[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]









                                                      NATURAL RESOURCES
                                                   AND TEE ENVIRONMENT













                                                                   D R A



                                    THE            (LEELANAU                            GENERAL PLAN
                             Policy Guidelines for AUnaging Growth on the Leelanau Peninsula

                                                              Working Paper Number 9

                                                                        August6,1992

                                                                                 4%




                                                                            This Document is
                                                                        Printed on Recycled Paper









                                                            LEELANAU COUNTY
                                                      BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

                                     John D. Stanek                                            Philip E. Deering
                                     Chairman                                                  Vice Chairman


                                     Donald W. Mitchell                                        Rochelle Steimel
                                     Gerald N. Henshaw                                         Joseph F. Brzezinski



                                                           LEELANAU COUNTY
                                                        PLANNING COMMISSION


                                                                  Daniel Heinz
                                                                     Chairman


                                     Merle Bredehoeft                                 Margot Power
                                     Barbara Cruden                                   Lois Cole
                                     Steve Kalchik                                    Daniel Heinz
                                     Richard (Rick) N. Stein                          Lawrence Verdier
                                     John-Dozier                                      Philip E. Deering



                                                      LEELANAU GENERAL PLAN
                                                        STEERING COMMITTEE

                                                                John D. Stanek
                                                                    Chairman


                        John April                            Max Hart                              Karen Nielsen
                        John Avis                             Carl Headland                         Glen Noonan
                        Gary Bardenhagen                      Beverly Heinz                         Richard Pleva
                        Joanne Beare                          Dan Hubbell                           Margot Power
                        Sargent Begeman                       Richard Hufford                       Robert Price
                        Jack Burton                           Kalin Johnson                         Larry Price
                        Stephen Chambers                      Linda Johnson                         Ed Reinsch
                        Ross Childs                           Colleen Kaichik                       George Rosinski
                        Lois Cole                             Edward Kazenko                        Richard Sander
                        Thomas Colernan                       Ray Kimple                            Charlene Schlueter
                        Barbara Collins                       Kay Kingery                           Kimberly Schopieray
                        Shirley Cucchi                        Stu Kogge                             Chris Shafer
                        Catherine J. Cunningham               Stan Kouchnerkavich                   Ruth Shaffran
                        Walter Daniels                        Frea Lanham Jr.                       Thomas Shimek
                        Phil Deering                          Elizabeth Lafferty-Esch               Derith Smith
                        Judy Egeler                           Don Lewis                             Dennis Stavros
                        Randy Emmeot                          Dana Hoyle MacLellan                  Harry Stryker
                        Kathy Feys                            Douglas Manning                       Mitsume Takayama
                        Kathleen B.  Firestone                Larry Mawby                           John VanRaalte
                        Mary Frank                            John McGettrick                       Tom VanZoeren
                        Gary Fredrickson                      Jack Mobley                           David Viskochil
                        James Frey                            James Modrall                         Midge Werner
                        Paul Gardner                          Dave Monstrey                         Ben Whitfield
                        Alex Garvin                           John Naymick                          Ruth Wilber
                        John Hardy                            Mary Newman                           Dick Wilson







                                             DRAFT






                                      Working Paper #9
               NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

                           OF THE LEELANAU PENINSULA








                                             Prepared by

                                            Tim McCauley



                                    Planning & Zoning center, Inc.
                                         302 S. Waverly Rd.
                                          Lansing, MI 48917





                                      with data assistance from

                                Leelanau County Planning Department
                                       Tim Dolehanty, Director
                                           113 Grand Ave.
                                          Leland, MI 49654
                                            616/256-9812



                                              July 1992





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                                      LEELANAU GENERAL PLAN
                                             PROJECT STAFF


             Timothy J. Dolehanty                               Duane C. Beard
             County Planning Director                           County Administrator

             Trudy J. Galla                                     Pat Stratton
             Assistant Planner                                 Administrative Secretary

             Andrew Schmidt
             Planning Assistant

             Karen J. Gleason
             Planning Department Secretary







                                      LEELANAU GENERAL PLAN
                                   TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE STAFF



                                    Planning & Zoning Center Center, Inc.
                                            302 S. Waverly Road
                                              Lansing, MI 48917
                                               (517) 886-0555
                                             (517) 886-0564 FAX

                                       Mark A. Wyckoff, AICP, President
                          Tim McCauley, Community Planner (principal report author)















                                                 Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment






                                                                                     DRAFT


                                                               TABLE OF CONTENTS

                     Preface      ..............................................................................................................................   i
                     Executive Summary               ...........................................................................................................   ii

                     Chapter 1: Climate, Geology, Topography, And Drainage                                        ............................................ 1-1
                            Introduction       .............................................................................................................   1-1
                            Climate      ....................................................................................................................  1-1
                            Geology        ..................................................................................................................  1-1
                            Topography and Slopes                  ..........................................................................................  1-3
                            Watercourses and Watersheds                         .............................................................................. 1-4
                            Lake Levels        .............................................................................................................   1-4
                            Emerging Issues            .....................................................................................................   1-6
                            Issues for Further Discussion                   .................................................................................  1-7

                     Chapter 2: Natural Resources                     .......................................................................................  2-1
                            Introduction       .............................................................................................................   2-1
                            Soils    ........................................................................................................................  2-1
                            Limitations for Basements                  ......................................................................................  2-2
                            Limitations for Septic Systems                    ................................................................................ 2-2
                            Hydric Soils       ..............................................................................................................  2-4
                            Steep Slopes           ..........................................................................................................  2-4
                            Soils Most Suitable for Urban Type Development                                  .................................................. 2-4
                            Woodland Suitability              ...............................................................................................  2-5
                            Orchard Suitability            ..................................................................................................  2-5
                            Farmland Suitability              ................................................................................................ 2-5
                            Farmlands          ............................................................................................................... 2-5
                            Forestlands        .............................................................................................................   2-6
                            Sand and Gravel            .....................................................................................................   2-7
                            Emerging Issues            .....................................................................................................   2-7
                            Issues for Further Discussion                    ................................................................................. 2-8

                     Chapter 3: Environmentally Sensitive Areas
                            Introduction       .............................................................................................................   3-1
                            Floodplains        .............................................................................................................   3-1
                            Wetlands        .................................................................................................................  3-2
                            High Risk Erosion Areas                  ......................................................................................... 3-3
                            Sand Dunes           ............................................................................................................  3-4
                            Unique Plants and Animals                    ..................................................................................... 3-5
                            Uniqueness of Natural Features                       ............................................................................. 3-5
                            Emerging Issues            .....................................................................................................   3-5
                            Issues for Further Discussion                    ................................................................................. 3-6

                     Chapter 4: Air & Water Quality                     ...................................................................................... 4-1
                            Introduction       .............................................................................................................   4-1




                                                                                    Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment





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                            Air Quality      ............................................................................................................... 4-1
                            Water Quality        .......................................................................................................... 4-2
                            Mebert, Cedar Run, and Victoria Creeks                       ................................................................ 4-5
                            Crystal River       ........................................................................................................... 4-6
                            Unnamed Stream (Brewery Creek), Greilickville                           .................................................... 4-6
                            Ennis and Belanger Creeks                 .................................................................................... 4-7
                            Houdek Creek          ......................................................................................................... 4-7
                            Sources of the Problem              .......................................................................................... 4-8
                            North Lake Leelanau              .............................................................................................. 4-9
                            MDNR Report           ....................................................................................................... 4-11
                            Groundwater         .......................................................................................................... 4-13
                            Emerging Issues           ................................................................................................... 4-15
                            Issues for Further Discussion                ............................................................................... 4-16


                     Chapter 5: Summary               ..................................................................................................... 5-1
                            Overview       ................................................................................................................. 5-1
                            Future Development on the Peninsula                       ................................................................... 5-1
                            Key Issues for Further Discussion                  .......................................................................... 5-2
                            Recommendations              .................................................................................................. 5-2


                    Appendix A: Literature Reviewed                     .................................................................................. A-1






























                                                                               Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment





                                                          DRAFT


                                                      PREFACE


              This working paper is the ninth in a series           Chapter 3 - Environmentally Sensitive
           providing background information for the              Areas; Floodplains, wetlands, high risk ero-
           preparation of the Leelanau General Plan:             sion areas, shorelands, sand dunes, and
           Policy Guidelines for Managing Growth                 unique natural features are the topics ad-
           on the Leelanau Peninsula. The first four             dressed in this chapter. Environmentally
           papers were generated to document public              sensitive areas present both problems and
           input from county-wide growth management              opportunities for development in the Penin-
           forums, the results of citizen and local offi-        sula.     Implications      of      ill-considered
           cials surveys and the activities of the Citizens      development,      special    characteristics     of
           Advisory Committee (CAC). This committee              sensitive areas, and state legislation are
           studied the need for a new county plan and            discussed for these parts of the County.
           various approaches that could be taken in                Chapter 4 - Air and Water Quality; pro-
           the preparation of such a plan. They con-             vides information on these abundant yet
           cluded that while a new plan was needed, it           fragile resources. Subjects addressed are
           should not be simply another "County Com-             sources, measured impacts, and future
           prehensive Plan" prepared by the County               status of air and water quality in Leelanau
           Planning Commission. Instead, what is                 County. The chapter discusses regional and
           needed is a growth management plan for the            local sources and impacts of pollution.
           Peninsula that involves the direct input and             Chapter 5 - Summary; reviews the issues
           participation of all the local units of govern-       raised from the first four chapters and identi-
           ment in the County. This led to the initiation        fies problems and opportunities for Leelanau
           of the Leelanau General Plan. The fifth               County. The chapter also relates the signifi-
           working paper presented a report on the               cance of the information presented in the
           "Trend Future" facing Leelanau County.                working paper to future development activity
           Working paper #6 presents goals and ob-               in the County.
           jectives for the General Plan, working paper
           #7 provides an overview of the economy of
           Leelanau County, and working paper #8
           discusses transportation, public facilities, and
           physical services.
              This working paper (#9) addresses
           Leelanau County's environment and natural
           resources through the following chapters:
              Chapter 1 - Climate, Geology, Topogra-
           phy, and Drainage; this chapter identifies
           and discusses the most fundamental, forma-
           tive natural processes affecting the County's
           natural setting and resources.
              Chapter 2 - Natural Resources; dis-
           cusses nature and location of soil types,
           farmlands, forest lands, woodlands, sand and
           gravel resources. For soils, there is informa-
           tion pertaining to building site development
           and limitations for septic systems and base-
           ments.

                                                             Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                                              Page i





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                                            EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


                The purpose of this working paper is to               potential, steep slopes, high water table,
            provide an information base that can be used              or excessively fast or slow permeability.
            for addressing environmental issues and                   Large contiguous areas of the County
            concerns in -Leelanau County. The following               have unique suitability for orchards,
            chapters should provide local officials and               woodlands, or farmland. Prime forestland
            citizens with information needed to make                  soils cover approximately 70% of the
            sound decisions with respect to the natural               Peninsula.
            environment. Information is presented in a                Although a small portion of the Peninsula
            fashion which will promote understanding of               contains wetlands, they exist in two very
            the environment; both at this time and in the             large contiguous        areas     near     Lake
            future.                                                   Leelanau and are a significant factor in
                This working paper provides information               maintaining the water quality of that lake.
            on; surface and bedrock geology, tempera-                 The Great Lakes shoreline in Leelanau
            ture and precipitation, watercourses, water               County contains many areas with highly
            quality, shoreline erosion, air quality, re-              erodible shore types which could be
            source lands, pollution sources, and envi-                adversely      affected      by     unchecked
            ronmental problem areas. Geologic forma-                  development.
            tions, resource lands, environmentally sensi-          -  Air and water quality in the County is
            tive areas, and pollution sources are identi-             affected by activities hundreds of miles
            fied and mapped.                                          away in the Lake Michigan basin.
                The following are summary observations             -  Water quality in inland lakes on the
            from the working paper:                                   Peninsula is very good, but the water
            ï¿½   Leelanau County has a diverse and                     quality of some lakes is threatened by
                varied surficial geology resulting from               septic systems and agricultural runoff.
                glaciation. Glacial landforms present in              Continued        residential      development
                the county include moraines, drumlins,                introduces additional impacts, including
                eskers, outwash plains, kettles, and sand             stormwater runoff containing lawn and
                dunes. Glacial deposits are very thick in             garden chemicals as well as other
                portions of the county.                               household          chemicals          (cleaners,
            ï¿½   The County's climate is influenced by the             detergents, etc.), and increased soil
                water bodies surrounding it. This makes               erosion resulting in sedimentation. Creeks
                some portions of the Peninsula suitable               and streams in the County are generally
                for growing fruit trees.                              high quality, but some problem areas
                Leelanau      County      has     no      major       exist.
                watercourses subject to flooding or                   The high water quality of North Lake
                severe erosion, but       has many small              Leelanau is threatened by elevated levels
                creeks and streams.                                   of nutrients entering the lake from Houdek
                Great Lakes water levels have varied as               Creek. Much of the Houdek Creek
                much as 51/4 feet within a 30 year period             watershed area contains agricultural land
                from the early 1960's to the present. The             uses. Sources of the problem are
                effect of lake levels is magnified by wind            agricultural runoff, cherry cooling pads,
                and wave action.                                      soil    erosion,    road     crossings,      and
                Significant portions of the Peninsula have            residential septic systems. Recent data
                soils which pose severe limitations on                for other streams in the County do not
                development       because       of      erosion

                                                              Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                                               Page ii





                                                          DRAFT


              indicate the existence of such problems
              elsewhere.
              All residents and visitors of the Peninsula
              are dependent on           groundwater for
              potable     water.     This     resource      is
              threatened     by    agricultural    practices,
              failing septic systems, and point sources
              of chemical contamination.
              Groundwater (and thus surface waters) in
              Leelanau County is extremely vulnerable
              to contamination due to a thick layer of
              highly permeable soils and the presence
              of many unconfined glacial drift aquifers.

              Many of the emerging issues identified
           within this report are natural resource-based,
           interrelated with recreation planning, land
           use planning, regulation of land use, and
           economic       development.       The       natural
           resources of Leelanau County offer a bounty
           of recreational opportunities which can be of
           benefit to the local economy. If development
           for recreation or other uses is ill-conceived or
           insensitive to the environment, the quality of
           recreation and the local economy will suffer.
           The chances of this happening are greater
           with increased pressure for development
           experienced over the past ten years. Land
           use planning and regulation will be
           increasingly necessary to ensure sustainable
           use of the Peninsula's natural resources.
              From the information presented in this
           working paper, it is evident that the natural
           environment of the Leelanau Peninsula is
           composed of many unique and fragile
           resources that are easily impacted by man's
           activities. Several warning signs have been
           observed and documented within the past
           twenty years that prove this is true. If
           protected by adequate governmental policies
           and regulations with the support of informed
           citizens, the Peninsula's environment can be
           preserved for enjoyment by many people far
           into the future.






           Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
           Page N







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                                                 LIST OF TABLES



               Table 1-1              Climatic Information                                          1-2
               Table 1-2              Watercourses in Leelanau County                               1-5
               Table 1-3              Inland Lakes                                                  1-5

               Table 2-1              Soils Associations                                            2-1
               Table 2-2              Septic System Standards                                       2-3
               Table 2-3              Woodland Suitability                                          2-5
               Table 2-4              Suitability for Seed Crops                                    2-5
               Table 2-5              Suitability for Orchards                                      2-5
               Table 2-6              Commercial Forest Act Lands                                   2-7

               Table 3-1              Flood Prone Creeks & Streams                                  3-1
               Table 3-2              Wetland Land Cover/Use Codes                                  3-3

               Table 4-1              Lake Trophic State Characteristics                            4-3
               Table 4-2              Inland Lake Water Quality                                     4-4
               Table 4-3              NPIDES Permits                                                4-13
               Table 4-4              Act 307 Sites, Fiscal Year 1992                               4-14




























                                                        Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                                       Page iv






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                                               LIST OF FIGURES



              Figure 1-1            Bedrock Geology                                               1-8
              Figure 1-2            Elevation                                                     1-9
              Figure 1-3            Steep Slopes                                                 1-10
              Figure 1-4            Watersheds/Watercourses                                      1-11
              Figure 1-5            Great Lakes Water Levels                                      1-6

              Figure 2-1            Soil Associations                                             2-9
              Figure 2-2            Soil Limitations for Basements                               2-10
              Figure 2-3            Soil Limitations for Septic Systems                          2-11
              Figure 2-4            Hydric Soils                                                 2-12
              Figure 2-5            Most Suitable Soils for Development                          2-13
              Figure 2-6            Soil Permeability                                            2-14
              Figure 2-7            Farmland Suitability for Seed Crops                          2-15
              Figure 2-8            Orchard Suitability                                          2-16
              Figure 2-9            Prime Farmlands                                              2-17
              Figure 2-10           PA 116 Lands                                                 2-18
              Figure 2-11           Prime Forest Land                                            2-19

              Figure 3-1            Floodplains                                                   3-7
              Figure 3-2            Wetlands                                                      3-8
              Figure 3-3            High Risk Erosion Areas                                       3-9
              Figure 3-4            Critical Dunes                                               3-10

              Figure 4-1            Ozone Pollution                                              4-17
              Figure 4-2            Act 307 Sites                                                4-18
              Figure 4-3            Aquifer Vulnerability                                        4-19



















              Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
              Page v






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                                                       Chapter 1

