Signing ceremony for Public Act No. 517. Governor Granholm along with Alliance Officers and Members.

The Alliance of Rouge Communities (ARC) is a voluntary public watershed entity currently comprised of 40 municipal governments (i.e., cities, townships, and villages), three counties (Oakland, Wayne, and Washtenaw) and the Wayne County Airport Authority as authorized by Part 312 (Watershed Alliances) of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) as amended by Act No. 517, Public Acts of 2004.

Officially formed in January of 2006, the ARC members represent public agencies with water management responsibilities whose jurisdictional boundaries are totally or in part located within the Rouge River watershed located in southeast Michigan. The state law authorizing the formation of watershed alliances throughout Michigan was modeled after a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) adopted by the Rouge River watershed communities and counties in August of 2003, which successfully guided a regional effort over a three year period to address watershed-wide water quality and water quantity issues.

The 2003 MOA was developed by the communities and the three counties to respond to declining federal grant funds to Wayne County for the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project that had supported watershed-wide management efforts since 1993. During the three years of operation under the MOA, the Rouge River watershed communities voluntarily contributed nearly $900,000 to match available federal funding for cooperative watershed management activities. The first year budget for the ARC (2006) is approximately $600,000 with fifty percent local and fifty percent federal funding.

Under the ARC bylaws all cities, townships and villages as well as the counties located totally or in part within the Rouge River watershed are eligible for membership. Over 95 percent of the eligible communities and counties have adopted the bylaws through formal action of their respective governing authorities. In addition, the bylaws provide for membership of other public entities in the watershed who under state law are required to have a water discharge permit. Several public agencies are still considering membership.

History

The Rouge River watershed, located in southeast Michigan, runs through the most densely populated and urbanized land area in the state. The watershed is approximately 438 square miles in size and includes all or part of 48 municipalities in three counties, with a population of over 1.4 million. The industrial growth of the lower Rouge River in the first half of the twentieth century and the rapid residential and commercial growth in the last half of the century in the upper portions of the watershed created serious pollution problems. Despite pollution control efforts as early as the 1940s, when the Detroit wastewater treatment facility was built to serve southeast Michigan including many of the Rouge River watershed communities, pollution problems increased in the river. It has only been in the last decade that significant restoration of water quality has begun to be documented as a result of over one billion dollars of investments by area residents for pollution control. Cooperative efforts at the local level to restore the Rouge River began in early 1980s. At the urging of local citizens and organizations the State of Michigan adopted the Rouge River Basin Strategy in 1985. The following key events have occurred over the last twenty years is the efforts to improve the water quality of the river and restore beneficial uses

• 1987 – The International Joint Commission designated the Rouge River as one of the 43 most polluted areas in the Great Lakes
  
• 1989 – The first Rouge River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was completed and endorsed by a majority of the watershed communities that has been updated periodically (2005 RAP Update)
  
• 1991 – The United States District Court, at the urging of local communities, facilitated a phased process for correcting combined sewer overflows (CSOs) affecting the river
  
• 1992 – With the bipartisan assistance of the Michigan congressional delegation Wayne County received the first U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project (Rouge Project)
  
• 1994 – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan strongly urged the 48 local public agencies within the Rouge River watershed to adopt a more comprehensive approach to control pollution from sources other than CSOs under the authority of the Michigan Drain Code
  
• 1994 – As an alternative to the Michigan Drain Code Inter-County Drain Authority proposed by the U.S. District Court, and to comply with the pending U.S. EPA storm water regulations, a group of local agencies and communities within the Rouge River watershed proposed a watershed-based approach to the control of pollution sources related to storm water discharges
  
• 1997 – The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality adopted the unique watershed approach to storm water management developed and proposed by local agencies participating in the Rouge Project that would subsequently become a statewide alternative for meeting Phase II federal storm water discharge requirements
  
• 2001 – A drafting committee, representing watershed communities and the three counties in the Rouge River watershed developed the framework for a new watershed organization that would assist the local governments meet the requirements of their watershed-based, storm water NPDES discharge permits
  
• 2003 – Thirty-eight cities, townships and villages and three counties within the Rouge River watershed formed a partnership to address their storm water permit requirements under the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement establishing the Rouge River Watershed Local Management Assembly
  
• 2005 – The Rouge River Watershed Local Management Assembly supported the passage of state legislation to authorize local governments to form watershed alliances that was subsequently signed into law January 3, 2005 as Act No. 517, Public Acts of 2004.
  
