Looking Back at 2024
This past year was full of phenomenal experiences for our staff, volunteers, and partners as we continued to focus on protecting, enhancing, celebrating, and engaging with the watershed. CRWC established these four pillars to guide our work in 2023, and they have continued to guide our focus during another year of growth.
Currently, the impact of excess nutrients in our waters is an important topic of conversation. To further explore this subject, Dan Egan, author of “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” and “The Devil’s Element” was a guest speaker at our 2025 Annual Meeting. Dan spoke to a room full of CRWC supporters, Oakland University students and the general public and explained the dangers of an overabundance of phosphorous in our waters. Looking back on 2024, we are pleased to share that we helped to address this important issue in the Clinton River.
PROTECT: Our Keeping-It-Clean Program encourages residents to get involved in improving the health and natural beauty of the watershed by participating in regularly scheduled trash cleanups. By removing trash and debris from the watershed, we prevent pollutants and nutrients from entering our rivers and streams, ensuring the cleanliness of our waterways and preserving the natural beauty of our surroundings. In 2024, 741 volunteers collected 5,388 pounds of trash.
ENHANCE: In 1987, the Clinton River watershed was identified as one of the 31 Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the U.S. under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. A Remedial Action Plan (RAP) identified eight Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs), including eutrophication, or undesirable algae, as an issue to address in our watershed. In 2024, CRWC monitored 24 sites within the watershed over a period of four months. In that time, we collected 108 water samples. These efforts will help CRWC and the Clinton River Public Advisory Council (PAC) determine and address sources of nutrients within the watershed.
CELEBRATE: CRWC is proud that the Clinton River has been a state designated water trail since 2019. A water trail is a designated route along a lake, river, canal, or bay for people using small boats such as kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddleboards, single sailboats or rowboats. Water trails are the aquatic equivalent of a hiking trail or “greenway” and feature well-developed access and launch points. CRWC has been working to improve the accessibility of the water trail by implementing safety signs along the route, installing wheelchair accessible boat launches, and creating a waterproof map for trail users. The map is available digitally on our website and a waterproof hardcopy is available at our office.
ENGAGE: Volunteers are instrumental in the protection, enhancement, and celebration of the Clinton River, its watershed, and Lake St. Clair. In 2024, 307 people volunteered with our Adopt-a-Stream program, 61 volunteered with the winter Stonefly Search and 741 volunteered to pick up trash through the Keeping-It-Clean program.
CRWC has been making a difference in local communities for more than 50 years. In 2024, our wide-ranging programs and events helped ensure healthy waterways for us all. As we begin 2025, we’ll continue to rely on the help of our volunteers, donors and partners to improve the water quality within the Clinton River watershed. With your help, we can achieve even more in the years to come.
Learn more by reading our 2024 Annual Report.