               CLIMATE, GEOLOGY9 TOPOGRAPHY9 AND DRAINAGE

           INTRODUCTION                                           milder in winter and somewhat cooler in
               Climate, geology, topography, and drain-           summer than weather at Traverse City. This
           age are key factors in shaping the natural             is due to the effect of surrounding water
           environment of Leelanau County. This chap-             bodies.
           ter provides background information on past
           and existing conditions related to these im-           Average Temperatures and Precipitation
           portant fundamental elements of the envi-                 Table 1-1 on the following page shows
           ronment. The purpose is to serve as a foun-            climatic data for Traverse City that is gener-
           dation for further discussion natural re-              ally representative for Leelanau County. The
           sources, environmentally sensitive areas,              Peninsula's weather is only slightly different
           water quality, and land use planning.                  than that of Traverse City as a result of the
               Leelanau County is a unique place in               lake effect. The highest daily temperatures
           Michigan with respect to climate and topog-            occur in July, while the lowest daily
           raphy. The climate is influenced by the large          temperatures occur in February. Precipitation
           water bodies surrounding the Peninsula,                is highest during May and lowest during
           which have a moderating effect on tempera-             February.
           tures. The surface geology of Leelanau
           County features large moraines, drumlins,              Growing Season'
           sand dunes, eskers, outwash plains, and a                 Fruit growers are primarily concerned
           thick layer of glacial drift. Topography in the        about the average frequency and severity of
           County is unique because of distinct glacial           frost damage to fruit trees and the probability
           and sand dune features, with many areas                of damaging frost during blossom time. In
           having steep slopes and rolling hills.                 Leelanau County, local variations in the frost
           Drainage is facilitated by steep slopes, nu-           hazard to fruit growing range from slight to
           merous small creeks and streams, large in-             severe, depending to a large extent on ele-
           land lakes, and sandy soils.                           vation above the lowlands and on effective
                                                                  natural air drainage. The length    of the grow-
           CLIMATE                                                ing season is about 150 days. It is somewhat
           Effects of Surrounding Water Bodies'                   shorter in the south-central        part of the
               Leelanau County, surrounded on three               Peninsula, and longer on the offshore is-
           sides by fresh water, has a climate that is            lands. The average date of the      last freezing
           Midwest continental but is influenced during           temperature in the spring in Traverse City is
           critical parts of the growing season by the            May 10, and the average date of the first
           heat-exchanging properties of Lake Michi-              freezing temperature in the fall is October 7.
           gan. Prevailing winds are west-southwest off           The latest freezing temperature ever re-
           Lake Michigan. The lake effect provides a              corded in Traverse City is June 13, and the
           favorable environment for fruit trees, as the          earliest on record is September 12.
           lower temperatures during spring generally
           retard the blooming time until the danger of           GEOLOGY
           late killing frost has generally passed.               Bedrock Geology
           Weather records taken from observations at                Leelanau County is located above four
           Glen Arbor and Maple City show that                    major bedrock formations; the Detroit River
           weather in Leelanau County is somewhat                 Group, the Traverse Group, Antrim Shale"
                                                              Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                                            Page 1-1







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                 and Ellsworth Shale. Figure 1-1 shows the                             material from one place to another. Sand
                 location of each major bedrock group within                           dunes occupy most areas adjacent to Lake
                 the County. The shale and sandstone bed-                              Michigan on the mainland and on the islands.
                 rock is overlaid by 50 to 900 feet of glacial                         The Sleeping Bear Dune reaches an eleva-
                 drift surface material, which is thickest near                        tion of 1,044 feet and is the most pronounced
                 the Sleeping Bear Dunes and becomes thin-                             of the open dune land.
                 ner towards' Suttons Bay and Northport.                                   Winds and water cause severe natural
                 There are no outcroppings of bedrock in the                           geologic erosion on dune-land. Wave action
                 Country.                                                              during periods when lake levels are high
                                                                                       causes shore erosion, and by undercutting
                 Physiography and Surface Geology'                                     lake bluffs, induces slippage of large soil
                     The surface of the Peninsula is covered                           masses. Large active gullies, some well over
                 by ground-up rock material resulting from the                         100 feet, occur where natural drainage-ways
                 Wisconsin period of glaciation 10,000 to                              receive accelerated runoff from cultivated
                 20,000 years ago. This material ranges from                           fields and spill over steep escarpments.
                 clay or loams to sand and gravel and con-                                 The most distinct inland feature resulting
                 tains boulders, stones, and limestone slabs.                          from glaciation is the hilly morainic landscape
                 All of this earth mass was moved by ice from                          in the southern two-thirds of the Peninsula.
                 the north during several glaciation periods.                          The Manistee Moraine occupies the central
                     Erosion by wind and water has modified                            part of the County between Empire and
                 the surface configuration, mainly by moving                           Suttons Bay. Loamy sand is more dominant
                 soil material from higher to lower elevations,                        in the eastern part of this moraine, but toward
                 sculpturing the hills, and cutting drainage-                          the west there is a change to a higher
                 ways. Strong winds built the high dunes                               proportion of gravely material, and in the
                 along Lake Michigan and moved surface soil                            western part there is sand. The moraines in

                                                                             Table 1-1
                                                                CLIMATIC INFORMATION


                                                              Temperature                                     Precipitation
                                                       Average             Average            Average               Days              Average
                         Month                           daily               daily               total           with snow           depth of
                                                      maximum             minimum             (inches)            cover of           snow on
                                                          (0 F)              (0 F)                                 1 inch            days with
                                                                                                                  or more          snow cover
                                                                                                                                      (inches)
                         January                           30                 17                 1.9                 30                   8
                         February                          30                 is                 1.3                 28                   10
                         March                             38                 21                 1.6                 22                   8
                         April                             52                 32                 2.0                  3                   2
                         May                               65                 41                 3.0                  0                   0
                         June                              76                 53                 2.6                  0                   0
                         July                              82                 59                 2.6                  0                   0
                         August                            79                 58                 2.6                  0                   0
                         September                         71                 51                 3.7                  0                   0
                         October                           59                 41                 2.9                  0                   0
                         November                          44                 30                 3.0                  9                   4
                         December                          33                 22                 1.7                 24                   5
                         Year                              55                 37                 29.1                116                  6

                                                         Source: USDA Soil Survey of Leelanau CounV Michigan

                 Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                 Page 1-2







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            the northern part of the Peninsula and west           TOPOGRAPHY AND SLOPES
            of Lake Leelanau contain a high proportion of         Relative Elevations
            sandy loam. Also in the northern part of the             The highest point in Leelanau County,
            County are numerous unusual elongated hills           slightly over 1,100 feet above sea level, is
            known as drumlins.                                    part of a large moraine located in the
               Lake levels varied greatly from time to            southwest corner of Elmwood Township. The
            time, and as water levels dropped, former-            next highest point is the Sleeping Bear Dune,
            lake bottoms were exposed as lake benches             at 1,044 feet above sea level. Sugarloaf
            and lake terraces. These lake benches and             Mountain is another prominent high point, at
            terraces occupy areas adjacent to the larger          1,040 feet.
            lakes and along the shores of Lake Michigan              From the mean water level of Lake Michi-
            and Grand Traverse Bay. These are nearly              gan, which is 580 feet, three of the more
            level to sharply sloping, and the soil material       prominent pinnacles of Sleeping Bear Dune,
            of the lake deposits is stratified sand, gravel,      Fouch Hill, and Sugarloaf Mountain rise
            loams, silts, and clays.                              about 460 feet. The large outwash plain in
               Glacial outwash plains occupy a large              Kasson township is about 340 feet above
            area in the southwestern part of the Penin-           Lake Michigan, and the moraines in the cen-
            sula. They are nearly level to gently sloping,        tral part of the Peninsula rise approximately
            but have a number of deep pits, and are               200 to 400 feet above Lake Michigan.'
            deeply dissected in some places, especially              Some relatively large expanses of flat ter-
            near their borders. The soil material is mostly       rain are found in the Solon and Cedar
            either gravel or sand.                                Swamps south of Lake Leelanau, much of
               Each of the offshore islands differ greatly        the southern portions of Empire and Kasson
            from one another in surface geology. South            Townships, and much of Leelanau Township
            Manitou Island consists of crescent-shaped            north of Northport. All of the offshore islands
            glacial deposits. These begin on the east             have relatively flat terrain as well (see Figure
            side as nearly level lake benches. To the             1-2).
            west, and in higher elevations, are level gla-
            cial lake plains, which rise sharply to a steep       Steep Slopes
            clayey moraine that is crowned by dune sand              Approximately one third of the land area
            next to Lake Michigan. North Manitou Island           of Leelanau County has slopes of 12% or
            has a narrow shelf of lake benches that rises         greater (See Figure 1-3). These steep-sloped
            abruptly to a broad moraine. This broad mo-           areas are not concentrated in one location
            raine is split in the middle by an outwash            but are found throughout the county, and are
            plain that extends southward to the dunes             generally interspersed with flat and moder-
            that occupy the southern and western areas            ately sloped land. Virtually the entire Penin-
            along Lake Michigan.                                  sula is hilly, except for the extreme south-
            , Nearly all of South Fox Island is one big           central portion in southern Empire and Kas-
            dune reposing on a moraine and on an old              son Townships, and the swamps south of
            lake plain, both of which are exposed only on         Lake Leelanau.
            some narrow shelves. North Fox Island is                 Steep slopes place moderate to severe
            two-thirds lake plain swept clean of superfi-         limitations on development, especially in
            cial lake deposits down to the sandy loam             highly erodible soils such as those in Leela-
            glacial till. The southern one-fifth is a high        nau County. Generally, slopes exceeding 7%
            dune deposited on the moraine, and the rest           should not be developed intensively, while
            .lake benches.                                        areas having a slope of 15% or greater
            's
                                                                  should not be developed at all because oi in-
                                                                  creased soil erosion and surface water sedi-

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                                                          DRAFT
            mentation. Careless hillside development can        rectly into the Great Lakes, connect inland
            lead to increased costs for public services         lakes, or run from inland lakes into Lake
            such as road and sewers, and results in             Michigan or Grand Traverse Bay. Table 1-2
            damage to surface water quality.                    contains location and drainage information
               The permeable unconsolidated glacial             on these watercourses.
            deposits in Leelanau County permit percola-
            tion of absorbed water to a great depth. This       Inland Lakes
            water moves laterally through the ground                Inland lakes cover approximately 8% of
            until it appears again as springs or as under-      Leelanau County. The largest of these lakes
            water discharge into streams and lakes.             are Lake Leelanau and Glen Lake. Table 1-3
            Many of the valleys and drainageways are            contains information on eight of the largest
            dry during much of the year, but swamps re-         lakes in the county
            main wet in low areas having a high ground-
            water level. Rapid runoff of water is slight        LAKE LEVELS
            and occurs mostly during periods of rapid           Lake Michigan
            snowmelt, particularly if the surface soil is           Lake levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron
            frozen. Runoff from cultivated sloping fields is    have varied considerably; as much as 51/4
            rapid if they are not protected by appropriate      feet; over the past thirty years, with record
            measures to conserve soil and water.2               low's recorded in 1964 and record high levels
                                                                in 1986. Figure 1-5 shows Lake Michi-
            WATERCOURSES AND WATERSHEDS                         gan/Huron levels in 1964 and 1986, as well
            Watersheds and Drainage Patterns                    as the long-range trend and levels for the
               There are no major rivers or river systems       years 1991 and 1992.
            in Leelanau County. Much of the land in the             Great Lakes water levels are unpredict-
            Peninsula drains directly into either Lake          able and vary over time in relation to precipi-
            Michigan or the west arm of Grand Traverse          tation and evaporation, and to a lesser ex-
            Bay via small creeks. Two large inland lakes,       tent, winds. Water levels are also affected by
            Glen Lake and Lake Leelanau, drain the              such artificial factors as dredging, diversions,
            central portions of the Peninsula, but              and regulation of flows. Following long peri-
            eventually empty themselves, into Lake              ods of above average annual precipitation,
            Michigan.                                           there is an accompanying rise in water lev-
               The Lake Leelanau watershed (drainage            els. This rise is not immediately evident be-
            area) covers approximately one fourth of the        cause there is a delay between the time pre-
            Peninsula and extends southward into Ben-           cipitation falls within the Great Lakes drain-
            zie County. There are two other inland wa-          age basin and the time all runoff waters fi-
            tersheds which drain the central part of the        nally enter the lakes. The same relationship
            County. One is an area containing Lime,             also holds true for periods of low precipita-
            Shetland, and Shalda Creeks, as well as             tion; lower lake levels are not immediately
            Bass, Lime, School, Shell, and Little Traverse      evident.3
            Lakes, and occupying most of Cleveland                  In   addition     to    precipitation     and
            Township. The other contains Hatlem Creek,          evaporation, strong winds can actually tilt the
            Glen Lake, and the Crystal River. Figure 1-4        surface of some of the Great Lakes, by
            shows watersheds and watercourses in                pushing the water to one end, by as much as
            Leelanau County.                                    eight feet on the receiving end. The other
                                                                end of the lake is consequently lowered. This
            Watercourses                                        effect of strong winds is common along the
              All of the rivers or streams in Leelanau          eastern shore of Lake Michigan in areas
            County are short-run creeks which drain di-         such as Leelanau County.
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                                                                DRAFT



                                                               Table 1-2
                                         WATERCOURSES IN LEELANAU COUNTY


             Name of Watercourse                       Location                                   Drainage
            Beaudwin Creek              Leland Township                            Lake Leelanau
            Belangers Creek             S. Leelanau and Suttons Bay Twps.          From Bass Lake to Suttons Bay
            BeInap Creek                Elmwood Township                           Lake Leelanau
            Bodus Creek                 Centerville Township                       To Victoria Creek to Lake Leelanau
            Brewery Creek"              Elmwood Township, Greilickville            Grand Traverse Bay
            Cedar Creek                 Elmwood Township                           Cedar Lake
            Cedar Run                   Solon Township                             Lake Leelanau
            Clearbrook Creek            Solon Township                             To Victoria Creek to Lake Leelanau
            Crystal River               Glen Arbor Township                        From Glen Lake to Lake Michigan
            Ennis Creek                 South Leelanau Township                    Grand Traverse Bay
            Gills Creek                 South Leelanau Township                    Lake Michigan
            Hatlem Creek                Empire Township                            Glen Lake
            Hines Creek                 Elmwood Township                           Cedar Lake
            Houdek Creek                South Leelanau, Leland Townships           Lake Leelanau
            Lee Creek                   Bingham Township                           Grand Traverse Bay
            Leland River                Leland                                     Lake Leelanau to Lake Michigan
            Leo Creek                   Suttons Bay                                Suttons Bay
            Lime Creek                  Cleveland Township                         Lime Lake
            Mebert Creek                Bingham Township                           Lake Leelanau
            Northport Creek             Notthpod                                   Northport Bay
            Rice Creek                  Centerville Township                       Grand Traverse Bay
            Shalda Creek                Cleveland Township                         L. Traverse Lake to Lake Michigan
            Shetland Creek              Cleveland Township                         Lime Lake to Little Traverse Lake
            Tager Creek                 Solon Township                             Ceciar Run to Lake Leelanau
            Victoria Creek              Centerville, Solon Townships               Lake Leelanau
            Weaver Crenl.,
                          k            ISouth Leelanau Township                    Omena Bay
            Weisler Creek               Solon Township                             Lake Leelanau

                                                     Source: Various maps of Leelanau County



                                                               Table 1-3
                                          INLAND LAKES - 175 ACRES OR LARGER


                       Name of Lake                      Surface Area (acres)                Maximum Depth (feet)
                Lake Leelanau (North)                             2,950                                   121
                Lake Leelanau (South)                             5,370                                   62
                Glen Lake (Little)                                1,400                                   13
                Glen LaL-,m                                       4,865
                          , e                                                                             130
                Little Traverse Lake                                640                                   54
                Lime Lake                                           670                                   67
                Cedarl-ake                                          253                                   45
          F     SchoolLake                                          175                                   18

                                                 Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources
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                                                       DRAFT
                                                      Figure 1-5
                                          GREAT LAKES WATER LEVELS


                                  1991                               1992                       1993

                 JAN FEB KAR APR MAY JUN JUL AW SEP OCT NOV DEC JAW FEB KM APR MAY JUN JUL ALIG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB UM APR KAY JUN

              fee
              +5


              +4
                                                        1986                              1


              +3
                                             ACTUAL WATER LEVEL                        PRaJECTION

              +2           --------




                                       iART DATUM                         577.5 (176.0 METERS)

                             LONCrRANGE AVERAGE


                                                                               -- ---------
                                                           1964




                                              Source: U. S, Army Cotps of Engineers
              During periods of high water levels on the     Inland Lake Levels                             0
           Great Lakes, damage to shorelands is much            There are two lakes in Leelanau County
           greater than in years of average or low water.    which have legally established water levels.
           High water levels, combined with the forces       Lake Leelanau's legally set level of 589.21
           of strong wind and wave action, can destroy       feet mean sea level datum was established
           beach and bluff areas, force evacuations of       in October, 1978. The level, with a variance
           flood-prone areas, and damage bird nesting        of plus zero inches, minus two inches, is in
           and fish spawning grounds.                        effect from April 15 (or when the ice breaks
              Many areas along the eastern shore of          up, whichever is later) until November 15. As
           Lake Michigan are highly susceptible to ero-      of November 15, the water level is to be re-
           sion, especially when lake levels are high. In    duced to 585.21 feet until the following April
           1972 and 1973, flooding along the eastern         15.
           shore of the Lake in Michigan affected               Glen Lake's level was ordered to be
           10,000 homes and cost 55 million dollars in       596.75 feet mean sea level datum        at the
           damages. A storm that occurred on                 south pier of "the Narrows" bridge in Section
           December 1-2, 1985, described by the              3 of Empire Township as of July, 1945. The
           National Weather Service as a "typical fall       level is maintained by the Glen Lake Asso-
           stormn caused an estimated $12-$14 million        ciation.
           in damages to the six southern Michigan
           counties on Lake Michigan, mostly due to          EMERGING ISSUES
           high water levels. The storm destroyed 16         Development on steep slopes
                     11186













































           cottages, damaged 46 others, and placed              As areas most suitable for development
           another 108 in imminent danger.4                  are built upon (those areas with good soils


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                                                                          DRAFT
              for construction and septic systems and with
              slight or moderate slope), then building on
              more marginal land is likely to occur. In
              Leelanau County, such "marginal" areas for
              building have steep slopes and highly erod-
              ible soils. If these areas are not protected
              from haphazard development, several impor-
              tant elements of the Peninsula's natural envi-
              ronment are at risk, including scenic beauty,
              high lake water quality, fragile dune lands,
              and unique vegetation.

