Study Starts to Monitor Rouge River’s Watershed
The state is awarding a $35,000 Clean Michigan Initiative Grant to Wayne County.
State officials are granting Wayne County funding to monitor the health of the Rouge River Watershed. The “Rouge River Insecticide Monitoring” project will examine whether commonly used pesticides are toxic to the river’s insects.
Wayne County Commissioner Tim Killeen says how well the insects are doing will provide insight into the overall state of the river.
“This will tell us how healthy the food chain is in the river because then it eventually works up of course to fish and turtles and then the birds and if humans are eating out of there with the fish or anything they catch,” Killeen says.
Researchers will take samples from 40 sites in the river over the next two years. Volunteers from the non-profit group Friends of the Rouge and the Alliance of Rouge Communities will help in the effort.
