EVART, Mich. — The mighty Muskegon River is 219 miles long and runs throughout West Michigan. Despite its size, the river still depends in part on smaller waterways to feed into it — waterways like Twin Creek in the city of Evart.
"There's 60-plus tributaries like Twin Creek all along the way," Muskegon River Watershed Assembly Executive Director Scott Faulkner said. "They contribute really cold water to the Muskegon, which allows a wider variety of fish populations to occur."
But for local wildlife and the water flow, Twin Creek has a few problems — 11 to be exact. 11 rock dams that are failing and eroding the creek are also stopping fish and water from moving freely.
The Muskegon River Watershed Assembly partnered with multiple organizations and volunteers from local businesses on Thursday to change that by removing the dams by hand.
"The amazing thing about removing simple rock dams is trout show up within moments, within minutes, hours, and you can actually see it when you're working in the creek," Faulkner said.
Aside from local ecological benefits, organizers said the project could also improve safety and community life.
"[The dams] cause a lot of erosional and depositional problems," BlueTriton Brands Natural Resource Manager Arlene Anderson-Vincent said. "The water's going to get around them somehow. And by doing that, they eat into the banks, the banks collapse."
"So, it was pretty cool project," Anderson-Vincent went on to say. "We've heard from local residents. Now, they've been able to fish on some of the bridges like right downtown, the city of Evart where they hadn't seen fish there in a long time."
It was a community coming together to do what they can to help all those along Twin Creek and the mighty Muskegon, one boulder at a time.
"This project is tangible," Anderson-Vincent said. "You know, it's something that we can get done. So, a lot of dam removal projects are years in the making. This has real benefits. It's community driven, and it makes a real big difference."
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