              Impacts of High Lake Levels
                  Shoreline development along Grand
              Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan should oc-
              cur with potential high water levels taken into
              consideration. Property damage resulting
              from inundation and erosion also affects the
              local economy because of its dependence on
              tourists and tourist related facilities. Any sub-
              stantial damage to such facilities could have
              long-lasting negative effects. It is possible
              and feasible for future development to be
              protected from high Great Lakes water levels
              by setting minimum standards for the dis-
              tance of structures from the water's edge.

              ISSUES FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
                  To what extent should local governments
              or the County take over responsibility for de-
              velopment in high risk erosion areas? Cur-
              rently, the Michigan Department of Natural
              Resources administers permit programs de-
              signed to protect these sensitive areas.

              1. Substantial portions excerpted from the USDA Soil Survey of
                 Leelanau County, Michigan.
              2. USDA Soil Survey of Leelanau County, Michigan. 1973.
              3. Great Lakes Water Levels, Michigan Department of Natural Re-
                 sources, Division of Land Resource Programs. Date unknown.
              4. Great Lakes Water Wreaks Shore Havoc, Natural Resources
                 Register, Michigan Department of Natural Resources. March,
                 1986.












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                                                                                DRAFT

                                                                            Chapter 2

                                                         NATURAL RESOURCES


               INTRODUCTION                                                                misuse of valuable resource lands.
                    Soils-based natural resources discussed
               in this chapter include farmlands, forest                                   SOILS
               lands, sand and gravel. Leelanau County is                                  Soil Types and Locations
               relatively plentiful with respect to all of these                               There are eight general soil associations
               natural resources, which lend substantially to                              present in Leelanau County. Each soil asso-
               its scenic beauty and are crucial to its                                    ciation has unique characteristics which pose
               economic base.                                                              opportunities for some uses and limitations
                    Approximately one third to one half of the                             for others. The soil associations consist of
               Peninsula is not suitable for urban type de-                                one or more major soil types and at least one
               velopment because of various soil related                                   minor type, and are named for the major
               limitations. Many areas of the County have                                  soils. Figure 2-1 shows general soil associa-
               soils which are on steep slopes, have                                       tions in the county. This map is useful for lo-
               excessive            wetness, or are excessively                            cating large tracts of land which may be suit-
               permeable. However, many of the areas                                       able for a particular type of use, or for man-
               which are unsuitable for development have                                   aging wildlife, watersheds, recreational facili-
               unique suitability as orchards, farmland, or                                ties, or forests. However it is not adequate for
               prime forest land. Land use policies should                                 locating particular sites for roads, buildings,
               focus on guiding new development into areas                                 etc. Detailed site-specific analysis is needed
               capable of supporting it, while discouraging                                for such purposes. Soil associations in
               development             and        possible           inadvertent           Leelanau County are described in Table 2-1.

                                                                                Table 2-1
                                                                     SOILS ASSOCIATIONS


                      Soil Association                          Characteristics                               Minor Soils                    Land Area
                 Dear Park-Dune Land            Well-drained, strongly sloping to very steep,       Deer Park, Dune Land                13,402 acres
                                                sandy soils on dunes                                                                    6% of county
                 East Lake-Eastport-Lup-        Well-drained and moderately well-drained,           Alpena, Au Gres, Edwards,           62,641 acres
                 ton                            nearly level to gently sloping, sandy soils,        Markey, Kalkaska, Roscom-           28% of county
                                                and very poorly drained, nearly level, mucky        mon
                                                soils; on lake terraces and beach ridges
                 Emmet-Omena                    Well-drained, nearly level to very steep,           Alcona, Leelanau, Nester,           26,803 acres
                                                loamy soils on moraines                             Richter                             12% of county
                 Emmet-Leelanau                 Well-drained, nearly level to very steep,           Alcona, East Lake, Kalkaska,        42,438 acres
                                                loamy and sandy soils on moraines and fill          Mancelona, Richter                  19% of county
                                                plains
                 Kalkaska-East Lake             Well-drained, moderately steep to very steep,       Mancelona, Wallace                  17,869 acres
                                                sandy soils on moraines                                                                 8% of county
                 Kalkiska-Mancelona             Well-drained, nearly level to strongly sloping,     Adrian, East Lake, Houghton         24,570 acres
                                                sandy soils on outwash plains                                                           11 % of county
                 Kiva-Mancelona                 Well-drained, nearly level to strongly sloping,     Kalkaska, East Lake                 6,701 acres
                                                gravely, loamy and sandy soils on outwash                                               3% of county
                                                plains
                                                                                                    East Lake, Kalkaska, Kiva,          29,037 acres
                                                sandy soils on moraines                          T Nester                               13% of county
                 Leelanau-Mancelona             Well-drained, strongly sloping to very steep,


                                                           Source: USDA Soil Survey of Leelanau County, Michigan

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                                                           DRAFT

            Soil Limitations for Urban Development                   B. Rapid permeability, wetness and high
               The degree of soil limitations reflects the               water table
            practical     feasibility,    expense,         and       C. Wet, ponding, heavier (clay) soils, slow
            environmental hazards of developing land for                 permeability
            a particular use. Soils classified as severe             D.  Very wet soils, organics, floodplains,
            have varying degrees of development                          unable to support septic drainage
            potential based on the nature of their                       f ields
            limitation. Slight, moderate, and severe
            limitations are interpreted as follows:                  Soils in categories B, C, and D are not
                                                                 able to support septic fields because of ex-
               Sligh Relatively free of limitations or limi-     treme wetness. Soils in category A and B po-
               tations are easily overcome.                      tentially allow unfiltered effluent to contami-
               Moderate- Limitations need to be consid-          nate shallow groundwater supplies.
               ered, but can be overcome with good                   The Environmental Health Regulations for
               management or careful design.                     the Leelanau County Health Department
               Severe Limitations are severe      enough to      specify minimum sub-surface areas for sew-
               make use questionable or impossible.              age disposal systems according to the size of
                                                                 dwelling and the type of soils naturally occur-
            LIMITATIONS FOR BASEMENTS                            ring at the site. These standards are shown
               Soil drainage, permeability, stability,    f re-  in Table 2-2. The regulations also indicate
            quency  of flooding, slope, and erosion haz-         that permits to install on-site sewage disposal
            ard are important considerations in determin-        systems will be denied for any of the follow-
            ing the suitability of a site for buildings, es-     ing reasons:
            pecially those with basements. Soils having
            severe  limitations for dwellings with base-             A.  Where any impervious layer of hard
            ments are likely to have excessive wetness,                  pan is encountered at less than four
            slope, shrink-swell potential, or instability.               feet from the natural ground surface.
               Figure 2-2 shows areas of Leelanau                    B.  Where the known high groundwater
            County having severe limitations for dwell-                  table is encountered within four feet of
            ings with basements. Approximately one third                 the natural ground surface.
            of the land in the Peninsula has moderate to             C.  In heavy soils where the drop in water
            severe limitations, primarily due to steep                   level is over 45 minutes per inch by
            slopes, or wetness in low-lying areas. Areas                 standard percolation test.
            with severe limitations are concentrated in              D.  Where silts, mucks, or unstable soils
            extremely hilly portions of the Manistee Mo-                 are encountered.
            raine and in the Cedar and Solon swamps                  E.  Where lot size does not provide ade-
            south of Lake Leelanau.                                      quate area to maintain the minimum
                                                                         requirements of the Environmental
            LIMITA TIONS FOR SEP TIC S YS TEMS                           Health Regulations (i.e. there is
               Soils can pose limitations on septic       tank           insufficient land area to accommodate
            absorption fields for a wide variety of       rea-           a septic system).
            sons, including excessive permeability,      slow        F. Where it has been determined that the
            permeability, high water table, or combina-                  proposed site of the sewage disposal
            tions of rapid or slow permeability and high                 system is subject to recurring flooding
            water table. Soils with severe limitations for               (50 year floodplain) or falls within a
            septic systems can generally be broken                       High Risk Erosion Area.
            down into the following categories.
               A. Sandy, moderate to rapid permeability

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                                                                     DRAFT


                                                                     Table 2-2
                                                         SEPTIC SYSTEM STANDARDS


                             Soil                              Minimum dis    posal area per single fa ily residence
                                                    2 bedrooms or less                3 bedroom                     4 bedroom
              -Coarse sand or gravel                        450 ft2                      600 ft2                       750 ft2
               Medium sand                                  600 ft2                      750 ft2                       goo ft2
              -Fine sand and loamy sand                  - 750 ft2                       goo ft2                       1050 ft2
              -Sand loam                                    goo ft2                      1050 ft2                      1200 ft2
              -Loam and sand clay loam                      1050 ft2                     1200 ft2                      1350 ft2
               Clay, clay loam, and sift loam            not suftable                  not suitable                 not suftable

                                         Source: Leelanau County Hea/M Department Environmental Health Regulations


              NEW BENZIE COUNTY REGULA T10                                    thereafter at their own risk. Those Class I
                  The Health Department in Benzie County,                     property owners which fail to file a notice will
              Leelanau's neighbor to the south, amended                       lose the ten year right and that system must
              its health code in 1989 to include stringent                    be brought into conformance with Health
              requirements aimed at bringing older septic                     Department standards within 120 days if it is
              systems up to departmental standards. The                       not up to code.
              program evolved out of concern over the                             Upon sale or transfer, all properties must
              potential for sewage contamination of                           be       brought       into       compliance           with
              groundwater and lakes, especially Crystal                       departmental standards. Septic systems are
              Lake.                                                           inspected and wells are tested prior to sale. If
                  Citizens were supportive of giving the                      the septic system is not up to code, the
              Health Department greater authority to                          owner or purchaser must submit a proposed
              require individual upgrades where necessary.                    corrective action within 30 days of notice of
              The Department expanded its authority by                        non-compliance by the Department. If the
              adding surface and ground water protection                      proposed action is approved, it must be
              to the purpose statement of the new code                        carried out within 120 days of approval.
              and citing the Michigan Environmental                           Before closing on the sale or transfer, the
              Protection Act, MCL 691.1201 et seq., for                       owner or purchaser must submit proof of
              authority       to      minimize         environmental          conformance to the Department or a written
              degradation.                                                    contract that the sewage system will be
                  The new code requires inspection of                         brought into conformance. This contract must
              septic systems by the Health Department                         include a performance bond for one and one-
              prior to the sale or transfer of property and                   half times the estimated cost of the
              mandatory         upgrades         of      substandard          improvement and a covenant that the
              systems. It establishes two classes of                          performance called for will be completed
              property. Class I includes property with septic                 within 90 days of sale.
              systems installed prior to 1972 or at any
              other time without Health Department                            USDA SOIL SURVEY
              approval. Class 11 includes those with septic                       The USDA Soil Survey of Leelanau
              systems approved and operating after 1971.                      County rates soils according to their
                  Class I properties are required to notify                   limitations for septic system absorption fields.
              the Health Department of their status in                        This information is shown on Figure 2-3,
              writing. Once this notice is filed with the                     which indicates that approximately one half
              Department, Class I properties have the right                   to one third of the Peninsula has severe
              to use the septic system for up to ten years                    limitations for septic systems. These areas


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                                                             DRAFT

            are scattered throughout the County, but                Leo Creek and Lee Creek south of Suttons
            concentrations exist in and around the                  Bay, along Mebert Creek and Lake Leelanau
            swamps southwest of Lake Leelanau and in                in Bingham Township, and in a line from
            Suttons Bay, southern Leelanau, and                     Lake Leelanau to Cedar Lake to Grand Trav-
            northern Leland Townships.                              erse Bay in Elmwood Township.
                Health department sanitarians indicate
            that problem areas for septic systems are               STEEP SLOPES
            scattered throughout the County, but tend to               Erosion and accumulation of sediment
            be concentrated around lakes, particularly              are serious problems in construction of areas
            the east and southwest shores of North Lake             on sloping soils. As a result of vegetation re-
            Leelanau, and South Lake Leelanau. Areas                moval, paving, and compaction of soils dur-
            with and approaching high nitrate concentra-            ing and after construction, runoff from built-
            tions in water wells are located in the vicinity        up areas is 2 to 10 times greater than from
            of Cedar, Lake Leelanau, and Leland.                    undeveloped land. This runoff travels at
                Large amounts of nitrate (greater than 10           higher velocities than on undeveloped land
            ppm) in drinking water can cause serious                and soil is consequently eroded. The eroded
            illness in infants under six months of age. It          sediment is ultimately deposited into inland
            may also cause illness in adults after                  lakes and waterways. Figure 1-3 shows ar-
            prolonged use. In infants, the ability of the           eas of Leelanau County having slopes of
            red blood cells to carry oxygen is reduced. A           12% or greater. Most parts of the Peninsula
            link between nitrate exposure and cancer has            are highly vulnerable to erosion and sedi-
            been suggested but not proven. Preliminary              mentation because of sandy soils.
            studies linking nitrates to cancer provide no
            hard evidence of such, however they do                  SOILS MOST SUITABLE FOR URBAN
            suggest a need for further studies.                     TYPE DEVELOPMENT
                                                                    Areas most suitable for urban types of
            HYDRIC SOILS                                            development are shown on Figure 2-5.
                Hydric soils are another limitation on de-          Inthese areas, soil limitations on dwellings
            velopment. They are poorly drained, saturate            with basements and on septic system
            easily, and retain large quantities of water.           absorption fields are considered to be only
            They are generally unsuitable for structures,           slight or moderate. Such soils, most of which
            roads, or sewage disposal systems. The                  are found in the western half of the
            USDA Soil Conservation Service defines hy-              Peninsula, comprise approximately 30% of
            dric soils as:                                          the county's land area.
                "A soil that is saturated, flooded, or              Soil Permeability
                ponded long enough during the growing                  Leelanau County has many areas with
                season to develop anaerobic conditions in           highly permeable soils, mostly in the western
                the upper part". I                                  half of the Peninsula, between the Lake
                If artificially drained, hydric soils can be        Michigan shore and Lake Leelanau, and very
            suitable for farmland use. Figure 2-4 shows             few areas with slow permeability. These
            where hydric soils are located in Leelanau              highly permeable soil areas serve to
            County. Most of these soils are found in                recharge groundwater in unconfined glacial
            wetland areas near inland           lakes and in        drift aquifers. Some of these aquifers drain
            coastal marshes along Grand         Traverse Bay        into inland lakes, which are vulnerable to
            and Lake Michigan. Relatively       large concen-       contamination from the ground surface or
            trations of hydric soils are        found in the        from septic systems. Soil permeability is
            swamps southwest of Lake Leelanau, along                depicted in Figure 2-6.

