RRWC, Michigan

The River Raisin is located in the Lake Plain (SE Michigan and NW Ohio) of the Central Lowlands (Michigan, Wisconsin, N. Ohio, N. Indiana, N. Illinois, E. Iowa and E. Minnesota) which is comprised of former lake bottom. It flows into the Lake Erie Basin, which lies in the Central Lowlands Physiographic Province between the Appalachian Plateau and Laurentian Upland or Canadian Shield. The River Raisin watershed is the product of geologic processes 500 million years old. 15,000 years ago, the Wisconsin ice sheet known as the Pleistocene glacier, formed a series of glacial lakes before modern Lake Erie was born less than 5,000 years ago.

The former lakes, Maumee, Arkona, Whittlesey, Warren, Wayne, Grassmere and Lundy are all ancestors of Lake Erie. Each had a different outline and elevation above sea level. Lake Maumee was 800 feet above sea level. Drainage was westward through Fort Wayne, Indiana into the Wabash River. Eastward drainage began about 12,000 years ago and resulted in a low lake stage for 8,000 years. It was during this time that the River Raisin was born. Gradually, the Niagaran escarpment rebounded from the weight of the glaciers creating a dam at the eastern end of Lake Erie and the water rose from 470 feet above sea level to its present elevation of about 570 feet above sea level. This process resulted in the most crooked river in the world – the River Raisin. The headwaters of the River Raisin are 1,200 feet above sea level on the steeper, forested slopes of the Irish Hills and winds southeast through glacial moraine topography to a lake plain dominated largely by agriculture. The River is 135 miles long and it covers 1,072 square miles roughly the size of Rhode Island. 80% of the watershed is zoned for farmland. There are 50 dams or impoundments in the watershed. The River has many tributaries such as Macon Creek and the Saline River along with a south branch at Adrian and the Little River Raisin at Britton in Lenawee County. There are 5 counties, 6 cities, 10 villages and 40 townships in the watershed.

The Frenchman, Louis Jolliet, was the first to record seeing Lake Erie in 1669. By that time water levels were the same as they are today. In 1670, on a trip across the Lake, the famous explorer LaSalle passed by the River Raisin on his way to Detroit. He marveled at the beauty and richness of the country that reached away on each side of the passage. Groves of black walnut and wild plum trees and oaks festooned with grapevines stood like islands on the fine prairies. The native people called the River, “Nummasepee” or River of Sturgeon, however French settlers impressed with the grapevines that covered its banks called it “Riviere Aux Raisin” or River of Grapes. France controlled the area until 1763 when it was ceded to Great Britain. The first settler was fur trader, Joseph Pulier Benac, followed by Colonel Francis Navarre and the Jerome brothers, Charles and John Baptiste. The first American settlement was established at Frenchtown in 1793 and in 1796 Captain Porter raised the first American flag on Michigan soil. Monroe County was established on July 14, 1817 and included all of Lenawee County and a portion of the present Wayne and Washtenaw counties. On June 1, 1819, John Anderson, Oliver Johnson and twelve others were authorized to build a toll bridge across the River Raisin. This followed the famous battles on the River Raisin in 1813 during the War of 1812 when American forces from Kentucky under the command of General James Winchester were defeated at Frenchtown setting the stage for a British retreat and American takeover.

Frenchtown was situated on the north bank of the River Raisin along the old Hull Road or military turnpike. “Euphemia” now known as Monroe was on the south side of the river. So named by Judge Augustus B. Woodward who purchased 500 acres of land to qualify himself as a judge. On March 6, 1832, the toll bridge was washed out by ice flows.

On May 20, 1826, Congress appropriated $200.00 to determine if navigation on LaPlaisance Bay could be improved. A survey was made by Captain T.W. Maurice, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1828 a breakwater was completed. On February 24, 1835, $30,000 was appropriated to excavate a canal between Lake Erie and the River. One hundred years later in 1936 the navigation channel was dredged to its present depth of 21 feet and a turning basin with 18 feet of draught was included. Fishermans Island was excavated for that purpose and began the reclamation of the famous Monroe Marshes.

It is the reclamation period from 1940 through 1975 that forever changed the character of the River Raisin estuary on Lake Erie. A Cease and Desist Order was issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 1975 to halt solid waste disposal encroachment into Plum Creek Bay, occurring as a result in inadequate containment dikes along Plum Creek. Millions of tons of contaminated waste and polluted dredgings were disposed of in Monroe Harbor during that 35-year period.

Other changes after the turn of the century included the introduction of the paper industry which clogged the river with sludge, a succession of heavy industries on the north side of the river and an electric arc steel mill the south side of the river next to one of the world’s largest coal fired power plants on Raisin Point. What became of the onion fields along East Dunbar Road? They are buried under a huge flyash basin designed to contain combustion byproducts from the Monroe Power Plant. Where are the famous lotus beds around Johnson’s Island? They are forever buried under Corrective Action Management Units (CAMUs) adjacent to Sterling State Park. What of the dredging from the River Raisin navigation channel? They are now placed in a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) on Sterling State Park. In 1972, the United States and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which eventually led to declaring Areas of Concern. The River Raisin Area of Concern involves only the final 2.6 miles of the River from Dam No. 6 downstream through the Harbor. It also includes the navigation channel from the River mouth into Lake Erie and a small portion of Lake Erie along the shore from the north end of Sterling State Park to one-half mile south of Dunbar Road on the South bank of Plum Creek Bay. In 1983 a permanent dike was installed from I-75 east to the McMillan canal which discharges hot water from the Monroe Power Plant. A 2 ˝ foot slurry wall runs along the entire length of the dike (7,300 ft.) extending from the die surface to a depth of 20 feet. The dike was designed to protect the Plum Creek Bay Wildlife Area on East Dunbar Road from further contamination and to contain the Port of Monroe landfill. The line has been drawn! No more filling of Plum Creek Bay. The die has been cast! Remediation has taken the place of reclamation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now confines polluted maintenance dredgings in a proper facility. Plating wastes deposited in the wetlands next to Sterling State Park are being contained in state of the art facilities. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the River Raisin will be removed and an impermeable dike protects Plum Creek Bay. Over $40 million has been spent for remediation to date. Another $50 million will be spent by the year 2000 to correct problems in the River Raisin Area of Concern. This is a beginning. What remains to be done? Monroe Harbor is on the St. Lawrence Seaway. If the Harbor is brought to Seaway depth, 28 feet, the resulting modification will result in the restoration of Raisin Point and the Monroe Marshes, which will be reclaimed from the shallows of LaPlaisance Bay. In 1980, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to build a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) on Raisin Point. The structure would provide a wave shadow zone for Bolles Harbor to protect the recreational navigation channel and harbor of refuge. Nearly 800 acres of wetland would be created behind the barrier restoring the River Raisin estuary to its former glory.