Working groups of people have been assembling to educate, swap ideas, and conduct watershed scale projects over the past several decades in the Kalamazoo River Valley.  These and other documents give us a sense of what people want, what they understand, and what actions they are willing to take.

Example - Saving the Kalamazoo River - 1978

Example - River Partners Program - 1991

Example - Remedial Action Plan - 1998

Example - Phosphorus TMDL - 2001

Example - Natural Resource Damage Survey - 2005 - very large download

Example - Battle Creek Environmental Survey - 2009

The need for an umbrella watershed organization was identified in 2005.  This Video documents the call for an umbrella organization and the response.  Participants at the 2005 Forum generated a Timeline and Action Plan.

Partners moved forward  with the Action Plan.  A Partnership Agreement was generated and Partners were identified and will be invited to sign.  The Lake Allegan/Kalamazoo River Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load Implementation Committee has already agreed to sign on.  Working Partners also generated a compilation of Watershed Contacts for future use.

 The Kalamazoo River Watershed Council took on the responsibility to pass on information about pollution cleanup and prevention through a Watershed Communication Center and partners brainstormed sustainability strategies.  We revised our vision, mission, and goals.  The Communication Center has generated a large and growing e-mail list of watershed contacts.  Here is an archive of the first year or so of "Watershed Communications".

This website is the next iteration of Communication Center operations.

The groups committed to the partnership will jointly recognize the need for improving, maintaining and protecting the quality of the Kalamazoo River Watershed.  They will share a desire to protect and enhance the designated and desired uses of the watersheds.  The parties will do so in the unanimous belief that restoring these assets to their full potential will provide significant aesthetic, recreational, economic and environmental benefits to the area for years to come.

 The Watershed Council has moved forward stiching together plans, programs, and people.  For more information, see the "Plans" and "Recreation" links on the left.