River Raisin Legacy Project

River Raisin Legacy Project. Fish Passage 1. , The River Raisin watershed covers Southeastern Michigan and part of Northwest Ohio, an area comparable in size to Rhode Island. Running primarily through the farmlands of Monroe, Washtenaw, Lenawee, Jackson and Hillsdale counties, the 135-mile river is notable for many unique attributes. , Where the River winds through the city of Monroe, it once flowed over six low head dams (2.5'-3') constructed by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. A habitat restoration project some 80 years later re-established fish passage here. , Phase I was enacted in 2012 with the removal of the dams by St. Mary's Park and the Macomb Street Bridge. Dams that house active sanitary sewers near Cappuccilli Park and Hellenberg Park were updated with rock arch ramps to provide passage for fish and small boats. Dams 2 and 3 did not contain active sewers and were removed entirely. Phase II completed in 2014 included dams by the post office and Virginia Drive that also housed active sanitary sewers. , The project also installed a bypass channel around the Waterloo Dam within Veteran's Park and removed dams 2 and 3, which did not contain active sewers. At the Grape Dam, approxintely 7.5 miles to the west near Ida-Maybee Road, the mill race way restored and installed with a rock ramps allowing fish to pass. , Many fish that migrate up rivers for spawning, such as northern pike, muskellunge, whitefish, sturgeon and walleye will benefit. Restoring rivers to provide the habitat they once offered is a necessary part of restoring Lake Erie. Fishing, wildlife viewing, bird watching, canoeing and kayaking are available as never before in our lifetime. Residents and visitors now have access to the Sterling State Park lagoons by bike, on foot, by canoe and kayak.