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                                                                  DRAFT

            Soils With Specific Suitability                               orchards. Figure 2-8 shows orchard suitabil-
            WOODLAND SUITABILITY                                          ity more specifically by soil type.
                All of Leelanau County's soil          associations
            are suitable for either coniferous or hardwood                                       Table 2-4
            trees. However, while some areas are well                               SUITABILITY FOR SEED CROPS
            suited for hardwoods, they may be poorly                                 Soil Association         Suitability
            suited for conifers, and vice versa. The suit-                            Deer Park-Dune         not suitable
            ability of soil associations for woodlands is                           East Lake-Eastport-          good
            summarized in Table 2-3.                                                       Lupton
            Refer to Figure 2-1 for locations of soil                                 Emmet-Omena                fair
            associations.                                                            Ernmet-Leelanau             good
                                                                                    Kalkaska-East Lake       not suitable
                                   Table 2-3                                        Kalkaska-Mancelona           poor
                          WOODLAND SUITABILITY                                        Kiva-Mancelona             fair
                                                                                    Leelanau-Mancelona           poor
                Soil Association           Conifer     Hardwood
                                        Suftability     Suitability
                 Deer Park-Dune            excellent       poor                                  Table 2-5
               East Lake-Eastport-         excellent       poor                      SUITABILITY FOR ORCHARDS
                      Lupton
                  Emmet-Omena               poor         excellent                    Soil Association        Suitability
                 Emmet-Leelanau             fair           good                        Deer Park-Dune         not suitable
               Kalkaska-East Lake           good           poor                      East Lake-Eastport-          good
               Kalkaska-Mancelona           good            fair                            Lupton
                 Kiva-Mancelona             good                                        Emmet-Omena             excellent
               Leelanau-Mancelona           poor           good                        Emmet-Leelanau             good
                                                                                     Kalkaska-East Lake            poor
            FARMLAND SUITABILITY                                                     Kalkaska-Mancelona            poor
                Most of Leelanau County            is either poorly                    Kiva-Mancelona              fair
            suited or not suited for grain and seed crops.                           Leelanau-Mancelona            poor
            Those areas which are most suitable for                       FARMLANDS
            grain and seed crops are concentrated north                   Types and Location of Valuable Farm-
            of Suttons Bay and Lake Leelanau. Other                       lands
            somewhat suitable areas are scattered                             There are three specific types of impor-
            throughout the southeastern part of the                       tant farmlands in Leelanau County. These
            Peninsula. Table 2-4 shows farmland                           are prime farmlands, unique farmlands, and
            suitability for the soil associations. Figure 2-7             lands enrolled in the Michigan Farmland and
            shows farmland suitability more specifically                  Open Space Preservation Program author-
            by soil type.                                                 ized by PA 116 of 1974, MCL 554.702 et
            ORCHARD SUITABILITY                                           seq.
                The unique climate of          Leelanau County,               The USDA Soil Conservation Service
            in conjunction with soils, makes some areas                   defines prime farmlands as those best suited
            of the Peninsula ideal for orchards. There are                for food production; they require minimal soil
            many complex and interacting climatic and                     enhancement measures such as irrigation
            soil factors which make a particular site suit-               and fertilizer to produce a sustained high
            able for orchard use. Therefore the sites for                 yield of crops in an economical manner.
            orchards need to be carefully selected, even                  There are 17,627 acres of prime farmland in
            though soils may be suitable. Table 2-5                       Leelanau County, mostly in the eastern half
            shows the suitability of soil associations for                of the Peninsula and concentrated in Cen-
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            terville, Leland, Suttons Bay, and Leelanau             categories cover over 70% of the county.
            Townships (see Figure 2-9).                                Prime forestlands are those lands which
                Unique farmland is land other than prime            are capable of producing sustained high
            farmland that is used for the production of             yields of wood products. Capability is deter-
            specific high value crops such as vegetables            mined by the physical and chemical charac-
            and tree, vine, and berry fruits. The soil              teristics of the soil. Some of the physical and
            qualities, landscape position, growing sea-             chemical characteristics of the soil that are
            son, and moisture supply are those needed               taken into account are topography or terrain
            for a well-managed soil to produce sustained            (slope, aspect, geologic landform),           water
            high yields of such crops in an economical              availability (drainage, depth to water table,
            manner. Leelanau County has 15,168 acres                water holding capacity),         soil depth and
            of unique farmland, mostly in the eastern half          rockiness, fertility (texture, soil structure,
            of the County (see Figure 2-9).                         mineralogy, banding), stability (stable enough
                The Michigan Farmland and Open Space                to sustain intensive forest management prac-
            Preservation Program provides property tax              tices), and vegetation (existing and poten-
            incentives for landowners to preserve land              tial).2
            for agricultural and open space use. The                   The three classes of prime forestlands in
            program allows landowners to enter into a               Leelanau County, as defined by the U.S. De-
            voluntary agreement with the state whereby              partment of Agriculture, are:2
            the land will remain in agricultural use for ten
            years. In return, landowners get a credit on               1.  OPrime timberlandsu - Lands which are
            their Michigan income tax, based on several                    capable of producing 85 cubic feet
            factors including the local property taxes.                    (about one standard cord) per acre
            Early withdrawal is penalized by required                      per year in fully stocked natural
            repayment of tax benefits, plus 6% interest.                   stands. These lands are nationally
            Landowners who do not renew the                                significant.
            agreement must repay the past seven years                  2. *Unique timberlands* - Lands which are
            of tax benefits. There are over 15,500 acres                   not capable of producing 85 cubic feet
            of land in Leelanau County enrolled in the                     per acre per year but are growing
            program, scattered mostly throughout the                       substantial quantities of specific high
            eastern half of the Peninsula (see Figure 2-                   value species or species capable of
            10).                                                           producing specialized wood products.
                                                                           Some examples of unique timberlands
            FORESTLANDS                                                    in other states are those which sup-
            Types and Location of Prime                                    port black walnut plantations, pecan,
            Forest Lands                                                   and Atlantic white cedar.
               The Northwest Michigan Prime Forest-                    3.  OTimberlands of local importanceu -
            lands Identification Project completed a                       Lands which are not identified as
            prime forestlands report and map for Leela-                    having national or regional signifi-
            nau County in 1982 (see Figure 2-11). The                      cance but are important to local com-
            report identifies three different types of prime               munities. These lands were identified
            forest land; prime timberlands, unique timber-                 by local resource groups.
            lands, and timberlands of regional impor-
            tance. The identification of these lands is                Prime timberlands occupy most of the
            based primarily on soils; areas identified as           eastern half of the Peninsula, while timber-
            uprime" may not actually be wooded but likely           lands of regional importance mainly occupy
            have the capability of supporting timber pro-           the western half of the Peninsula. There are
            duction. Prime forestlands in all of the three          two clusters of unique timberlands. One is in

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           Solon Township south of Victoria Creek, the            tracts of conifers in southern Empire and
           other is in Bingham Township along Mebert              Kasson Townships. Aspen and birch are
           Creek and Lake Leelanau. Both of these ar-             scattered throughout the Peninsula, however
           eas are not prime timberland, but support              a large contiguous tract covering over 750
           highly productive tracts of northern white ce-         acres is located in Sections 11, 12, 13, and
           dar. Leelanau County is the only county in a           14 of Glen Arbor Township.
           13 county area of northwest Michigan to
           have any unique timberlands.                                               Table 2-6
                                                                         COMMERCIAL FOREST ACT LANDS
           Commercial Forest Act                                        Township               Acres Enrolled
               The Commercial Forest Reserve Act, PA               Centerville                        137
           94 of 1925, MCL 320.301, et seq, was                    Cleveland                          927
           adopted to encourage reforestation and                  Empire                             638
           proper forest management on commercial                  Kasson                             403
           forest lands. Properties are enrolled in the            Leelanau                           50
           commercial forest management program on                 Solon                              59
           a property tax incentive basis. The owner               Suttons Bay                        154
           must in turn maintain the land as commercial
           forest, with some limited cutting allowed, and            Woodlands are mostly scattered in the
           open the land to public hunting and fishing.           eastern half on the County, with some large
           Land is enrolled in the program for a period           tracts along Grand Traverse Bay and along
           of twenty years.                                       Cathead Bay on Lake Michigan. Coniferous
               There are 2,368 acres of land in Leelanau          and aspen/birch wooded areas tend to be
           County enrolled in this program. Most of it is         less than 100 acres per tract in this portion of
           located in Cleveland, Kasson, and Empire               the Peninsula, while contiguous hardwood
           Townships, with some large areas in Cen-               tracts range in size from 20 to 800 acres.
           terville and Suttons Bay Townships (see Ta-
           ble 2-6).                                              SAND AND GRAVEL
           Woodland Types                                            Sandy soils, some containing gravel be-
           Woodlands cover approximately 45% of                   low the subsoil, are abundant in Leelanau
           Leelanau County, and consist predominantly             County and have good potential for sand and
           of upland hardwoods (see Figure 2-11).                 gravel mining. Three of the eight soil asso-
           Wooded areas on moraines and outwash                   ciations in the County have calcareous
           plains are mostly maple, beech, elm, and as-           (containing calcium or lime) sand and gravel
           pen, with some black cherry, ash, basswood,            deposits at depths of 25 to 35 inches. Those
           birch, hemlock, white pine, and red pine are           soil associations are Kalkaska-East Lake,
           intermixed. Wooded areas on dunes and                  Kiva-Mancelona, and Leelanau-Mancelona.
           sandy lake plains are mostly jack pine, white          These soil associations are generally found
           pine, red pine, soft maple, aspen, and                 in areas of the Peninsula south of Glen Lake,
           juniper.    Swampy lowland areas contain               Lime Lake, and Lake Leelanau. Figure 2-1
           white cedar, balsam fir, and black spruce,             shows locations of soil associations in the
           intermixed with elm and soft maple.                    County.
               The western half of Leelanau County is             EMERGING ISSUES
           covered by very large contiguous tracts of             Fragmentation of Resource Lands
           upland hardwoods, especially surrounding                  Since the 1960's, non-resource based
           Glen Lake and the Sleeping Bear Dunes Na-              residential development has been occurring
           tional Lakeshore. There are also some large

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            at an increasing rate in Leelanau County,              land division and growth, especially in areas
            threatening to replace resource based          land    valuable for farming, forestry, or sand and
            uses,    such as farming, forestry,             and    gravel mining.
            sand/gravel extraction. The division of        farm
            and forest lands into small tracts is the              ISSUES FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
            leading threat to resource lands, with                     Who has the responsibility of making sure
            irreversible results.                                  valuable, non-replaceable resource lands do
                No uniformly accepted standards of eco-            not become endangered? The state has
            nomically viable parcel sizes are available,           some responsibilities, but local governments
            but timber buyers often enter into cutting             are ultimately responsible for land use plan-
            contracts only on parcels 40 acres or larger,          ning in their area.
            and 15 to 25 acres of prime agricultural land
            is often the minimum amount sufficient for             l.Michigan Hydric Soils Ust, USDA Soil Conservation Service.
            growing high value crops such as vegeta-               2.Leelanau county Forest Soils Report, Northwest Michigan Prime
            bles, tree, vine, or berry fruits. Farming grain         Forestlands Identification Project. 1982.
            crops requires much larger parcels often to-
            taling 1,000 acres or more. Dairy farms often
            require a minimum size of 300 acres.
               Woodlands which are not commercial for-
            est land are also a valuable resource. They
            reduce storm water runoff, prevent soil ero-
            sion, and lend substantially to the rural char-
            acter of the Peninsula. Yet as land is split for
            residential development and homes are built,
            contiguous tracts of woodland become
            smaller and more scattered. Many hardwood
            trees take fifty years or longer to mature and
            may be lost forever. Preserving large tracts
            of woodlands in Leelanau County is espe-
            cially important because of highly erodible
            soils and in significance of tourism in the lo-
            cal economy.
               Development        regulations     aimed       at
            preventing the loss of natural resources can
            sometimes have unintended impacts. Such
            impacts may result in undesirable land use
            and resource patterns. For example, large
            minimum lot sizes intended to protect
            farmland and forestland in many parts of
            Michigan have, through an unintended
            process      of    f ragmentation,       ultimately
            decreased the viability of such areas for
            resource-based uses. Leelanau County still
            has many resource lands intact and viable.
            Increasing pressure for new development
            threatens these areas and presents a
            challenge to local officials and citizens to
            devise effective techniques for controlling

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                                                        Chapter 3

                            ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS


           INTRODUCTION                                           Glen Arbor, and Leelanau Townships, and
               Leelanau County has many environmen-               the villages of Suttons Bay and Northport
           tally sensitive areas including critical sand          (see Figure 3-1).
           dunes, high risk erosion areas, wetlands,
           floodplains, unique vegetation, and unique             Flood Prone Locations
           landforms. Sand dunes, river and lake                      Flood prone areas in Leelanau County
           shores, and the Great Lakes shoreline are              include all of the Grand Traverse Bay shore-
           attractive places for residential development.         line, all of the Lake Michigan shoreline,
           However, they pose health and safety haz-              shorelines of inland       lakes, and locations
           ards and are very susceptible to damage.               along several creeks and streams. The 100
           Development in these highly sensitive areas            year flood zone along Lake Michigan extends
           eventually causes damage to other compo-               from 250 to 300 feet inland in most places.
           nents of the natural environment, including            This is also the case    along the shorelines of
           lakes and streams, farmlands, and forests.             most of the inland lakes. The Grand Traverse
               Proper management of environmentally               Bay shoreline has 100 year flood areas ex-
           sensitive areas is critical to maintaining the         tending as much as 1000 feet inland, espe-
           natural environment and economic base of               cially in the vicinity of Northport Point. The
           the Peninsula and protecting the public                creeks and streams with small flood zones
           health, safety, and welfare. Identifying and           (approximately 250 to 300 feet on each side)
           describing where these areas are located is            are listed in Table 3-1 below..
           the first step to protecting sensitive areas.
           This      chapter      provides        background                           Table 3-1
           information necessary to initiate or update                 FLOOD PRONE CREEKS AND STREAMS
           measures       aimed     at    protecting      envi-              Name                    Location
           ronmentally sensitive areas.
                                                                    Belangers Creek &         South Leelanau Twp.
                                                                    Bass Lake                 Suttons Bay Twp.
           FLOODPLAINS                                              BeInap Creek              Elmwood Twp.
           Overview                                                 Cedar Creek &             Elmwood Twp.
               Areas adjacent to the Great Lakes, inland                 CedarLake
           lakes, creeks, streams, and rivers are sus-              Brewery Creek             Elmwood Twp.
           ceptible to periodic flooding that can cause             Northport Creek           Northport
           extensive damage to buildings and can pose               Shalda Creek              Cleveland Twp.
           a substantial threat to public health and                Shetland Creek            Cleveland Twp.
           safety. The flooding may occur frequently or               Floodplains on inland areas of the Penin-
           only after major storms. The 100 year flood-           sula are small because Leelanau County is
           plain is the area that would be inundated, or          not traversed by any major rivers. Further-
           covered with water, during an Intermediate             more, the Peninsula has hilly terrain which
           Regional Flood; one which occurs appro i
                                                             x'_  facilitates runoff drainage, large lakes which
           mately once every 100 years. Maps of 100               can hold enormous amounts of water without
           year flood boundaries have been prepared               flooding, and a thick layer of highly perme-
           for several communities in Leelanau County,            able soils.
           including Centerville, Cleveland, Elmwood,

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           Development in Floodplain Areas                      inventory). These wetland areas are primarily
               The Federal Flood Insurance          Program     associated with the creek channels and lakes
           has established guidelines for use      and de-      located within the Peninsula, as indicated on
           velopment of floodplain areas. Those regula-         Figure 3-2. Most of the wetlands exist in a
           tions indicate that development in floodplains       relatively large, contiguous area south and
           should be restricted to open space, recrea-          west of South Lake Leelanau in Centerville,
           tional, or agricultural uses. Installation of        Kasson, and Solon Townships, known as the
           public utilities and permanent construction for      Cedar     and     Solon     Swamps.        Other
           residential, commercial, or industrial uses          concentrations of wetlands are located along
           should not occur in floodplain areas.                Mebert Creek and Lake Leelanau in Bingham
              Lack of planning and regulation has al-           Township, and near Leo Creek south of
           ready led to considerable development in             Suttons Bay. The remainder are scattered
           floodplain areas around Michigan (mostly in          throughout the Peninsula. Some wetlands,
           large, older metroploitan areas), and the            such as fens or meadows, do not look very
           costs incurred by governments and landown-           wet and may not be wet a large part of the
           ers have been enormous. Floodplains. are             year. Most of these areas are seasonally
           much more suitable for open space or wildlife        flooded - usually in the spring and fall, and in
           habitat than for urban type residential, com-        the summer they are often without standing
           mercial, or industrial land uses. Thus, platting     water, although the organic soil usually stays
           or other land division should be discouraged         near saturation.
           or prohibited in floodplains, and access roads
           should be constructed in upland areas.               Wetlands Protection Act
                                                                   Because wetlands are a valuable natural
           WETLANDS                                             resource, they are protected by PA 203 of
           Overview                                             1979, MCL 281.701 et seq. PA 203 requires
              Wetlands   include marshes, swamps, and           that permits be acquired from the Michigan
           usually other low-lying areas between dry            Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
           land and open water. These areas are                 prior to altering or filling a regulated wetland.
           typified by poor drainage, standing water,           The Wetland Protection Act defines wetlands
           and distinct types of vegetation. They are           as:
           important community resources for several
           reasons. Wetlands provide a filter to keep             "land characterized by the presence of
           inorganic materials out of the water supply,           water at a frequency and duration suffi-
           filter sediments from entering lakes and               cient to support and that under normal
           streams, act as a sort of "spongeu to retain           circumstances does support wetland
           water during dry periods, and hold water               vegetation or aquatic life and is com-
           during floods. One acre of marsh is capable            monly referred to as a bog, swamp, or
           of absorbing 300,000 gallons of water.                 marsh and is contiguous to the Great
           Wetlands provide this holding capacity                 Lakes, an inland lake or pond, or a river
           inexpensively. If destroyed they can usually           or stream. 01
           be replaced only with expensive structural
           public improvements.                                    Regulated wetlands include all wetland
                                                                areas greater than 5 acres or those contigu-
           Lo cation                                            ous to waterways. Wetlands which are hy-
              A small   portion of Leelanau County can          drologically connected (i.e. via groundwater)
           be characterized as wetlands (approximately          to waterways are also regulated. Activities
           18,500 acres according to a 1990 Leelanau            exempted from the provisions of the Act in-
           County Planning Department land cover/use            clude farming, grazing of animals, farm or

