Rouge River AOC

• Latest News
• Overview
• Beneficial Use Impairments
• Remediation and Restoration Work
• Partners

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Latest News

EPA Highlights Ongoing Progress in the Rouge River Area of Concern 

Overview

Located in southeastern Michigan, the Rouge River was designated as an Area of Concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1987. The boundaries include the main branch of the Rouge River, Upper Rouge River, Middle Rouge River, and Lower Rouge River. Upland areas in the watershed are the source area and the AOC should be delineated as just the waterbodies within the watershed.

The Rouge River watershed drains 466 square miles into the Detroit River and encompasses 48 communities. The Rouge River watershed contains the oldest and most heavily populated and industrialized area in southeast Michigan. This has led to sediment and water contamination from industrial development and discharge, combined and sanitary sewer overflows, and nonpoint source pollution.

Degradation of the Rouge River is representative of that found in many urbanized and industrialized areas within the Great Lakes Basin.

• Over 50% of the land use is residential, commercial, or industrial, with increasing development pressures in the headwaters.
• Over 50 miles of publicly owned parklands in the northern and western portions of the watershed are adjacent to watercourses.
• Land uses include rural, suburban, urbanized and industrial.

Nine of the fourteen Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) are impaired for the Rouge River AOC. Sediment and water contamination affect fish and wildlife habitat and populations as well as recreational opportunities. Contaminants within the watershed include heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury, oil and grease. Remedial Action Plan priorities developed for the Rouge River AOC include eliminating of combined sewer overflows, nonpoint source pollution control, industrial discharge pretreatment and contaminated sediment cleanup.

Beneficial Use Impairments

An interim success of remediation and restoration work is removing BUIs. BUIs are designations given by the International Joint Commission representing different types of significant environmental degradation. As cleanup work is completed, and monitoring demonstrates sufficient environmental health improvements, BUIs can be removed. No BUIs have been removed from the Rouge River AOC. Once all BUIs are removed, the process of delisting the AOC can begin.

• Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption
• Eutrophication or Undesirable Algae
• Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations
• Beach Closings
• Fish Tumors or Other Deformities
• Degradation of Aesthetics
• Degradation of Benthos
• Restriction on Dredging Activities
• Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat

• General information about BUIs: Beneficial Use Impairments for the Great Lakes AOCs

Remediation and Restoration Work

Through multiple partnerships, remediation and restoration efforts have continued to within the Rouge River AOC. Following a Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations and Degradation of Benthos BUI pre-assessment that was completed in 2014, a list of the most impaired reaches or segments within the AOC were identified. From this list,  25 habitat projects were identified. These habitat projects were chosen to advance progress toward to BUI removals. The habitat projects include river connectivity, wetland restoration, streambank restoration, fish passage, and invasive species management. Implementation of the projects will be a key step forward in the restoration of the Rouge River. 

• Documents on Restoring Rouge River AOC
• Remediation and Restoration Projects for Rouge River AOC

• For more information about the Rouge River AOC habitat projects, please see the Rouge River AOC Fish and Wildlife Plan Addendum.

Highlighted Habitat Restoration and Sediment Remediation Work

• The Henry Ford Estate Dam Fishway Restoration
• The Rouge Oxbow Restoration Project
• Dredging the Lower Rouge River Old Channel

Restoration Project Highlight: Tamarack Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration

The Alliance of Rouge Communities completed a GLRI-funded habitat restoration project on Tamarack Creek, a stream in the Rouge River AOC that primarily drains through an urban landscape. Over time, high levels of uncontrolled stormwater runoff into Tamarack Creek from the urbanized watershed resulted in bank erosion, sedimentation of in-stream habitat, and destabilization of substrate, leading to negative impacts on local macroinvertebrate, fish, and wildlife populations. To address these impairments and ultimately increase fish and wildlife diversity, the Tamarack Creek project included restoration of 1,950 linear feet of stream channel, 4.6 acres of wetland habitat, and construction of in-stream habitat structures. Restoration actions included wetland expansion, stream alignment corrections, and native vegetation planting to slow runoff and improve bank stability. This restoration work was completed in 2022 with $2.3M in GLRI funding and will provide high quality habitat for valuable fish and wildlife, help manage invasive species, and improve hydrology in the watershed.  

Restoration Project Highlight: The Henry Ford Estate Dam Fishway 

The Henry Ford Estate (HFE) Dam Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration project was identified as a high priority project by the Rouge River Advisory Council in 2011. A naturalized channel was constructed that flows into the Rouge River, bypassing the HFE dam. 

