Coming up on the one year anniversary that one rafter will never forget.

Conceptual photograph of 'landscaped' 4th St dam.

Or this lowhead dam?

Existing dam, known by river experts as a 'drowning machine.'

Could Grand Rapids’ benefit from a picturesque new tourist attraction?  A wild, scenic, cascading waterfall right downtown?  It’s known by several names; The 6th Street Dam, 4th St. Dam, Fishing Dam and even The Falls.  The dam is appreciated by a few, ignored by most.  It was built in the mid 19th century to create a mill pond to provide water power for the huge furniture industry that GR was known for.  Today, it  simply serves the purpose of stalling seasonal anadromous fish en route to upriver spawning beds, indeed, providing a top, nationally recognized fishing hot spot (some would argue that additionally, the dam halts the lamprey eel from reaching theirs.)  But, it’s ugly and it is extremely dangerous (see Lowhead Dam Dangers on this web site). It does also create a vast pond that provides an urban recreational opportunity for water skiers, rowers and sea kayakers upstream at Riverside Park.  But, the dam kills people just as dead as if they went over Niagara Falls.

Is there an environmentally friendly way to mitigate the inherent dangers of the Fishing Dam and keep the existing river recreation?  GRWW believes so.  Face it! We propose* ‘facing’ the dam with landscape boulders,  stone and concrete made to look ‘real’ (see conceptual photo above -top.)  You can view such sculpted masonry work at various John Ball Zoo exhibits, Michigan’s Adventure Park and even miniature golf establishments.  By breaking up the perfect recirculating hydraulics of the lowhead dam, the flow is rendered harmless, save for a few bumps or bruises that might be experienced by a whitewater enthusiast.  The dam would also be a boon to our downtown economy, creating an important destination for visitors.  No one can say exactly how many jobs and businesses would be created, but it’s safe to say that everyone already living and working downtown would be do better.

Let’s face it, this just might be the win win solution we need.

Read more about the proposed changes to the Grand River downtown, please read Grand River Whitewater Park Preferred Alternative on this web site.

* GRWW does not propose going forward with any such alterations to the river or it’s surroundings until the proper environmental impact studies have been completed.

"Water is the best of all things." - Pindar (c. 522 BC - c. 438 BC), Olympian Odes

Swimming in the Grand River?  Fishing, rafting or kayaking in that water?!  Sure, why not?  The water quality of the Grand, as it flows through downtown Grand Rapids, is actually GOOD!  As a matter of fact, it is as good as that of renowned scenic trout stream, the Rogue River, a major upstream Grand River tributary.  What about after a big rain event?

No worries.  The new PARCC (Plainfield, Alpine, Rockford, Cannon and Cortland) Side Facility is up and running.  It is not your typical sewage treatment plant.  Located upriver at Lamoreaux Park off Coit Ave., this clean water plant really produces clean water.  Not just cleaner-than-sewage and being able to meet the minimum pollution standards allowed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. EPA, the effluent is as clean or cleaner than the waters of the Grand River to which it is discharged, and it is probably clean enough for someone to drink as a demonstration. 

As for the infamous storm water run off,  the untreated sewage overflow problems Grand Rapids has been known for?  That all takes place downstream at Market Ave.  

The City of Grand Rapids has spent 210 million dollars on sewer upgrades since the 1980’s. That expenditure has reduced the total volume of untreated sewage discharged annually into the Grand by 99.74 percent.

The city will spend 260 million dollars by 2019, the deadline to eliminate the remaining 26 hundredths of a percent of sewage overflow. The year 2019 is specified in an agreement between the Grand Rapids and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as the year by which the city will address the remaining 7 of its original 59 sewer overflow sites. 

Study From The City of Grand Rapids Environmental Services Department 

The water quality index (WQI) is a statistic designed to closely approximate state and national WQI’s as published on the Internet and elsewhere.  The usual factors that enter into its calculation are: the percent saturation of dissolved oxygen, the change in temperature from a reference temperature (usually the most upstream from heat sources), pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total solids, fecal coliform counts, phosphate, nitrate, and turbidity. For each parameter, a Q-statistic is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, 100 being best. 

Phase One and Two of the proposed whitewater installation would be constructed from approximately 6th St down to Fulton.  See the graphs below for water quality in that section of the river measured upstream at knapp and downstream at wealthy.  

For the entire published study, visit  http://www.ci.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=1958

“I thought maybe it was gonna be a little dam that I could go over like the whitewater rafters.  It didn’t work out like that,”  said Joe Hileski.  “I almost died.”  On Wednesday April 8, 2009, Joe set out for an adventure on the Grand River. 

Photos by Paul L. Newby II | The Grand Rapids Press

He purchased a $20 rubber raft from Meijer and launched at Riverside Park.  “Next thing I know that dam came up awful fast and there was no stopping it.  I went all the way to the bottom and hit my head on a rock.  Somehow, miraculously, I found that raft and clung to it.”

To find out how Joe was rescued by two fishermen, read the MLive, Grand Rapids Press article  http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/man_in_raft_rescued_from_grand.html