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                                                           DRAFT

           stock ponds, lumbering, maintenance of ex-
           isting nonconforming structures, mainte-                    1. Low erodible bluffs range in height
           nance or improvement of existing roads and                    from 9 to 30 feet and are mainly com-
           streets within existing rights-of-way, mainte-                posed of glacially derived gravels,
           nance or operation of pipelines less than six                 sands, silts, and clays. They are inter-
           inches in diameter, and maintenance or op-                    spersed among the other shore types.
           eration of electric transmission and distribu-                Drainage and slope stability are prob-
           tion power lines.                                             lems commonly associated with this
               Permits will not be issued if a feasible or               shore type.
           prudent alternative to developing a wetland
           exists. A map of wetlands based on Leelanau                2. High erodible bluffs are those greater
           County's land use/cover inventory are illus-                  than 30 feet in height and composed
           trated on Figure 3-2. Table 3-2 shows the                     of glacial materials. Drainage and
           land use/cover codes pertaining to regulated                  slope stability are problems commonly
           wetlands in the area. Most areas of hydric                    associated with this shore type.
           soils in Leelanau County correspond to
           wetlands.                                                   3. Low erodible plains refers to those
                                                                          unconsolidated stretches of shoreline
                                Table 3-2                                 less than 9 feet in height. They are
                 WETLAND LAND COVER/USE CODES                             commonly associated with wetlands
                Code                  Description                         and are subject to erosion when ex-
                 414               Lowland Hardwood                       posed to wave attack. Flooding is a
                 423                Lowland Conifer                       common problem.
                 611               Forested Wetland
                 612                 Shrub Wetland                     4. Sand dunes present special consid-
                 621                  Aquatic Bed                         erations for development and protec-
                 622               Emergent Wetlands                      tion. Low dunes are found on all the
                                                                          Great Lakes, but high dunes reaching
                                                                          over 450 feet are found primarily
           HIGH RISK EROSION AREAS                                        along the eastern Lake Michigan
           Erodibility of Great Lakes Shoreline                           shoreline, where human activity and
               Portions of the Lake Michigan and        Grand             wind erosion are the primary
           Traverse Bay shorelines in Leelanau County                     concerns.
           are very susceptible to wind and water ero-
           sion during storms and high lake levels due                  5. Wetlands are primarily confined to
           to resultant wave action. These shorelines                     large bays such as Green Bay and
           are continuously changing, particularly in re-                 Saginaw Bay, and other shallow
           sponse to fluctuations in lake levels. What                    areas of the lakes such as Lake St.
           appears to be a recent problem to shoreline                    Clair and the western end of Lake
           property owners could be more accurately                       Erie. Dredging and filling operations
           regarded as a natural process which has                        have reduced wetlands and the shore
           been occurring for several thousand years,                     protection they provide.
           but which affects and is affected by the ac-
           tions of man  '2                                          Shore Types 1 and 2 above are- the most
              The major shore types that have evolved             likely areas of Leelanau County shoreline to
           within the erodible portion of the Great Lakes         be highly erodible.
           shoreline, which includes all of Leelanau
           County, are asfolloWS:2

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                                                          DRAFT

           Locations                                            and for instituting measures to minimize
               All of the five erodible shore types are         property losses resulting from natural forces
           found in Leelanau County. Low erodible               of erosion. High risk erosion areas are de-
           bluffs are located primarily along Grand             fined as areas of the shore along which bluf-
           Traverse Bay, while high erodible bluffs (for        fline recession has proceeded at a long term
           example, Empire Bluffs) exist mostly along           average of 1 foot or more per year. Portions
           Lake Michigan shoreline. Sand dunes are lo-          of the Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse
           cated exclusively along Lake Michigan. Ex-           Bay shorelines in Leelanau County have
           amples of low erodible plains in the County          been designated as high risk erosion areas.
           are Sleeping Bear Bay, Good Harbor Bay,              Within the designated area, shown on Figure
           and Northport Point, as well as North Fox            3-3, alteration of the soil, natural drainage,
           and South Fox Islands. Coastal wetlands are          vegetation, fish or wildlife habitat, and any
           scattered and only exist in very small tracts.       placement of permanent structures, requires
           Some shore wetlands exist in the Lighthouse          a Michigan DNR review and permit, unless
           Point area of Leelanau Township.                     the local unit of government has an approved
               Michigan DNR designated high risk ero-           high risk erosion area ordinance.
           sion areas are shown on Figure 3-3.
                                                                SAND DUNES
           Types of Shore Erosion                               Overview
              The erodible Great Lakes shore types in               The sand dunes along Lake Michigan in
           Leelanau County are subject to four principal        the Leelanau County represent a unique and
           types    of    degradation:      wave      action,   fragile physiographic formation and ecosys-
           groundwater seepage and bluff slumping,              tem that is very susceptible to wind and
           surface runoff, and wind erosion.           These    water erosion, and destruction due to care-
           types of shore erosion may occur individually        less use or development. Wind is the force
           or in some combination. Surface runoff and           responsible for building the dunes and like-
           wind erosion are the processes most easily           wise, it is capable of shifting and/or removing
           controlled by vegetation. Bluff slumping             the sand dunes when they are left unpro-
           occurs when groundwater, confined by an              tected. In dune areas where natural vegeta-
           impervious layer such as clay, seeps from            tion has been disturbed by development or
           underneath a sand bluff and erodes away the          traffic, winds have eroded the unprotected
           foundation of the bluff.                             fine-grained sands and transported them
              The primary agents of slope surface ero-          elsewhere.
           sion are rain, surface runoff, and wind. All of
           these are capable of removing sediment from          Sand Dune Protection and
           unprotected slopes and, unless they are              Management Act
           controlled, can result in large losses of mate-          High relief sand dune areas in Leelanau
           rials over an extended period of time. These         County are protected by the Sand Dune
           natural processes thus pose hazards to pub-          Protection and Management Act, PA 222 pf
           lic health, safety, and welfare.                     1976, MCL 281.651 et seq, as amended.
                                                                Recent legislation (PA 147 & 148 of 1989)
           Shorellands Protection and                           provides for additional protection of critical
           Management Act                                       dune areas. Under these Acts, all proposed
              The Shorelands Protection and. Manage-            residential, commercial, or industrial uses,
           ment Act, PA 245 of 1970, MCL 281.632 et             multifamily uses of more than 3 acres, and
           seq, was enacted in part to identify areas           any use which the local planning commission
           where high risk erosion hazards exist. It es-        or the DNR determines would damage or
           tablished a framework for designating them           destroy features of archaeological or histork

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                                                          DRAFT

          cal significance must ultimately be approved           population in the state, located in the Glen
          by the State. The law prohibits surface drill-         Lake watershed area. The Monkey Flower is
          ing operations that explore for or produce             on the federal endangered species list, while
          hydrocarbons or natural brine as well as               the Pitcher's Thistle, which is found along the
          mining activities (except in the case of permit        entire Lake Michigan shoreline of the
          renewals). The legislation also imposes cer-           Peninsula, is on the federal threatened
          tain standards on construction and site de-            species list. Numerous other plant species
          sign in critical dune areas. The Michigan De-          found in sand dunes or along Lake Michigan
          partment of Natural Resources administers a            are listed as being of special concern,
          permit program which can be utaken overn by            threatened,    or   endangered       under      the
          local governments which administer local               Michigan Endangered Species Act. This is
          zoning patterned after the state law.                  yet another reason to protect sand dunes
                                                                 and    Lake     Michigan     shorelands from
          Critical Dune Areas                                    excessive and damaging development.
               Several areas in    Leelanau County have
          been identified by the Michigan Department             UNIQUENESS OF NATURAL FEATURES
          of Natural Resources as critical dune areas,              Leelanau County contains a combination
          subject to protection under the Sand Dune              of natural features not found in any other part
          Protection and Management Act. The desig-              of Michigan, the United States, or even the
          nated critical dune areas are shown in the             world. Some of these features include unique
          shaded region of Figure 3-4, and are all lo-           suitability for producing orchard fruits, large
          cated along Lake Michigan. The largest of              sand dunes, a unique coastal environment,
          these areas are the Sleeping Bear Dunes                diverse topography, scenic vistas, and high
          and Empire Bluffs, located in Empire and               quality inland lakes. Grand Traverse Bay is
          Glen Arbor Townships. Other large critical             another natural feature that is likely not dupli-
          dune areas are located at Pyramid Point,               cated anywhere else in the world. Yet all of
          Good Harbor Bay, Cathead Bay, and on                   the elements which make Leelanau County a
          South Manitou Island.                                  unique place are fragile and susceptible to ir-
                                                                 reparable damage from misuse and careless
          UNIQUE PLANTS AND ANIMALS                              land development. The natural environment
              The Michigan Department of Natural Re-             of the area cannot be replaced or duplicated,
          sources maintains an inventory of unique               and if lost, it will be lost forever.
          natural features, and has compiled a map of
          natural features of Leelanau County (see               EMERGING ISSUES
          Map 4-5). The information is not specific, due            Federal, state, county, and local govern-
          to the need to protect species from depletion,         ments all have a role on protecting environ-
          but it does provide general locations. The in-         mentally sensitive areas. The federal role has
          ventory shows that the Peninsula has a vari-           been to protect areas of national significance,
          ety of unique plants and animals, concen-              in a consistent nation-wide manner, when
          trated primarily in the sand dune areas along          states have failed to do so on their own. The
          Lake Michigan, with some located in and                state role is to provide a minimum level of
          around Lake Leelanau and Glen Lake. Some               protection to sensitive areas and enable
          of these plants and animals may be the only            county and local governments to supplement
          ones found in Michigan.                                legislated protection of those areas with their
              Some plant species in - Leelanau County            own policies or regulations. The county gov-
          are officially recognized   as either threatened       ernment role has been to assist and advise
          or endangered. The Michigan Monkey Flower              local governments within the county and to
          exists in what is possibly the most significant        regulate where and when local governments

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               do not. Local      governments are the most at                    ISSUES FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
               stake when it comes to ensuring that envi-                            To what extent should local governments
               ronmentally sensitive areas are protected                         or the County regulate development in high
               consistent with local needs and local initia-                     risk erosion, sand dune, and wetland areas?
               tives to protect community character and re-                      The state currently administers programs for
               sources.                                                          each type of area, but local governments can
                   Local governments typically have not pai               'd     have the authority if they want to use it and
               much attention to degradation of their natural                    can develop ordinances which meet Michi-
               resources until a problem situation arises, or                    gan Department of Natural Resources ap-
               they have relied completely on the state and                      proval.
               federal systems to do it for them. Taking a
               reactive stance on environmental issues at                        1 . michigan Shorelands Protection and Management Act, PA 203
               the local level is usually inadequate to re-                        of 1979, MCL 281.701 at seq.
               verse such problems; indeed, most of them                         2. Vegetation and Its Role In Reducing Great Lakes Shoreline
               cannot be physically changed. It is not in lo-                      Erolson: A Guide for Property Owners, Michigan Sea Grant
               cal government's interest to rely solely on                         College Program, 1988.
               state and federal policies to protect their en-
               vironmental interests. Instead of the tradi-
               tional hands-off approach, a proactive
               agenda is necessary for communities to en-
               sure that their natural resources will be there
               for future generations touse.
                   Other emerging issues include but are not
               limited to:
                   ï¿½   Environmental            protection         versus
                       development - or development which
                       compliments           and        protects        the
                       environment.
                   ï¿½   The base of technical information and
                       expertise for local administration of
                       environmental           and/or        land       use
                       regulations         (zoning)        to      protect
                       environmentally sensitive areas.


















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                                                          DRAFT

                                                       Chapter 4

                                         AIR & WATER QUALITY

          INTRODUCTION                                           permeable layer separating them from the
              Air and Great Lakes water quality in               ground surface) for water.
          Leelanau County continues to decline due                  This chapter provides information on the
          largely to land use activities hundreds of             existing and possible future conditions of air
          miles away within the Lake Michigan Basin.             and water quality in Leelanau County. Much
          In addition, airborne pollutants arrive at the         of the material is derived or excerpted from
          Great Lakes from thousands of miles away.              scientific studies conducted by the Michigan
              Inland lakes throughout the Peninsula are          Department of Natural Resources, the Leela-
          rated    as    having     high    water quality        nau Conservancy, the US Environmental
          (oligotrophic). However, many of those lakes           Protection Agency, and Michigan State Uni-
          are at borderline mesotrophic conditions and           versity. Much of the source information is
          recent studies suggest that increased nutri-           very technical. It is conveyed in as non-tech-
          ent loading from agricultural runoff, faulty           nical a manner as possible in this chapter.
          septic systems, and lawn fertilizers will de-          Some of the most significant information in
          grade surface water quality. Perhaps the               the following sections is that which relates
          most alarming studies are those conducted              land use and management practices to air
          for Houdek Creek and North Lake Leelanau,              and water quality. Land use, if not appropri-
          which suggest the possibility of rapidly dete-         ately controlled or managed, can have enor-
          riorating water quality in those areas.                mous negative impacts on the area's air and
              Many streams and creeks in Leelanau                water quality.
          County are designated trout streams, and
          provide high water quality and habitat for             AIR QUALITY
          some species of fish. Recent golf course and           Sources of Air Pollution
          resort developments have caused slight                     Preliminary results of a multi-state air
          damage to area streams, but this has been              pollution study by the U.S. Environmental
          shown to be very limited due to the imple-             Protection Agency suggest that major con-
          mentation of best management practices                 centrations of smog are crossing Lake Michi-
          (BMP's)     at these        new     developments       gan from the Greater Chicago area and sig-
          (according to recent studies by the Michigan           nificantly heightening ozone levels along
          Department of Natural Resources referenced             shoreline areas of Michigan. The preliminary
          on pages 5-7 of this chapter). Houdek Creek,           results of a temporary ozone monitoring sta-
          north of N. Lake Leelanau, continues to be             tion, established as part of the EPA study
          an area of concern due to high nutrient                near     Empire, suggest federal standards
          concentrations.                                        were exceeded three times between June
              Groundwater is probably the most threat-           and August of 1991. The Garden Peninsula,
          ened resource in the County. The depth of              northwest of Leelanau Peninsula in the Up-
          glacial drift material, combined with highly           per Peninsula exceeded federal ozone stan-
          permeable sandy soils and the continued                dards during the summer of 1991 as well
          presence of agricultural activities which use a        (see Figure 4-1). Federal sanctions can be
          variety of chemicals in day-to-day operations,         levied upon communities which exceed
          holds high potential for future problems. In           ozone standards in excess of one violation
          addition, nearly 60% of the County relies on           per four year average.
          unconfined aquifers (those without an im-                  Ozone is a pollutant formed when certain

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                                                         DRAFT

           vehicular and industrial organic pollutants          industry, agriculture, motor vehicles or some
           react with nitrogen in the presence of heat          other source.
           and sunlight. The ozone gas is an irritant and          The EPA and its Canadian counterpart,
           causes respiratory problems in humans. In-           Environment Canada, selected five sites for
           dustrial emissions from urban centers outside        the first "master stations" - Eagle Harbor,
           of the region and Michigan pose the greatest         Mich.; Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mich.; Burnt
           threat to air quality in Leelanau County.            Island, Ont; Point Petre,       Ont, and Stur-
               Industrial and vehicular emissions are the       geon Point N.Y. (see Figure     4-1). Each sta-
           principal local causes of air pollution. Though      tion includes a 10-by-20-foot   platform for air
           the future extent of industrial development in       and precipitation samplers      and a 30-foot
           or near the County is unknown, vehicle               tower for meteorological equipment.
           emissions can be expected to increase with              The new air-monitoring network is in-
           population growth, tourism, and expansion of         tended to provide more accurate information
           retail and commercial services (increasing           that governments need to reduce contami-
           the number of vehicle trips, vehicle miles,          nants in the lakes, in fish and, ultimately, in
           and congestion). Reductions in the permitted         humans. After a year of fine-tuning the so-
           level of vehicular emissions which may be            phisticated devices, the EPA and Environ-
           brought about by new federal standards               ment Canada will begin reporting measure-
           (currently being developed) may be offset by         ments of air contributions to Great. Lakes
           an increasing number of vehicles in the              pollution. The agencies plan to build five or
           County.                                              six more satellite stations on each of the
              The contributing factors which could              Great Lakes, for a total of up to 35.
           negatively affect future air quality in Leelanau
           County thus       come from three possible           Michigan Department of Natural Re-
           sources:                                             sources Monitoring Activity
               1. Any new large heavy industrial com-              The Air Quality Division of the MDNR
                  plex or incinerator in or near the            does not maintain a permanent monitoring
                  County                                        site for Leelanau County. As a result, no long
               2. Many more vehicles using the roads            term air quality statistics are available for the
               3. Air pollutants which migrate long dis-        Peninsula. Counties without a monitoring
                  tances.                                       station are presumed to be in compliance
                                                                with air quality standards (except for ozone,
           U.S. Environmental Protection                        which is a regional pollutant). The nearest
           Agency Monitoring Activity'                          counties to Leelanau which have been moni-
              Five platforms and towers covered with            tored, though not regularly nor for all pollu-
           sophisticated measuring equipment have               tants, are Charlevoix and Grand Traverse.
           been set up by the U.S. Environmental Pro-           Findings in both locations have always at-
           tection Agency and Environment Canada.               tested to high air quality levels.
           This equipment forms the foundation for up
           to a 35-station network that will determine          WATER QUALITY
           how air pollution affects the world's largest           There are no health advisories against full
           freshwater basin. The towers are placed at           body contact in Peninsula waters, nor any
           remote locations around the G   ireat Lakes and      advisories against eating fish caught in any
           represents the most extensive air-monitoring         lake or stream within the County. There are
           system ever built. Equipment at the five             health advisories against consumption of
           monitoring stations in the region will be able       lake trout and salmon caught in Lake Michi-
           to determine how long a compound has been            gan or Grand Traverse Bay, but these apply
           in the air and whether it was generated by           to all Lake Michigan waters.

