A consortium of government agencies has approved a $175,000 grant for a two-year study on how Michigan communities with small, shallow-draft harbors can plan for economic sustainability in response to the long-term trend of lower water levels in the Great Lakes.
The study will be led by Civil Engineering Professor Donald Carpenter of Lawrence Technological University in Southfield and Sanjiv Sinha, vice president of Water Resources Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc., a Florida-based company with six offices in Michigan.
A decade-long trend of lower water levels in the Great Lakes has hurt economic activity in Michigan communities with harbors, and the trend is likely to continue. By 2015 public harbors in the state will be required to develop five-year master plans in order to receive financial support from the Waterways Commission of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). read more




