PROTECTION OUR WATERS—Members of the public, facilitated by a Rogue River Watershed Council member, break up into work groups to provide input on a variety of environmental topics.
The Rogue River Watershed Council held its annual meeting at Rockford’s Community Cabin in early 2010, continuing its efforts to protect the watershed and goals to improve educational opportunities for the public and municipalities along the watershed’s domain.
Janice Thompkins of the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources and member of the Rogue River Watershed Council (RRWC) gave an overview of what the watershed is to the members of the public who turned out for the meeting. “When the well is dry, we know the value of water,” she quoted Benjamin Franklin on the importance of protecting our water sources and waterways.
“It is so true we too often wait to late to protect our wetlands,” she said, calling wetlands the kidneys of any watershed. She discussed specifically Stegman and Cedar Creek, which provide much of the cold water that makes Rogue River the unique body of water it is and stressed the importance of protecting these feeder streams, and others like them. “They are interrelated, interdependent and interconnected,” she said.
During the meeting, the RRWC members asked the audience to provide feedback on issues within the Rogue River Watershed and answered questions. The RRWC has been in existence for several years and is interested in growing membership as well as offering educational opportunities on watershed and wetlands issues. They meet monthly in Rockford. For more information, visit online at www.gvsu.edu/wri/isc/rogue-river-watershed-project-the-rogue-river-watershed-council-186.htm.
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