Shown above at the ceremony announcing the Urban Waters Partnership”, left to right: Mike Van Gessel, President of Rockford Construction Company, who co-led the planning process; Chris Muller of Grand Rapids Whitewater; Garry Lee, State Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service; Charlie Wooley, Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Department of the Interior; Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow; Bob Perciasepe, Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and, at the podium, Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Though the Urban Waters Federal Partnership is designating 11 new locations in addition to its current seven cities/waterways, high-level officials chose just one — Grand Rapids — to announce the program’s expansion last Friday.
The Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bob Perciasepe, joined several other top federal administrators, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Mayor George Heartwell, and people who were involved in creating the plan for restoring the Grand River at the Gerald R. Ford Museum last Friday in making the announcement.
The Grand Rapids Whitewater group, represented by Chris Muller, has long existed to consider creative answers to the question, “How can the Grand River become an asset to the city?” Returning the river to its original state, which would put the “rapids” back into Grand Rapids, seemed like a good answer, but as Muller pointed out after the announcement, doing that requires a restored and protected water body.
The Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (MLCVEF) had already established a West Michigan Environmental Leadership Network; planners were drawn from that group. Co-chairs were Mike Van Gessel of Rockford Construction and attorney/community leader Steve Heacok. According to director Lisa Wozniak, MLCVEF also worked hard to ensure state participation, involving Rodney Stokes, former head of the Department of Natural Resources and currently director of placemaking initiatives for Governor Snyder.
The designations are intended to “reconnect urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed, with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts to improve our Nation’s water systems and promote their economic, environmental and social benefits.” The partnerships “align with... the White House’s place-based efforts.
The federal agencies agreeing to focus on the places designated as Urban Watershed Partnerships include EPA, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Corporation for National and Community Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the following U.S. Departments: the Interior, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Education, Health and Human Services (including Centers for Disease Control), and Transportation.
Perciasepe said they chose Grand Rapids for the announcement because the proposal showed “strong leadership and an organized plan.”
Other new designees are watersheds in Camden/Philadelphia, St. Louis, Seattle, Boston, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Kansas City, Mo., Albuquerque, Newark, Atlanta, and Toledo. They join pilot waterbodies in New York, DC, Maryland, Los Angeles, Denver, New Orleans, and Northern Indiana.
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