is now available! We hope you enjoy this information packed edition with information on environmentally friendly boating, local Clean Marinas, lake dredging, algae and sediment sampling and the benefits of replacing turf grass with alternative landscaping. If you’d like to be added to our mailing list please send an email with your contact information to info@the-macc.org

April is the month of Earth Day and this year you can celebrate Earth Day by caring for our local natural resource-Lake Macatawa and the Macatawa River. The Outdoor Discovery Center-Macatawa Greenway is hosting its annual River Clean Up Day on Saturday April 24th from 8:30am-noon. The Macatawa Watershed Project will be providing a pizza lunch for volunteers after the cleanup. To register and learn more please visit http://odcofwu.schoolwires.com/odcofwu/icalsw/eventDetail.asp?DID=15949

Hope to see you there!