Conservation Resource Alliance

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Crystal River high water: an omen and a lesson in resilience

The good news is that the Crystal River is healthy. She winds like a lazy snake through wetlands protected by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, so when excessive rain or snowmelt inundate her environment—as happened during record flooding in early April—the extra water has a place to go. The other good news is that the removal of culverts in three locations under County Road 675 during the past five years has helped the river flow more freely and relieves pressure during high water events. The bad news is that two more culverts remain downstream of The Mill. Those culverts restrict water flow beneath Overbrook Drive. The other bad news is that scientists who study climate change in the Great Lakes region predict more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, including rainstorms.

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Goodbye culverts, hello timber bridge over the Crystal River

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“Shooting the tube” through the Crystal River culverts under County Road 675 is now an experience of the past. This month the Grand Traverse Engineering & Construction will remove the three culverts and replace the road above them with an 80-foot timber bridge. The work should be complete by the end of November, according to GTEC construction manager Ken Ockert. S. Dunns Farm Road will be closed to thru traffic and rerouted around Big Glen Lake for the duration of the project. Labor Day Monday, Sept. 2, was the last day for kayakers, canoers and paddleboarders to float through the culverts. Their removal is bittersweet for the staff at Crystal River Outfitters, which has sent thousands of people down the river in the past three decades. “It’s fun to look back at the last 30 years and think that the term ‘shoot the tube’ has become synonymous with Crystal River Outfitters kayak trips down the Crystal River,” said Katy Wiesen, who co-owns the business together with her husband Matt. “Shooting the tube became not only an annual family tradition but also led to many variations on stickers, hats, t-shirts and more that are soon to be a piece of history.”

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Multi-million-dollar bridges will replace Crystal River culverts: County Road 675 closes this Fall

Just outside of Glen Arbor, a well-traveled section of County Road 675 is imperiled as it crosses three sets of undersized culverts slowly crumbling into the Crystal River. That’s a multi-million-dollar problem for the Leelanau County Road Commission. The engineering plans call for the construction of a concrete and steel structure to replace the culverts under CR 675 closest to M-22. That will keep the two road surfaces closely matched in elevation. The two sets of culverts further east, including the “shoot-the-tube” culverts, are to be replaced with classic wood bridges providing a lot of headroom for paddlers, ending the need for portages across the road. Plans call for the replacement of the Tucker Lake overflow culvert with a wide and substantial concrete box culvert.

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Conservation District holds Day of Planting at Ruby Ellen Farm

Join local foresters, certified arborists, and resource professionals for a day of planting at Ruby Ellen Farm, 5946 S. Center Highway, Traverse City, on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9 am-12:30 pm.

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