The Platte River Watershed

In April 2000 the Benzie Conservation District in Michigan's Benzie County began working with the Platte River watershed community to determine how best to preserve the good quality of the Platte River, its tributaries and many lakes.

The citizens of a watershed must realize that their activities at home and at work will affect the quality of the watershed they live in. Since the Platte River watershed is becoming more populated as urban sprawl moves westward from Traverse City, the education of landowners is critical to insuring the quality of the Platte River watershed remains high.

Damage to the watershed quality can take years to recover. We know, for instance, that whole-scale logging of forests in the watershed near the turn of the century left deep sand and sediment deposits that exist in the Platte River streambed to this day. With the natural stabilizing vegetation wholly removed from hillsides and stream banks, soil was easily washed to the water with each rain fall or by the erosive force of the river. Sand can cover critical gravel beds that are used by many species of fish and insects for shelter, destroying a vital part of the river's ecology.