• 2006 – The Alliance of Rouge Communities was formed under the new state laws and held its first meeting in January

The Preamble to the Alliance of Rouge Communities Bylaws provides a narrative description of the events leading to the formation of the Rouge River Watershed Local Government Assembly and its transition into the ARC.

Operational Funds and Purpose

The purpose of the Alliance of Rouge Communities (ARC) is to provide an institutional mechanism to encourage watershed-wide cooperation and mutual support to meet water quality permit requirements and to restore beneficial uses of the river to the area residents. The ARC Technical Committee, in addition to design and review of the annual ARC water quality monitoring program, develops materials to guide members in meeting state storm water permit requirements, assists in the development and implementation of technical training programs, and serves as liaison with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on storm water permitting issues including the development of subwatershed management plans. The ARC Public Information and Education Committee (PIE) develops public information materials, sponsors workshops, and other public involvement activities to encourage stewardship of the river, coordinates activities with non-profit organizations and other public and private organizations interested in building public stewardship of the river, and conducts informational meetings for public officials to explain the role of the ARC and the benefits of governmental cooperation in addressing water management issues.

Governance

The ARC’s structure requires a full membership meeting at least twice each year. Election of officers, adoption of the annual budget and assessments to communities, major policy issues, as well as any other formal action is reserved for the full membership meetings. The ARC takes formal actions based upon a majority vote of its members unless there is a call for a voting of member shares. The voting shares are directly proportional to the annual assessments. The Alliance elects three officers (i.e., Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer) from among its community members for two-year terms. The three officers, representatives of each county, and elected representatives from each the seven subwatershed groups comprise the ARC Executive Committee that oversees the day to day operations between the meetings of the full Alliance. In addition, the chairs and vice chairs of the standing committees (i.e., Finance, Public Involvement and Education, Technical) are appointed by the three officers. Standing committee membership is available to all members. The members and chair(s) of the Organization Committee are subject to approval by the full ARC and this committee examines and recommends organizational and policies including consideration of new public agency members and the designation of non-voting ARC Cooperating Partners.

Monitoring Progress

As of August 2007, 40 communities, three counties and the Wayne County Airport Authority have adopted the ARC bylaws. This web site serves as the primary tool for disseminating information about the ARC. The web site is intended to provide information to all members on the status of activities and actions, and to provide interested citizens and organizations the ability to monitor progress of the ARC and identify meetings they may like to attend.

The Alliance of Rouge Communities and its predecessor organization the Rouge River Watershed Local Management Assembly have accomplished the following over the past five years

• Established a model for cooperative watershed approaches to storm water management that resulted in a new statewide watershed permit option for meeting federal and state storm water discharge requirements
  
• Funded technical support and facilitation for seven Subwatershed Advisory Groups that developed and implemented individual subwatershed management plans that have become state and national models for cooperative storm water management
  
• Prepared and distributed of materials/information/ideas among members that have reduced the cost and increased the effectiveness of pollution control efforts
  
• Reduced the cost of compliance with storm water permits through the development of templates for required reports, and support of joint activities including the development and distribution of informational and educational materials
  
• Supported extensive cooperative river monitoring to determine the effectiveness of various pollution control activities (the river monitoring program is the most extensive in the state and perhaps one of the most extensive in the nation)
  
• Completed three comprehensive surveys of watershed residents to evaluate the effectiveness of public information and education efforts
  
• Organized and presented workshops for elected and appointed officials
  
• Provided training for agency employees on required illicit discharge detection and elimination efforts
  
• Advocated on behalf on members in support of passage of Watershed Alliance legislation and in discussions with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to improve the efficiency of permit requirements and increase the effectiveness of storm water discharge permit requirements.
  
• Addressed the concerns of the U.S. District Court that has overseen the pollution control efforts in the Rouge River since the early 1970s
  
• Documented measurable improvements in the Rouge River and restoration of beneficial uses.
  
• Formed the first Michigan Watershed Alliance under a state law developed and modeled after the cooperative agreement designed by Rouge watershed communities. 

Please address all comments and suggestions about the contents of this Web page to C. O'Meara.

The Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project is funded, in part, by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grants #XP995743-01, -02, -03, -04, -05, -06, -08 and C-264000-01.