Urban Kayaking

I don’t agree
In many urban areas, infrastructure improvement and storm and sanitary separation is difficult because space is at a premium and reworking systems would be expensive. But OTOH communities have done next to nothing to date in terms of stormwater treatment, so the room for improvement is pretty significant. Europe is ahead of us on this front, with it’s centuries-old sewer systems and densely developed cities. So it’s not an insurmountable problem.

it’s all about choices
If we want the outdoors recreation to be in the same place that the dense development is located. Choices such as:



Using gray water.

toughening stormwater ordinances and development requirements.

Implementing expensive infrastructure and cutting-edge solutions.

yes, they are

I swim at kensington all the time
never had a problem.

there is your solution, willi
The state of michigan and it’s regulatory agencies cater to fisherman because they perceive fishermen as providing and economic benefit. Simple as that.

time for some soapboxing

– Last Updated: Sep-17-12 12:51 PM EST –

This article looks pretty timely:

http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135--285147--,00.html

Now - all of you schlubs living here (or any other state) who think a state with the water resources Michigan has is nothing special, and that this resource adds nothing to property values or quality of life: keep beating that insipid drum of "regulation bad!" and "taxes bad" and "government assistance bad" and see how fast it takes your state to lose that uniqueness. And it takes a hell of a lot longer to get it back than it does to lose it.

Even NOAA getting involved

– Last Updated: Sep-17-12 2:39 PM EST –

Infrastructure matters, and it's a pay now,
or pay more later, approach affecting us all.

NOAA, the national oceanic atmospheric administration
has taken an interest in the Clinton River
as it dumps into the Lake St. Clair at the
Harley Ensign Marina site in Michigan.

NOAA is tracking the river and lake currents.

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/hecwfs/

The highly urbanized Clinton River has been dumping
sediment into Lake St. Clair for 50 years
http://bit.ly/ClintonDelta

http://redrundrain.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/clinton-river-pollutants-2011/

With all the creeks, streams, lakes and coastal
communities the USA has, water quality is not
given much of a priority in the tax base.

I thought you meant
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/135769/urban-kayaking.jhtml

Sorta…kinda…a little bit
Dubside is a bit closer to the city water thing



http://www.dubside.net/commando-kayaking.cfm

NOAA sez if there’s lightning, or dirty
river water, the safest place to be is at home in your living room. Wait to go outside until 1/2 hour after the last time you hear thunder, or half a generation after water bottling plants appear along the waterway you planned to travel.



Regulation of water pollution— good.



Regulation of adults who want to paddle polluted water—bad!

voice of reason is good counsel
We cannot expect the same quality in an urban place that we expect from an undeveloped place. It’s pretty simple. Keeping hysteria to a mimimum always helps narrow the focus.



When I saw concern raised about a metropark I paddle regularly it made me a bit defensive. But I’ve heard people say things about our local river as well as the metroparks without any supporting evidence.



I would hope that when day paddling in populated areas, people think enough to take a shower afterward.

some more food for thought
Detroit was once the busiest port in the entire world. Back then, people didn’t know about or consider possible environmental damage or even unhealthy conditions. It wasn’t malicious, it was just the way. Well it takes a long time to undo all of that, and at an expensive cost.

Where can you find clean water?
Would you drink water from a river in Africa? The Amazon? Probably not…unless you want to get really sick? The urban jungle is no different.

One more consideration …
For those of us who are “fresh water wealthy.” Many places on this planet are not. They have begun to want ours!

Apathy is un-healthy

– Last Updated: Sep-17-12 7:27 PM EST –

Discussion, raising awareness of the situation,
and asking politicians/government to continue
to raise the bar doesn't happen by being quiet.

General everything drops to the lowest common denominator,
and many say - whatever-yeah that's cool-
instead of many actually pushing for higher standards.

Why does society settle for achievement of bare minimums
when it comes to ""government by the people for the people"

I'm not going to go around screaming wooohoo
the waste water plant just squeaked by today ,
and that retention basin chlorinated just barely,
and that industrial plant only spilled 99 gallons,
- I will request it gets better every year

got to work the local guys willi

– Last Updated: Sep-17-12 10:33 PM EST –

There are a few elections in our state with reps who really don't seem to appreciate the great lakes. What these morons don't get is that clean cities with clean water are cities where people would prefer to live.

Got to go STATE / FEDERAL level
The reality is local stuff is done primarily

by non-profit groups with sweat equity and

almost zero funding.



County A, could give diddly poo about what County B,

does in our separated segmented approach to things.

Few realize topography, water runoff, and water tables

don’t adhere to political boundaries.



State and Federal folks need to recognize

“Water Trails” = hiking, biking trails in their

significance for eco-tourism.

nope
The feds and state may provide grant and funding support, but they really couldn’t give a flip where you want it allocated. Working with your local reps, state level at the largest, builds interest and support.

Making your local or state rep aware that your support for them hinges on their support for water quality. These are the people who have connections with the localities.

And there is the rub…
It’s the apathy of the general public who

may live within a stones throw of the waterways

but simply will not or don’t easily get involved.



The basic - if someone “else” does it that’s great;

but please don’t bother me to show up at council

meetings or actually call a local rep.



When is the last time you heard of “government employee”

paddling a local waterway, be it a city, district,

council rep, etc. - even in an election year -

when they govern over local waterways as part of their job ?

quite often
I think you’re casting a broad net when you implicate government employees. People who work in the DEQ and DNR for example, earn less and their departments are understaffed. And they still give a rip about water and the environment.



You might want to temper your tone a bit; these are also the people who can help you realize a project.