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                                                             Table 4-1
                                           LAKE TROPHIC STATE CHARACTERISTICS


                           Characteristic                       Oligotrophic          Mesotrophic           Eutrophic
                Nutrient Levels                                      Low                  Medium                High
                Organic Matter Content                               Low                  Medium                High
                Biological Productivity                              Low                  Medium                Hiah
                Lake Age                                             Young                Middle                Old
                Water Transparency                                   High                 Medium                Low
                Oxygen Depletion in Hypolimnion                       No                    Yes                 Yes
                Average Depth                                I       Deep                Moderate            Shallow
                MDNR Trophic State Index (TSI)               1       0-38      71-39-48                       49-100
                                              Source: Michigan Departmnt of Natural Resouroes2

            Water bodies identified by the Michigan De-              ency, chlorophyll & or total     phosphorus val-
            partment of Natural Resources as having                  ues, and can range from zero to 100. The
            non-point source pollution impacts are the               higher the number, the higher the lake pro-
            Crystal River, Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, Lit-            ductivity.
            tle Traverse Lake, South Bar Lake, Beaudwin                 Eutrophication, or lake productivity, pro-
            Creek, Belanger Creek, BeInap Creek, Cedar               gresses through a continuum with no abso-
            Run Creek, Grand Traverse Bay, Houdek                    lute   separation       between        oligotrophic,
            Creek, Mebert Creek, North and South Lake                mesotrophic and eutrophic conditions. In an
            Leelanau, Stricker Lake, Victoria Creek, and             attempt to categorize lakes, however, indi-
            Northport Bay. Impacts of non-point source               viduals generally assign a range of TSI val-
            pollution include excessive weed growth,                 ues for each classification category. For ex-
            sedimentation, turbidity, depleted fish com-             ample, oligotrophic lakes generally have TSI
            munities, and odors. Typical non-point                   values less than 38 to 40, while eutrophic
            sources are urban runoff, irrigation, construc-          lakes generally have TSI values greater than
            tion site erosion, agricultural practices, ani-          48 to 52. Mesotrophic lakes fall somewhere
            mal wastes, golf courses, mining and drilling,           in between.
            and streambank erosion.                                     Since 1982, re-evaluation of the literature
                                                                     and personal knowledge of Michigan lakes
            Inland LakeS2                                            prompted the MDNR, Inland Lakes Manage-
                Lakes are     generally classified by their          ment Unit, to modify TSI value classifications
            physical, chemical and biological characteris-           somewhat to better reflect conditions of
            tics into one of three trophic categories                Michigan lakes. Current TSI values associ-
            (oligotrophic, mesotrophic, eutrophic). The              ated with the classification categories are the
            tropic state is a measure of a lake's biological         following: oligotrophic - less than 39;
            productivity and includes such factors as nu-            mesotrophic - between 39 and 4B; and eu-
            trient levels, organic matter content, and               trophic - greater than 48.
            water transparency (see Table 4-1).              Al-     Although comprehensive programs of water
            though there are several methods used to                 quality testing have only recently been in-
            classify lakes, the Michigan Department of               itiated, data generated over the past 15 years
            Natural Resources (MDNR) utilizes the Tro-               document relatively high water quality levels
            phic State Index (TSI) developed by Carlson              throughout Leelanau County. This is particu-
            (1977). The TSI numbers are derived from                 larly true for inland lakes. Of the eight major
            calculations based on Secchi disc transpar-              inland lakes evaluated by the Michigan

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                                                            DRAF7


                                                            Table 4-2
                                                INLAND LAKE WATER QUALITY


                          Lake Name                    TSI Rating         Trophic State          1988 Lake
                                                                                               Water Quality
                                                                                                Assessment
                    Cedar                                   37             Oligotrophic         Threatened
                    Glen                                    25             Oligotrophic              OK
                    Lime                                    31             Oligotrophic              OK
                    Little Glen                             37             Oligotrophic              OK
                    Little Traverse                         33             Oligotrophic           Impaired
                    North Lake Leelanau                     36             Oligotrophic              OK
                    School                                  47             Mesotrophic               OK
                    South Lake Leelanau                     37             Oligotrophic           Impaired
                                             Source. Michigan DepwVnent of NaiurW Resources2
            Department of Natural Resources, Surface              likely close to groundwater elevations         and
            Water Quality Division, since 1982, all but           thus are likely to leach nutrients into the
            one have been classified as oligotrophic (see         nearby water body. Even for septic systems
            Table 4-2).                                           which are initially designed and installed cor-
                                                                  rectly, they must be maintained and cleaned
            Septic System Outflow Into Lakes                      out at appropriate intervals to function prop-
               A 1983 study by the Northwest Michigan             erly. Studies (recently conducted locally by
            Regional Planning and Development Com-                The Leelanau Conservancy and the U.S.
            mission estimated that a total of 106 lbs/yr of       Department of Agriculture) have shown
            phosphorus were entering North Lake Leela-            however, that many septic systems are noi
            nau from septic system outflow. This infor-           maintained for long periods of time, and thus
            mation was based on examination of clado-             are not operating properly, in effect acting as
            phora growths at 303 home sites on the lake.          a sewage conduit to high quality surface
            Leland Township contracted with the Leela-            waters. A recent study of Glen Lake indicated
            nau Conservancy to complete another clado-            leaking septic systems not to be a major
            phora study in the summer of 1990. That               source of pollution in that lake.
            survey showed a 5 percent increase in the
            number of houses on the lake, coupled with a          Impacts of Agricultural Chemicals
            111.3 percent increase in the number of sites            A significant portion of the land with spe-
            with algal growths. A survey questionnaire,           cific orchard and specialty crop/pesticide use
            done in conjunction with the algal survey,            combinations within the County (over 90%) is
            also indicated that 66 percent of septic Sys-         rated as having high probability for runoff
            tems along the lake are within 100 feet of the        (high probability pesticides and other agricul-
            shoreline, while 38 percent of the systems            tural chemicals will leave the site with runoff).
            are 30 years old or older.                            Most of these pesticides carry label state-
               The septic system and holding tank                 ments warning of toxicity to aquatic wildlife
            methods of sewage disposal are presently              such as fish and aquatic invertebrates.
            the only means of sewage disposal utilized            Therefore, runoff of such chemicals into sur-
            throughout most of the Peninsula. On-site             face waters is a primary concern, especially if
            sewage disposal systems primarily rely on             the waters are of high value for fishing and
            the upper layers of the soil to treat waste ma-       recreational use - as are the Peninsula's
            terial. Many of these systems are also in             lakes and streams.
            close proximity to shorelines and are very
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                                                          DRAFT

          Streams and Creeks                                     were probably caused by the direct removal
              Current conditions of the Peninsula's              of instream cover (logs and other stream
          streams and creeks do not uniformly suggest            channel debris were observed along the
          the same high quality. Studies prepared dur-           banks). It is likely that the removal of in-
          ing the past ten years and as recently as              stream cover negatively affected the fish
          1990 have identified streams of high quality,          community, and the macroinvertebrates to a
          including the Crystal River, as well as                lesser degree, downstream.
          streams of lower quality, such as Houdek                  Bottom deposition was similar at both
          Creek, which are carrying elevated levels of           Mebert Creek stations. This suggests that
          nitrates and phosphorous. Relatively speak-            the BMPs implemented in golf course con-
          ing, the water quality of rivers and streams in        struction were effectively preventing sedi-
          Leelanau County is very high. Nearly all the           mentation.
          streams and major tributaries are designated              Cedar Run Creek was categorized as
          trout steams.                                          good (slightly impaired) in fish community
              Trout require clean, cold, oxygenated wa-          and habitat condition and fair (moderately
          ter to survive and are a good indicator spe-           impaired) in macroinvertebrate community.
          cies of water quality. The only stream seg-            In Cedar Run Creek, fish community and
          ments not designated as trout streams in-              habitat metric scores were the highest, and
          clude Shalda or Sucker Creek at the Narada             the macroinvertebrate metric score was the
          Lake outlet and the Crystal River between              lowest of the four stations surveyed. Sand
          Fisher Dam and Glen Lake. No rivers or                 deposition, covering greater than 50% of the
          streams in the County have lost "trout                 bottom substrate, may account for the re-
          streaMn  designation.                                  duced macroinvertebrate metric score. The
                                                                 trout farm discharge was not causing any
          Recent MDNR Studies                                    readily apparent effects at Cedar Run Creek.
              The following sections are edited sum-                Victoria Creek was categorized as good
          mary portions (results) of staff reports by            (slightly impaired) in fish community, fair
          Michigan Department of Natural Resources               (moderately impaired) in macroinvertebrate
          Personnel. These are biological and water              community and poor (severely impaired) in
          quality studies of area creeks and streams by          habitat condition. In the vicinity of Gatzge
          the Surface Water Quality Division. The most           Rd., Victoria Creek flows through wetlands
          recent one was for Mebert, Cedar Run, and              surrounded by steep, sandy knolls. The
          Victoria Creeks in August, 1990. The least             stream banks at this station were moderately
          recent is the Crystal River study, dated July,         unstable with numerous signs of erosion.
          1987.                                                  This suggests that seasonal high flows may
                                                                 add significantly to the stream's sediment
          MEBERT, CEDAR RUN, AND                                 load. The bottom substrate was dominated
          VICTORIA CREEKS3                                       by shifting sand and the lack of suitable sub-
              Mebert Creek, upstream of the golf                 strate could explain the reduction in benthic
          course construction, was categorized as                macroinvertebrates such as ephemeropter-
          good (slightly impaired) in fish community,            ans, trichopterans, and plecopterans.
          macroinvertebrate community and physical                  Water chemistries indicate that phospho-
          habitat. Mebert Creek, downstream of the               rus and nitrogen levels at all six stations were
          golf course, was categorized as fair                   not elevated and are typical of second and
          (moderately impaired) in fish community and            third order northern temperate streams. A
          habitat and good in macroinvertebrate com-             sample of the trout farm effluent discharged
          munity structure. The lower fish and habitat           upstream of the test site on Cedar Run Creek
          metric scores at the downstream location               contained higher concentrations of phospho-

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                                                             DRAFT

            rus and ammonia nitrogen when compared to                  The Crystal River is categorized as a
            the data from other stations. However, the              coldwater stream capable of supporting fish
            chemical data show that nutrient levels at              species in the salmon family. There were no
            Cedar Run Creek were similar to those at the            fish species from this family collected during
            other test sites.                                       the survey. The fish communities were simi-
                Sand deposition (sedimentation) covered             lar at all stations comprised primarily of sun-
            over 50% and 70% of the bottom substrate in             fish, creek chubs, com and darters. The
            Cedar Run and Victoria Creeks, respectively.            cover provided by the abundance of macro-
            Less than 30% of Mebert Creek was affected              phtyes at Station 2 probably accounted for
            by sand deposition. Macroinvertebrate metric            the increased number of fish species col-
            scores were lower at Cedar Run and Victoria             lected at this location.
            Creeks than at Mebert Creek and this may                   The number of macro invertebrate taxs
            reflect deposition-related habitat losses. With         were similar at all stations sampled, and in-
            water quality being similar at all stations, it         dicative of good water quality as evidenced
            appears that sand deposition may be the                 by the type and diversity of organisms found.
            primary cause of the macroinvertebrate                  Representatives of the mayfly and caddisfly
            community and habitat impairment in these               groups were absent from Station 2 due to the
            South Lake Leelanau tributaries (i.e. these             lack of suitable substrate.
            streams are very susceptible loss of fish                  Nutrients in the water at all stations were
            habitat due to increased sedimentation).                low. There were slight increases in nutrients
                                                                    at Station 3, possibly due to the change in
            CRYSTAL RIVER4                                          surrounding land use from forest to resort.
                Good stream quality was present in the
            Crystal River based upon the biota, habitat             UNNAMED STREAM (BREWERY CREEK),
            and flow conditions found at the three sam-             GREILICKVILLE5
            pling sites. The substrate varied throughout               A stream survey was conducted on an
            the sampling area with clean gravel in the              unnamed tributary to West Grand Traverse
            higher velocity stretches, and sand and muck            Bay in the vicinity of Greilickville in 1989.
            in low velocity areas. The estimated flow               The objective was to determine if there were
            during this study was approximately 40 cfs.             petroleum related compounds in the water or
            Fish collected from the Crystal River during            sediments of the tributary. Petroleum related
            this study were primarily those from the sun-           compounds were found in the sediments but
            fish, bass, and minnow families. The benthic            not the water. Benzene, toluene, and xylene
            macroinvertebrate community was diverse,                isomers were detected in sediment samples
            and included representatives of the mayfly,             collected at Station 1 (where the stream
            stonefly and caddisfly families.                        crosses the railroad), and toluene was de-
                The Crystal River varied greatly in habitat         tected in sediment samples collected at Sta-
            and substrate type from its origin at Glen              tion 2 (where the stream empties into the
            Lake to the mouth at Lake Michigan. Station             bay). No petroleum compounds were de-
            l (midway between Fisher Lake and Lake                  tected in water samples from either station.
            Michigan) was characterized by riffles and              The chemical, physical and macroinverte-
            pools, with a primarily gravel substrate.               brate data was not conclusive regarding the
            River velocity was slower at Station 2 (at M-           effects on the stream from petroleum com-
            22 and County Road 675) and water depth                 pounds.
            fairly uniform without riffle areas. Station 3,            The groundwater in the vicinity of the
            near the mouth, was located within the                  study site is known to contain petroleum
            Homestead Resort. River        velocity and sub-        compounds. It was suspected that the
            strate conditions were similar to Station 2.            groundwater was being vented to the surface 0

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                                                          DRAFT

           waters in the area. Analytical results of water       spectively. The undercut banks and numer-
           samples taken at each station did not indi-           ous deadfalls provided excellent habitat for
           cate any detectable concentrations of petro-          fish. The estimated flow during this survey
           leum compounds. Sediment sample analyses              was 9 cfs. The benthic macroinvertebrate
           detected benzene (21 ug/kg), toluene (33              and fish communities of Belanger Creek
           ug/kg), and xylene isomers (7.3 ug/kg) at             were indicative of good stream quality. A total
           Station 1, and toluene (1.2 ug/kg) at Station         of 15 macroinvertebrate taxs were identified,
           2. No other petroleum compounds that were             including six mayfly, caddisfly, and stonefly
           analyzed for were detected in the sediments           taxa. The fish community included brook
           at either station. It should be noted that Sta-       trout, with sizes ranging between 40' and 11",
           tion 2, which is downstream of the petroleum          and bluegill.
           storage tanks, had only toluene in the sedi-              Ennis Creek was characterized by much
           ments, and Station 1, which is upstream, had          lower flows than Belanger Creek, with flows
           benzene, toluene, and xylene isomers in the           ranging between 0.5 cfs and 0.8 cfs at sta-
           sediments.                                            tions I and 2, respectively. The substrate at
              This study suggests that the sediments             station 1 (upstream, near golf course) was
           were contaminated with petroleum com-                 primarily sand with low quantities of organic
           pounds, but the water analyses do not indi-           material. The banks were only slightly un-
           cate that contaminated groundwater is being           dercut and little cover was available for fish.
           vented into the tributary. The stream charac-         Two brook trout, with sizes ranging between
           teristics and macroinvertebrate community             2" and 4", were collected at station 1.
           data were not indicative of effects due to pe-            The substrate at station 2 (near Grand
           troleum compounds. However, these results             Traverse Bay) was primarily silt. Undercut
           should not be considered conclusive regard-           banks were present, but little overhanging
           ing the effects of petroleum compounds on             cover for fish was available. A surprising total
           the stream.                                           of 21 fish were collected from station 2, in-
                                                                 cluding brook trout ranging in size from 2" to
           ENNIS AND BELANGER CREEKS`6                           10" and salmon smolt betwen 2" and 4".
              A biological survey of Ennis and Belanger              The reduced habitat quality at stations I
           Creeks was performed in August, 1988. The             and 2 of Ennis Creek as compared to
           primary objective was to document back-               Belanger Creek (i.e. lower flow, less habitat
           ground conditions prior to development of a           variety) was apparent in the results of the
           golf course in the vicinity of the two creeks.        benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. Fewer
           Both creeks originate near the golf course            caddisfly and mayfly taxa, and no stonefly
           development and flow to Grand Traverse                taxa, were found in Ennis Creek. The overall
           Bay. Good stream quality was present in               benthic macroinvertebrate abundance was
           both Belanger Creek and Ennis Creeks                  also lower at station 1 and 2 of Ennis Creek
           based on macroinvertebrate and fish sam-              than station 1 of Belanger Creek.
           pling results, water and sediment chemistry               The nutrients in the water at station I of
           results, and habitat conditions.                      Belanger and Ennis Creeks were very low.
              This survey was conducted just prior to            Sediment analysis for mercury at both sta-
           the onset of development of a golf course in          tions showed no detectable concentrations.
           the vicinity of Belanger and Ennis Creeks
           (Figure 1). Belanger and Ennis Creeks are             Areas of Concern
           both designated as trout streams.                     HOUDEK CREEK7
              Belanger Creek at station 1        (near Bass          The Houdek Creek watershed is located
           Lake) was characterized by pools and riff les         at the northeast corner of North Lake Leela-
           with primarily sand and gravel substrates, re-        nau and covers approximately 5,110 acres.