The Henry Ford Estate Dam is the first barrier to fish when migrating upstream of the Detroit River. Construction of the fishway channel has opened fish passage between the Rouge River watershed and the Great Lakes system. The completion of this project has reconnected over 40 mainstem river and over 120 tributary miles, which will enhance habitat for many species of fish, macroinvertebrates and other aquatic life. Construction of this fish passage also created two acres of natural riparian habitat along the 850-foot channel. Completion of the project has advanced efforts toward the removal of the following BUIs:
•    Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations
•    Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat
•    Degradation of Benthos

The Fishway Project was a collaborative effort among many project partners, including:
•    U.S. EPA
•    NOAA
•    National Park Service
•    Michigan Department of Natural Resources
•    Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes, and Energy
•    Wayne County
•    Alliance of Rouge Communities
•     Rouge River Advisory Council

The H

enry Ford Estate Dam is the first barrier to fish when migrating upstream of the Detroit River. The fishway channel will open fish passage between the Rouge River watershed and the Great Lakes system. This project will supplement two previously completed GLRI-funded fish barrier removal projects, the Wayne Road Dam on the Rouge Lower Branch and the Danvers Pond Dam on the Upper Rouge. Once completed, the project will reconnect 50 main river and 108 tributary miles. This will improve and enhance habitat for many species of fish, macroinvertebrates and other aquatic life. 

The Fishway Project is a collaborative effort among many project partners, including:

• U.S. EPA
• NOAA
• National Park Service
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes, and Energy
• Wayne County
• Alliance of Rouge Communities
•  Rouge River Advisory Council

Restoration Project Highlight: The Rouge Oxbow 

The Rouge Oxbow Restoration Project began in 2002 through collaboration with multiple partners. The Rouge River was channelized in the 1970s to mitigate flooding, which disconnected the Rouge Oxbow area from the Rouge River and prevented fish passage between the oxbow and the Detroit River. To reestablish this connection, part of the Rouge River concrete channel was removed and restored to natural channel so that water could flow freely into and out of the oxbow. The project entered its third phase in 2018 and was completed in 2020. 

Over 16 years of efforts to reconnect the system have included channel construction, recreation of 13 acres of wetland and upland habitat, removal of over 7,000 yards of concrete and debris, and construction and reconnection of the southeast portion of the oxbow with the Rouge River. This project reconnected the oxbow with 20 miles of the Rouge River, 100 tributary miles, the Detroit River, and ultimately the Great Lakes watershed. This reconnection provides benefits such as habitat for benthic macroinvertebrates, a resting area for migrating fish, nursery habitat, and restored wetlands. The project created valuable habitat for bass, bowfin, and channel catfish, and also incorporated native seed plantings that will benefit pollinators, stabilize the streambank, and enhance habitat for wildlife.

The Rouge Oxbow Restoration Project will contribute to the removal of the following BUIs:

• Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations
• Degradation of Benthos
• Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat

The Rouge River Oxbow Restoration Phase 3 Project was a collaborative effort among many project partners, including:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Michigan Department Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
• Wayne County
• Alliance of Rouge Communities
• The Henry Ford Historic Site
• Rouge River Advisory Council

Remediation Project Highlight: Dredging the Lower Rouge River Old Channel

Since 2010, EPA has been working under a Great Lakes Legacy Act partnership with its non-federal sponsor, Honeywell Inc., to investigate, design, and clean up a 0.75-mile stretch of the Lower Rouge River Old Channel (LRROC). The LRROC is a highly industrialized federal navigation channel. The multi-year cleanup effort is to be conducted in two phases. The first phase, conducted in 2018 and 2019, included the installation of a sheet pile wall along 2,500 feet of the shoreline. The second phase, which is anticipated to re-start in 2023, will include dredging and capping of contaminated sediment on the river.

Phase two involves dredging of 70,000 cubic yards of sediment from 10 acres. The sediment is polluted with coal tar and other petroleum products and will be transported offsite by barge and disposed of at the US Army Corps of Engineers Point Mouillee Confined Disposal Facility in Monroe, Mich. In addition, the project will restore the riverbed by stabilizing the shoreline, removing contaminated sediment, and removing large debris like metal, wood, tires, and nearly a dozen vehicles that have been discarded in the river.

Completion of the project will advance efforts toward the removal of the following BUIs:

• Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations
• Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat
• Degradation of Benthos

Partners

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• The National Park Service
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Detroit District
• Alliance of Rouge Communities
• Friends of the Rouge
• Honeywell, Inc.
• IL-IN Sea Grant
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy 
• Rouge River Advisory Council 
• The Henry Ford Historic Site
• Wayne County