Watershed report cards are powerful tools used around the world to describe ecosystem status, increase public awareness, and inform and influence decision makers to act to improve the health of a watershed. This is the first holistic Rouge River Watershed Report Card, which assesses the condition of the river itself and the surrounding watershed. The development of a watershed report card is collaborative. Stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds—scientists, researchers, government officials, business owners, and interested civilians—come together to define what is valuable about an ecosystem and what threatens that value. The resulting report cards are “socioenvironmental” because they contain more than just environmental concerns. A river’s health is about more than its water quality and fish populations; rivers have recreational and economic value to the people who live in their watersheds.
This report card is a timely, transparent assessment of the Rouge River and its watershed, which is the traditional lands of the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi nations. This document was produced by the Friends of the Rouge and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Funding was provided by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation. Council Fire, LLC was integral to developing economic indicators and consulted on economic data analysis. Over 100 stakeholders contributed to this project. For more information about Friends of the Rouge River, visit https://therouge.org. All photos courtesy of Friends of the Rouge River unless otherwise specified.
Data sources include: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; Detroit Bird Alliance/Audubon Society; Federal Emergency Management Agency; Friends of the Rouge; Google Earth Engine; Huron River Watershed Council; Implan; Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Water Quality Monitoring Council; Trust for Public Land; U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Geological Survey; and Your Economy. To find more information about the data and analyses used, please refer to the methods report.
Friends of the Rouge River
Integration and Application Network