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                                                                 DRAFT

            The watershed is also characterized by roll-                Houdek Creek for the summer of 1990 show
            ing terrain and steep Islopes. There are two                1.55 mg/I (milligrams per liter or parts per
            main branches of the creek, one running                     million), compared to nitrate levels in the
            north through the northeast part of the water-              outlet of Leland River averaging 0-.16 mg/I
            shed and the other running through the cen-                 over the same period. In this same sample
            tral part of the watershed.              Both water         period, total phosphorus levels averaged
            courses are 'characterized with many small                  0.016 mg/I in Houdek Creek and 0.007 mg/I
            tributaries, which may or may not connect di-               in Leland River. The level of nitrates entering
            rectly to the main branches, but will surface,              the lake through Houdek Creek is thus nearly
            then move underground and surface again at                  10 times the level leaving the lake at the Le-
            other locations. Both branches of the creek                 land River. Likewise, the phosphorus level
            eventually merge into the main branch, which                entering the lake is averaging twice the level
            outlets into North Lake Leelanau through cul-               leaving the lake. According to results of the
            verts on County Road 641. Use of the creek                  sampling that was done in the summer of
            is limited to a small amount of fishing; how-               1991, this scenario is being repeated for at
            ever, since it is a major inlet into North Lake             least 2 other major inlet streams on North
            Leelanau, it directly influences the water                  Lake Leelanau.
            quality of that lake.                                           There are about 10 homes in the Houdek
                About 2,865 acres, or 56 percent of the                 Creek outlet area, all on septic systems or
            Houdek Creek watershed, are in agriculture.                 holding tanks. High cladophora levels meas-
            Of that acreage, some 1,180 acres are in                    ured in this area were believed to be directly
            general crop, mostly corn, small grain and                  related to leaky septic systems and lawn fer-
            hay; and 1,665 acres are in orchard crops,                  tilization.
            mainly tart and sweet cherries and apples.
            Another 1,645 acres of the watershed are in                 SOURCES OF THE PROBLEM
            woodland types, with the majority of that be-
            ing northern hardwoods and lowland coni-                    Agricultural Chemicals
            fers. Land uses in the watershed are as fol-                    With 33 percent of the Houdek Creek wa-
            lows:                                                       tershed in orchard, the use of pesticides in
                     Land Use               Area            %           orchard operations is an important consid-
               Agriculture               2,865 acres        56          eration in surface and groundwater contami-
               Forestland                1,645 acres        32          nation. The problems with pesticides stem
               Idle Land                  555 acres         11          from storage of chemicals, filling station loca-
               Residential                40 acres         0.8          tion, loading process, and disposal of the rin-
               Lakes and Streams           5 acres         0.01         sate materials. The pesticides most used in
               TOTAL                     5,1110 acres      100          orchards are insecticides, fungicides and mi-
                In the summer of 1990, the Leelanau                     ticides. These chemicals are generally rated
            Conservancy and Leland Township began                       as having small-risk potential for leaching
            water quality sampling in North Lake Leela-                 and high-risk for runoff. Most of the chemi-
            nau, its major contributing streams, and its                cals carry label statements warning of toxicity
            outlet. Results of these tests so far have                  to aquatic wildlife such as fish and aquatic
            shown a greatly elevated level of nitrates and              invertebrates.
            phosphorus entering North Lake Leelanau                         Runoff of such chemicals into surface wa-
            from Houdek Creek and several other                         ters is a significant factor influencing surface
            streams, compared to levels measured at the                 water contamination. The actual spraying of
            outlet of the lake at Leland River. Average                 these chemicals does not pose a serious
            levels of nitrates from samples taken in                    threat to groundwater contamination, as most
                                                                        of the pesticides used are foliar applied. Fo-

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                                                          DRAFT

           liar applied pesticides can be dropped one            sediment, they not only clog waterways and
           rating level, as the breakdown by sunlight of         ditches but also carry nutrients and pesti-
           these chemicals is more rapid than microbial          cides. Using GIS data developed for Houdek
           breakdown by soil microbes. However, if               Creek Watershed, it is estimated that ap-
           these pesticides are washed off by rainfall           proximately 13,000 tons of soil are eroded
           following an application, then another appli-         annually from cropland within the watershed.
           cation may need to be made, which then in-            Of that amount, 8,210 tons are attributed to
           creases the amount of pesticides being used,          sheet and rill erosion, another 1,155 tons are
           the potential for spills and the chances of im-       from ephemeral gully erosion and the
           proper disposal, along with leaching and              remaining 3,640 tons are from wind erosion.
           runoff potential.                                     Also using GIS data, it has been determined
              Another 23 percent of the creek water-             that 5,400 tons of soil are eroded from lands
           shed is in general crops where ground ap-             within one quarter mile of the streams within
           plied pesticides play a big role. Over 99 per-        Houdek Creek. Actual amounts of this sedi-
           cent of all cropland soils in this area have a        ment reaching the creek are estimated at 50
           high potential for leaching of chemicals with a       percent of the total, which equals 2,700 tons
           high rating. This is an important considera-          of soil reaching the creek annually.
           tion because groundwater is hydrologically
           linked to Houdek Creek and North Lake                 Road Crossings
           Leelanau.                                                 There are approximately 20 locations
                                                                 within the Houdek Creek Watershed where
           Cherry Cooling Pads                                   roads intersect the main creek or small tribu-
              When tart cherries are harvested, they             taries of the creek. Many of these crossing
           are collected in on-farm tanks and trans-             sites can at times contribute a great deal of
           ported to on-farm "cooling padsm. At the              sediment to the creek from roadside erosion.
           cooling pads, cherries are flushed with cold          A 1989 Michigan Department of Natural Re-
           water to reduce their temperature, which              sources assessment of several of the
           maintains their quality until delivery to the         road/stream crossings in the Houdek Creek
           processor. This process has two possible              watershed indicated that a moving sand
           concerns associated with it: (1) soil erosion         bedload in the creek was causing reduced
           from the runoff water leaving the site; and (2)       biological activity. Without a stable bottom
           possible pesticide contamination if significant       structure in the creek, fish and macro inver-
           levels of pesticides are on the fruit and             tebrate propagation are being hindered.
           washed off. It is estimated that there are at
           least 25 cooling pad sites located within             NORTH LAKE LEELANALP
           Houdek Creek Watershed. Any one of these                  The North Lake Leelanau watershed
           sites could be contributing 50 tons or more of        area covers approximately 18,380 acres,
           pesticide-laden sediment per year to Houdek           which includes Houdek Creek, the main inlet
           Creek, based on data from the Agricultural            to North Lake Leelanau on the north end of
           Stabilization and Conservation Service.               the lake. The Houdek Creek Watershed cov-
                                                                 ers 28% of the North Lake Leelanau water-
           Soil Erosion                                          shed. The 3/4-mile long Leland River outlets
              Water and wind erosion on farmland re-             the lake through a dam at Leland and into
           duces the productivity of the soil and makes          Lake Michigan. South Lake Leelanau flows
           it harder to grow quality crops. It also erodes       into North Lake Leelanau at the Unarrowsm,
           surface soil, which carries with it the highest       which is located at the village of Lake Leela-
           amount of nutrients and pesticides. As these          nau. The Onarrowso is the dividing point be-
           soils reach the surface waters in the form of         tween North and South Lake Leelanau.

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                                                                    DRAFT

                  About 58 percent of the land in the water-                    Using quantitative techniques for the as-
              shed is in agriculture. Of that, approximately                sessment of lake quality, in-lake phosphorus
              6,200 acres are in orchard crops consisting                   concentration is predicted to change by 1 ug/I
              generally of tart cherries, sweet cherries and                for every 575-600 pound change in phospho-
              apples. There are another 4,400 acres in                      rus loading. According to the Land and Water
              general farm crops which are mainly corn,                     Management Division of MDNR, a 1 ug/1
              small grains and hay. Woodland areas, which                   change in phosphorus would most likely re-
              include pine, northern hardwood, lowland                      sult in a visual and measurable change in the
              conifers and other minor forest types, make                   transparency of North Lake Leelanau. In high
              up about 35 percent of the watershed. There                   quality lakes such as North Lake Leelanau, a
              are over 300 houses along the North Lake                      1 ug/I change is significant and every effort
              Leelanau shoreline, with the village of Lake                  should be made to reduce phosphorus load-
              Leelanau on the south end of the lake and                     ing.
              the village of Leland at the northwest end of                     With over 303 homes covering the shore-
              the lake.                                                     line of North Lake Leelanau and the propen-
                  Houdek Creek Watershed, a sub-water-                      sity for owners to want dense, green, well
              shed of North Lake Leelanau, is representa-                   manicured lawns right up to the waters' edge,
              tive of the land use and topography in the                    lawn fertilization is considered to be a major
              North Lake Leelanau Watershed and thus it                     source of phosphorous entering the lake. In
              is assumed that the information gathered for                  the shoreline algae survey of North Lake
              Houdek Creek is valid for the entire North                    Leelanau, completed by the Northwest
              Lake Leelanau Watershed.                                      Michigan Regional Planning and Develop-
                  According to the Michigan Department of                   ment Commission in 1983, lawn fertilization
              Natural Resources (MDNR), North Lake                          was considered to be the possible cause of
              Leelanau is a high quality lake. Average                      cladophora growth in 32 of the 53 contami-
              measured in-lake phosphorus levels range                      nation sites identified. In a 1990 Cladophora
              from 5 ug/l in spring to 6 ug/l in summer. The                survey of North Lake Leelanau, completed by
              lake has average summer transparency of                       Leelanau Conservancy and Leland Town-
              11.5 feet and low algae density as measured                   ship, 121 contamination sites were identified,
              by chlorophyll a of approximately 2.0 ug/l.                   an increase from the 1983 survey of 111.3
              North Lake Leelanau has a Trophic State In-                   percent. This is coupled with only a 5 per-
              dex (TSI) of 36. A TSI of up to 38 indicates                  cent increase in the number of houses on the
              an oligotrophic lake, 39-48 is mesotrophic.                   lake.
              Therefore, North Lake Leelanau is very close
              to degrading to a mesotrophic condition.                          Water Quality Study of North Lake
                  The MDNR calculated a phosphorus                          Leelanau (1978), conducted by the Student
              budget to identify sources of phosphorus                      Water Publications Club at Michigan State
              loading to the lake. According to this nutrient               University (MSU), was commissioned by the
              budget, 36 percent of phosphorus loading                      Summer Home Owners of Leland Township
              comes from the immediate watershed:                           and conducted by students under the
                                                                            supervision of Dr. Clifford Humphries (MSU).
                          Source           Phosphorus         Percent       This study collected water samples from 10
               Immediate                     1134 lbs.          36          locations in and around North Lake Leelanau
               Watershed                                                    on January 21, 1978. Lab tests conducted at
               Outlet to South               1065 lbs.          34          MSU included total bacteria, total coliform
               Lake Leelanau                                                bacteria,         fecal         strep,         chlorides,
               Septic Tanks                   72 lbs             2
               Precipitation                 885 lbs.           28          orthophosphate, and nitrate.
               TOTALS                        3156 lbs.          100             Results of analysis showed that none of

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                                                         DRAFT

          the water samples had high enough counts              elimination by the United States and Canada
          of bacteria to cause concern, which might be          in the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality
          expected in wintertime sampling. Chemical             Agreement. Manufacture of PCB's, used as
          analysis for orthophosphate indicated ele-            insulators and lubricants, has been banned in
          vated nutrient levels at several stations in the      the United States since the 1970s, but the
          extreme north end of the lake, with Houdek            toxic compound remains prevalent in sedi-
          Creek singled out as a potentially damaging           ments, landfills and industrial sites through-
          source of excess nutrients. The report rec-           out the region. Other chemicals considered
          ommended a program to convince lakeshore              to cause serious problems in the lakes in-
          property owners that fertilizer should not be         clude mercury, dioxin, lead and DDT, a pes-
          used on their lawns, and also that a survey of        ticide that has been banned in the United
          upland land use in the Houdek's Creek area            States but not in Canada or Mexico. Some
          be undertaken as immediately as short-range           experts believe some of the DDT still enter-
          'protective measures.                                 ing Lake Superior may blow into the region
                                                                from Mexico. According to U.S. Environ-
              Lake Leelanau       Water Quality Study           mental Protection Agency researchers, with
          (1988), was conducted in the fall of 1988 by          the right prevailing meteorology, it could be a
          the Leelanau Conservancy. This study in-              five or six-day transport time for air pollutants
          cluded 8 stations in the North Lake Leelanau          to get from the Mexico/U.S. border to the
          Basin. General water quality conditions had           Great Lakes.
          apparently changed little since the MSU                  Lake Michigan has a surface area of
          study of 1978. Houdek Creek remained a                22,300 square miles, which makes it the
          problem area, this time with nitrate concen-          fourth largest lake in the world and the third
          trations at about 10 times the typical back-          largest Great Lake. It drains eastward
          ground levels for the Lake Leelanau Basin. A          through the Straits of Mackinac into Lake
          considerable effort was made to track down            Huron. Lake Michigan is the second deepest
          the nutrient loading to Houdek's Creek, and           Great Lake, after Lake Superior, with a
          upstream sampling determined that the north           maximum depth of 923 feet. It contains 1,180
          branch of the creek is carrying by far the            cubic miles of water, which is 22% of the
          highest nitrate load. Further monitoring of nu-       water volume in the Great Lakes. Lake
          trient levels in Houdek's Creek was urged,            Michigan's flushing time is 69 years. Unfortu-
          especially in conjunction with the River Basin        nately, Lake Michigan continues to serve as
          Study being conducted by the Soil Conserva-           a dumping ground for a wide variety of
          tion Service.                                         chemical pollutants which make their way
                                                                into fish and other wildlife and humans far-
          Great Lakes Pollution                                 ther up the food chain.
              Scientists have speculated for years that
          air pollutants could cause as much as 90              MDNR REPORT
          percent of the contamination in some of the              The Michigan Department of Natural Re-
          five Great Lakes. Lake Superior, which has            sources published a report in April, 1990, en-
          fewer industries discharging chemicals di-            titled Water Quality and Pollution Control
          rectly into the water than the other lakes, is        in Michigan. The report discusses each of
          believed to get most of its pollution from the        the Great Lakes, including Lake Michigan.
          air, and estimates for the other lakes indicate          The open waters of Lake Michigan are
          that air is a signif icant source of PCBs, mer-       oligotrophic. Nearshore areas in Green Bay
          cury, lead and other toxic compounds.                 and along the southern portion of the lake
              PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, are just         are more mesotrophic due to nutrient inputs
          one of 11     Ncritical pollutants" targeted for      from industrial activities, urbanization and

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                                                         DRAFT

           agricultural production. The most recent phy-        dane and PCB have occurred. General
           toplankton studies on Lake Michigan, made            trends show that dieldrin concentrations in
           during 1983 and 1984,           reflect oligotro-    lake trout increased       between 1970 and
           phic/mesotrophic conditions.                         1979, followed by a decrease between 1979
               Lake Michigan total phosphorus levels in         and 1982. PCB levels in lake trout increased
           water were lower in 1987 (4.9-5.3 ugll) than         between 1972 and 1974, then declined be-
           in 1983 (5.5-5.7 ug/1) and were significantly        tween 1975 and 1984. DDT concentrations
           lower than 1976 levels (7.8-8.3 ug/1). Ni-           have consistently declined since 1970. Lev-
           trates, on the other hand, have increased            els of DDT and PCBs in Lake Michigan lake
           continually from 224 ug/I (southern basin) in        trout are higher than in lake trout from either
           1976 to 286 ug/I in 1987, increasing at a rate       Lake Huron or Lake Superior.
           of 7 ug/l/year between 1983 and 1987. Dis-
           solved reactive silica concentrations in open        Acid Rain
           waters have remained stable over the last               Acid rain may also pose a future threat.
           five years at about 1.06-1.14 mg/l. Chloride         Acid rain refers to rainwater which is acidic
           concentrations in the southern basin have            because of air pollutants. It can damage for-
           remained stable since 1983 (mean 8.80                ests and decrease the pH (increased Hydro-
           mg/1), but have increased steadily in the            gen ion concentration) in surface waters to
           northern basin during 1983 to 1987, rising           the point that fish cannot survive. Little is
           from 8.68 mg/I to.8.83 mg/l. The 1987 sulfate        presently documented about the extent of
           concentrations (20.4-21.4 mg/1) were not             damage if any, caused by acid rain in the
           significantly different from levels in 1983.         area. However, data gathered on Beaver Is-
           Open lake PCB concentrations in 1980 were            land, 30 miles to the north, shows a nine year
           about 1.2 ng/l.                                      average pH of 4.2 and a 1989 (most recent
              Of the Great Lakes surveyed under the             year) average of 5.0. Turev rain water has a
           MDNR fish contaminant survey program,                pH value of approximately 5.6, precipitation
           Lake Michigan has been the most heavily              with a pH below that number is considered to
           impacted, particularly by organochlorine             be acidic. The source of acid rain is sus-
           compounds. However, levels of most con-              pected to be industrial activities, especially
           taminants in fish are declining. Mercury lev-        those burning high sulfur coal, hundreds of
           els have been declining in the lake since            miles away in the Ohio Valley, Chicago, De-
           1972. Data from 1984 showed that contami-            troit, and Cleveland areas. Examples of such
           nants in coho salmon, steelhead, and lake            industries are coal burning electric generat-
           trout less than 20 inches in length, had de-         ing plants and steel making.
           creased to the point where 90% or more of
           the fish tested did not exceed U.S. FDA ac-          National Pollution Discharge
           tion levels. However, contaminant levels in          Elimination System (NPDES)
           lake trout over 25 inches in length, and in             There are only four entities presently dis-
           carp and brown trout, remained high. Levels          charging treated liquid waste via approved
           of DDT, dieldrin and PCB's were consistently         NPDES permits. They are listed in Table 4-3.
           higher in fish taken from the southern end of
           the lake. These higher levels in fish corre-
           spond closely with higher levels of these con-
           taminants in the sediments at the lake's
           south end.
              U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data from
           lake trout collected in Lake Michigan indicate
           that substantial declines in total DDT, chlor-

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                                                          DRAFT

