HCMA Stormwater Management Plan
Plan and Continuing Recommendations Help Metropark System Improve Water Quality and Stormwater Infrastructure
The Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) consists of 13 parks covering nearly 25,000 acres across a five-county region in Southeast Michigan and serves an average of 7.3 million visitors per year. HCMA is the single largest landowner along the Huron and Clinton Rivers—two of the three main watersheds in the Detroit region with hundreds of miles of streams flowing through urban-industrial populations and into the Great Lakes system, which is source water for millions of people in several states and Canadian provinces.
For years, excessive stormwater in these streams has caused bank erosion and habitat degradation, nutrient loading leading to water quality issues, and infrastructure challenges. Since HCMA lands are an invaluable natural resource and important stakeholder in assessment of streams and watershed planning for the entire region, it partnered with OHM Advisors to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan.
Our expert field teams conducted streambank and lakeshore condition assessments on over 167 miles of stream channel and shoreline through multiple watersheds and land use types using innovative field investigation and data collection tools, including OHM Advisors’ Smart Kayak—our first-in-the-industry, on-the-water assessment tool outfitted with multiparameter probes to map water quality in real time. We also assessed the presence of woody debris, invasive species and park recreational impacts.
Our team’s comprehensive stormwater management plan includes recommendations and conceptual designs for stream stabilization and restoration, green stormwater infrastructure, recreational impact mitigation, and recommendations for repairs and maintenance to existing stormwater conveyance system elements. Our team continues to work with HCMA, offering ongoing water quality improvement suggestions and cost opinions as stream and lake restoration concepts evolve.
Project Highlights: civil engineering, environmental engineering, site assessments, stormwater management, landscape design, green infrastructure