                               Table 4-3                         uninventoried and pose a substantial threat
                           NPDES PERMITS                         for groundwater contamination.
                                                                 . With many areas of Leelanau County in
                       Activity                Location          agricultural use, the use of fertilizer and pes-
            Frigid Food Products, Inc.       Suttons Bay         ticides is of great concern. Both groundwater
            (now closed)                                         and surface water contamination result from
            J L Stowe Oil Co.                Northport           extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides in
            Bulk Plant                                           agricultural enterprises. The high nitrate lev-
            Leelanau Memorial                Northport           els observed in groundwater in portions of
            Hospital                                             the County are related to leaching of nitrates
            Suttons Bay Village Hall         Suttons Bay         on agricultural fields.
                                                                     Nearly 70 percent of the field crop area
          GROUNDWATER                                            and pesticide combinations that are currently
              All residents and visitors of Leelanau             being used are rated as having high potential
          Peninsula are dependent upon groundwater               for leaching (high probability that pesticide
          resources for their potable water supply. The          will leach below the root zone) at least one
          vast majority of the population reside in sin-         year out of the rotation.
          gle family homes and each household de-
          rives its potable water by an on-site private          Known Sites of Contamination
          well.                                                      Annually the Michigan Department of
              The Health Department has indicated that           Natural Resources publishes a list of known
          several residential wells within the Houdek            sites of surface soil and groundwater con-
          Creek Watershed have nitrate levels testing            tamination in Michigan. Known as the Act
          as high as 16 ppm (the EPA established safe            307 list (from the Michigan Environmental
          limit for nitrate concentrations is 10 ppm).           Response Act, PA 307 of 1982 as amended,
          Other sites with high nitrate levels are scat-         MCL 691.1201, et seq, which requires com-
          tered throughout the County. With the nitrate          piling the registry), it is the leading record of
          contamination that has been documented on              surface and subsurface contamination. As of
          Old Mission Peninsula in Grand Traverse                March 1991, there were 24 sites in Leelanau
          County, in similar agricultural enterprises,           County on the Act 307 list (see Figure 4-2
          and with similar soils, the potential for further      and Table 4-1). While this is only 0.0085% of
          nitrate contamination of groundwater within            all the sites statewide (2837), one of these
          Leelanau County is of great concern. Ap-               sites is on the federal CERCLA (Superfund)
          proximately 97 percent of the soils within the         list of the top 79 in Michigan (Grand Traverse
          watershed have a medium risk of leaching ni-           Overall Supply, a dry cleaning establish-
          trates and other soluble nutrients below the           ment). While many of these sites involve
          rooting zone.                                          pollution from old industrial activities, gas
              Several sites in the County have also ex-          stations, and facilities using hazardous
          perienced fuel leaks from underground stor-            chemicals, new sites are still being discov-
          age tanks (USTs). These have been primarily            ered daily in Michigan. Table 4-4 lists Act 307
          at gasoline service stations to-date, but po-          sites in Leelanau County. Figure 4-2 shows
          tential for leakage from farm and residential          the geographic location of these sites.
          usTs is also of concern. A state-wide inven-
          tory of USTs was taken several years ago;
          however, this inventory excluded tanks
          smaller than 1,100 gallons. Since many on-
          farm and residential tanks are in the 500 to
          1,000 gallon range, many USTs have gone
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                                                             Table 4-4
                                               ACT 307 SITES, FISCAL YEAR 1992


                      Name of Site                          Location                          Pollutants
             Grand Traverse Overall              Solon Twp.                         Phthalates, PCE
             Supply
             Vulcan Cincinnati, Inc.             Leelanau Twp.                      Chromium, Zinc
             Frigid Foods Farms                  Suttons Bay Twp.                   Lead, Arsenic, Zinc
             Total Pet Inc., Marine              Elmwood Twp.                       MTBE
             Terminal
             Residential Well                    maple City                         BTEX,MTBE
             Commercial Wells                    Cedar                              1,2 DCA; BTEX; 1, 1 DCA;
                                                                                    1, 1, 1 TCA
             Residential Well                    Centerville Twp.                   Methyl-t-butyl ether
             Holiday Station                     Elmwood Twp.                       Gasoline, Benzene, Toluene,
                                                                                    Xylene, Ethylbenzene
             Zephyr, Inc.                        Elmwood Twp.                       Ethanol, Benzene, Toluene,
                                                                                    Xylene
             Stowe Oil Co.                       Leelanau Twp.                      Benzene, Toluene, Ethylben-
                                                                                    zene, Xylene
             Speedway 2301 (M-22)                Elmwood Twp.                       Gasoline
             Taqhons Service                     Empire                             Gasoline, Fuel Oil
            -Elmwood Twp. Dump                   Elmwood Twp.                       DDT Insecticides
            -Standard Gas Station                Lake Leelanau                      Gasoline
             Glens Sanitary LF Inc.              Kasson Twp.                        Toluene, 4 Methyl-Phenol,
                                                                                    Benzoic Acid, Arsenic
             Leelanau County Landfill            Kasson Twp.                        Toluene, Phenol, Arsenic, 4
                                                                                    Methyl-Phenol
             Sunoco Quik Mart                    Bingham Twp.                       Gasoline, BTEX
             Residential Well                    Elmwood Twp.                       Fuel Oil
             Groundwater Contamination           Leland Twp.                        12 Dichloroethane, Benzene,
             T30N R12W Section 9                                                    Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xy-
                                                                                    lene
             Fuel Oil Spill                      Leelanau Twp.                      Fuel Oil
             PeplinskiFarm                       Centerville Twp.                   Benzene, Toluene, Ethylben-
                                                                                    zene, Xylene
             Konieczka Cottage                   Centerville Twp.                   Fuel Oil
             Leelanau County Road Co-            Maple City,                        Salt
            -mmission
             Leelanau County Road Co-            Suttons Bay                        Salt
            I mmission

            Groundwater Vulnerability                              County lies over "protected" aquifers, which
                Approximately 60% of the mainland por-             are located below layers of soil (clay) or rock
            tion of the County is on "sensitive" aquifers.         which are not very permeable (See Figure 4-
            These are aquifers located below soils with            3). However, because the soil is saturated
            high permeability. Approximately 40% of thie           below the surface, all groundwater is linked
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                                                          DRAFT

          and     contaminants       can     f low    around     Wetland Development
          "protected" layers. The only variables are                Many of the undeveloped sites along
          time and volume of flow.                               lakes in the Peninsula are undeveloped due
              The highly permeable sandy soils in                to the fact that they are wetland sites. With
          Leelanau County present a ready conduit for            quality lake lots becoming more difficult to
          groundwater contamination, and it is unlikely          find, a great deal of pressure is being put on
          that all existing sites of contamination have          these wetland sites. An awareness of the po-
          as yet been discovered. The highly vulner-             tential for surface and groundwater degrada-
          able soils of the Peninsula require the use of         tion from wetland development has surfaced
          careful measures when establishing new fa-             over the past few years and is a definite con-
          cilities using hazardous chemicals. Similarly,         cern of many citizens in the County. In-
          other potential pollutant sources, such as             creased development of wetland along lakes
          septic systems, need to be carefully sited             and streams in the Peninsula will only in-
          and regularly serviced and inspected.                  crease the severity of degradation of the wa-
              Existing contamination sites should be             ters within the watershed. New measures
          quickly cleaned up to prevent the spread of            may be needed to assure that this large per-
          pollutants over a wider area and to prevent            centage of the watershed is protected from
          the eventual contamination of surface water.           development that would cause degradation
          Contamination of groundwater from septic               of both ground and surface waters.
          systems is ideally stopped or prevented by
          installing public sewers. Unfortunately, low           Shoreline Development
          density sprawl and linear development                     The shores of inland lakes have long
          patterns characteristic of the County make             been popular places for residential develop-
          the costs of doing so prohibitive.                     ment because of the attractive and unique
                                                                 natural setting they offer. Because these ar-
          EMERGING ISSUES                                        eas are relatively fragile components of the
              Surface waters are vulnerable to con-              natural environment, they are easily de-
          tamination due to the lack of a coordinated            graded by activities associated with develo-
          stormwater management program. The fu-                 pment. Many lakes become severely de-
          ture quality of Leelanau County's water re-            graded in small increments and over long
          sources will also be impacted by pollutants            periods of time; in some cases 30 to 50
          discharged directly to surface waters. Con-            years. Some of the most common problems
          cerns for and threats to these water re-               associated with lakefront residential develo-
          sources will heighten as future residential            pment which affect lake water quality are in-
          development escalates the use of lawn fertil-          creased soil erosion and sedimentation, lack
          izers, pesticides, and household chemicals.            of effective sewage treatment (mostly due to
          These pollutants and others from agricultural          inadequate or failing septic tanks), and runoff
          operations could damage ecosystems, as                 from lawn fertilizers and household cleaning
          well as the continued marketability of                 products.
          Leelanau County as a tourist destination.                  All of these problems can be detected
          Pressure upon lake and stream shoreline                early and corrected to protect the quality of
          areas      for    future     development         will  lakes. The most obvious preventative meas-
          compromise area water quality unless very              ure is to restrict development on lakes. For
          carefully designed and sited in accordance             lakes that are already intensely developed,
          with coordinated stormwater management                 measures are needed to ensure that septic
          regulations. Water quality monitoring, if              systems are working properly, homeowners
          uniform and cost-sustainable, could serve as           are educated about the effects of lawn fertil-
          a basis for adopting new regulations.                  izers and household products on lakes, and

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                                                                                DRAFT


                 erosion and runoff are controlled.


                 ISSUES FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
                      What measures are necessary to main-
                 tain the existing high quality of the Penin-
                 sula's inland lakes and streams? How much
                 of a role should local governments or the
                 County play in improvement of existing con-
                 ditions and prevention of future problems? To
                 what extent can geographic information
                 systems (GIS) be used in monitoring and
                 evaluating land use impacts on the
                 environment? What data sets are needed to
                 use GIS technology in Leelanau County?

                 1. Now air monitoring network tracks contaminants in lakes,
                   Kalamazoo Gazette. April 26,1992.
                 2. Water Quality and Pollution Control In Michigan, Michigan
                   Department of Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality Division.
                   April, 1988.
                 3. Staff Report: A Biological Survey of the South Lake Leelanau
                   Tributaries of Mebert Creek, Cedar Run Creek, and Victoria
                   Creek, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Surface Water
                   Quality Division. August, 1990.
                 4. Staff Report: A Biological Survey of the Crystal River,
                   Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality
                   Division. July, 1987.
                 S. Staff Report: Biological Survey of an Unnamed Tributary to
                   West Bay, In the Vicinity of Greilickville, Leelanau County,
                   Michigan, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Surface
                   Water Quality Division. May, 1989.
                 6. Staff Report: A Biological Survey of Ennis and Belanger
                   Creeks, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Surface
                   Water Quality Division. August, 1988.
                 7. Resource Plan: Houdek Creek Watershed, Leelanau County
                   Local Coordinating Committee. February, 1991.

























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                                                          DRAFT

                                                       Chapter 5
                                                      SUMMARY


           OVERVIEW                                               ness of local governments and citizens to get
               Leelanau County has much to offer in               involved in regulating and correcting land use
           terms of its attractive natural environment            problems. This can be achieved through
           and abundance of forest and farmlands. The             comprehensive land use planning and
           County produces a large quantity of tree               through regulations tailored specifically to the
           fruits, has become a hub for tourism in                unique situation of each community.
           Michigan, and continues to have relatively                Even though some environmentally sen-
           high quality lakes and streams. Many of the            sitive areas (wetlands, high risk erosion ar-
           Peninsula's natural resources are unspoiled,           eas, critical sand dunes) in the County are
           and this presents citizens with unique oppor-          subject to state regulation, there are still nu-
           tunities. The County is in this unique position        merous sensitive environments of local im-
           because many areas of Michigan have seen               portance which are not protected by state or
           their natural resources (especially inland             federal laws. Some of these include inland
           lakes and streams) degraded and polluted,              lakeshore areas, small wetlands, many valu-
           both visually and chemically. Once dimin-              able resource lands such as unique farm-
           ished or lost, many natural resources and              lands or unique forestlands, and scenic vis-
           environmental features cannot be reclaimed.            tas. For example, state laws do not regulate
               Unfortunately, the same land use activi-           the density of development on inland lakes -
           ties that take advantage of unique natural re-         only local governments can limit lot sizes or
           source opportunities on the Peninsula - agri-          use other planning and zoning tools to pre-
  10       culture, tourism, and residential development          serve their locally important resources.
           - threaten to create irreversible problems                Unchecked development occurring in
           and degrade the lands they depend upon.                small increments over time is probably the
           Some key land use problems have been                   most preventable cause of environmental
           identified and documented in this working              destruction. Unfortunately, most local gov-
           paper. In addition to potential land degrada-          ernments will not address the situation until a
           tion, high quality inland lakes are threatened         problem presents itself. Then, it is usually too
           by agricultural runoff and sedimentation, and          late to solve or prevent most environmental
           by old and malfunctioning sewage disposal              problems. Leelanau County is unique in that
           systems along their shores. Groundwater is             many of its natural resources are still intact.
           threatened by chemicals and sewage leach-              However, the Peninsula is also very vulner-
           ing into the highly permeable soils from agri-         able to environmental neglect because it is
           cultural activities and septic systems.                one of a few areas in Michigan in such a
               These are problems that will not go away           condition. New development and tourists will
           and cannot be ignored if the natural environ-          thus flock to Leelanau County in increasing
           ment of the Peninsula is to continue to pre-           numbers, placing bigger demands in its re-
           sent opportunities for profit and enjoyment.           sources.

           FUTURE DEVELOPMENT                                     Protection of Community Character
           ON THE PENINSULA                                          Maintaining community character is al-
           Protection of Natural Resources                        most completely dependent on the actions of
               Protection of the Peninsula's natural re-          local governments and citizens. Unlike some
           sources ultimately depends on the willing-             natural resources of value to the state as a

                                                              Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                                            Page 5-1







           whole, state government has relatively little
           interest in preserving the aesthetic, -,-iral, or
           social character of most communities. State
           regulations do not prohibit development from
           encroaching on elements of a community's
           character. However, statutes do provide local
           governments with the planning and regula-
           tory authority necessary to preserve that
           character.
               Much of the character of communities
           within Leelanau County is derived from their
           natural setting. Thus, local protection of the
           natural environment represents a significant
           step in preserving rural character.

           KEY ISSUES FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION
               ï¿½  Endangerment of valuable resource
                  lands
               ï¿½  Local government role. in protecting
                  natural resources
               ï¿½  Development in environmentally sensi-
                  tive areas
               ï¿½  Local government role in protecting
                  environmentally sensitive areas
               ï¿½  Development on inland lakes
               ï¿½  Protection of groundwater supplies
               ï¿½  Provision of technical expertise. and
                  base of information on the natural
                  environment - for policy development
                  and local government administration.

           RECOMMENDATIONS
               ï¿½  Education of local officials and citizens
                  on land use planning and environ-
                  mental protection
               ï¿½  Local government involvement in pro-
                  tecting community character
               ï¿½  Local government involvement in pro-
                  tecting natural resources
               ï¿½  Continued development of Leelanau
                  County's      geographic       information
                  system.








           Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
           Page.5-2





                                             DRAFT

                                          Appendix A

                    REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS REVIEWED


        1991 ACP Water Quality Special Project Request: North Lake Leelanau Watershed,
        United States Department of Agriculture, MSU Cooperative Extension Service, Leelanau Soil
        Conservation District, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Leelanau Conservancy,
        Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, and Northwest Michigan Resource Conservation
        and Development Council. June, 1990.

        Environmental Health Regulations for Leelanau County Health Department, Chapter 2;
        Sewage Disposal.

        First Annual Report of the Leelanau Conservancy Watershed Council Water Quality
        Monitoring Program, Tim Keilty, Ph.D. February, 1991.

        Goemaere-Anderson Wetland Protection Act, PA 203 of 1979, MCL 281.701 et seq.

        Great Lakes Water Levels, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Division of Land
        Resource Programs. Date unknown.

        Great Lakes Water Wreaks Shore Havoc, Natural Resources Register, Michigan
        Department of Natural Resources. March, 1986.

        Important Farmlands Map of Leelanau County, Michigan, USDA Soil Conservation
        Service. 1978.

        Leelanau County Forest Soils Report, Northwest Michigan Prime Forestlands Identification
        Project. 1982.

        Leelanau County Solid Waste Plan, Leelanau County Planning Department and Leelanau
        County Board of Commissioners. 1989.

        Michigan Hydric Soils List, USDA Soil Conservation Service.

        Michigan's 1988 Nonpoint Pollution Assessment Report, Michigan Department of Natural
        Resources, Surface Water Quality Division. November, 1988.

        Michigan Shorelands Protection and Management Act, PA 203 of 1979, MCL 281.701 et
        seq.

        Michigan Sites of Environmental Contamination Act 307, Michigan Department of Natural
        Resources, Environmental Response Division. March, 1991.

        New air monitoring network tracks contaminants in lakes, Kalamazoo Gazette. April 26, 1992.



                                               Working Paper #9 - Natural Resources and the Environment
                                                                                    Page A- 1







           Resource Plan: Houdek Creek Watershed, Leelanau County Local Coordinating
           Committee. February, 1991.

           Sand Dune Protection and Management Act, PA  222 of 1976 as amended, MCL 281.651 et
           seq.

           Staff Report: A Biological Survey of Ennis and Belanger Creeks, Michigan Department of
           Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality Division. August, 1988.

           Staff Report: A Biological Survey of the Crystal River, Michigan Department of Natural
           Resources, Surface Water Quality Division. July, 1987.

           Staff Report: A Biological Survey of the South Lake Leelanau Tributaries of Mebert
           Creek, Cedar Run Creek, and Victoria Creek, Michigan Department of Natural Resources,
           Surface Water Quality Division. August, 1990.

           Staff Report: Biological Survey of an Unnamed Tributary to West Bay, in the Vicinity of
           Greilickville, Leelanau County, Michigan, Michigan Department of Natural Resources,
           Surface Water Quality Division. May, 1989.

           STORET data on North Lake Leelanau, South Lake Leelanau, Little Glan Lake, Glen Lake,
           Little Traverse Lake, Lime Lake, Cedar Lake, and School Lake, Michigan Department of
           Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality Division.

           USDA Soil Survey of Leelanau County, Michigan. United States Department of Agriculture,
           Soil Conservation Service, 1973.

           Vegetation and its Role in Reducing Great Lakes Shoreline Erosion: A Guide for
           Property Owners, Michigan Sea Grant College Program. 1988.

           Water Quality and Pollution Control in Michigan: 1988 Report, Michigan Department of
           Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality Division. April, 1988.

           Water Quality and Pollution Control in Michigan: 1990 Report, Michigan Department of
           Natural Resources, Surface Water Quality Division. April, 1990.















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