ABOUT ROSIE PAHL DONALDSON:
Rosie Pahl Donaldson has been in this position of land acquisition supervisor for the City of Ann Arbor for 3.5 years. She worked for the Washtenaw County land preservation program (NAPP) prior for 5 years.
RESOURCES:
City of Ann Arbor Greenbelt and Bluebelt Overview
City of Ann Arbor on X (Twitter)
City of Ann Arbor on Instagram
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and today, we're going to look at improving the quality of our water through land preservation. I'm David Fair, and this is Washtenaw United. Ann Arbor City Council has in place its Innovative Bluebelt Initiative. The initiative was created in 2024 as an expansion of the Greenbelt Program, and its aim was to protect more land and water resources upstream of Barton Pond, which, of course, is where the Ann Arbor municipal water supply comes from. Now, City Council has approved its first allocation of funds in the new Bluebelt District and, in partnership with Washtenaw County and Scio Township, will add 79 more acres of preserved woods, wetlands and farmlands. Here to bring us up to speed is Rosie Pahl Donaldson. She is the City of Ann Arbor's Land Acquisition Supervisor. And welcome back to WEMU, Rosie!
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Thanks for having me, David, again so soon!
David Fair: Now, this parcel is referred to as the Davenport property. Have you actually been out there and seen the property in person?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Yes, I have. Yes. Scio Township took myself and another city colleague on a tour there through Sloan Preserve, which is to the north of it. The Davenport property will be an expansion of Scio Township's existing Sloan Preserve that has trails. And so, we took the trails down to the boundary and then walked to the Davenport property, so we could examine the water resources on it.
David Fair: And what did you find as you made that walk and trek through the property?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Yeah. Well, so the property has a little over 0.3 miles of Mill Creek on it--very wide. Mill Creek is navigable there even. And then, we knew there was a tributary, a separate tributary, going into Mill Creek. And I wanted to go examine that in particular to see how wide it was and if we could identify its pathway exactly, so we could calculate a 100-foot riparian buffer around it. And natural resources wise, what we found was almost felt like wilderness out there, quite remote from the developed area around it. It was partially forested, partially more open wetland of varying types, varying vegetation communities. And there was a lot of seepage into the ground. There are a lot of different little springs that I could see going into that tributary.
David Fair: It sounds ecologically vital, and, of course, we know that Mill Creek plays an important role in our area's ecology.
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Yes. Yes, it does. Mill Creek, I believe this is correct, has the largest creek watershed in the Huron River Watershed in Washtenaw County. So, it covers a very large portion of the county and is one of the more degraded creeksheds ecologically, but this parcel was excellent!
David Fair: Now, when last we spoke, we were approaching some 8,000 acres in land preservation through the Greenbelt District. Does this get us there?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: It's a little more complicated than that, so our calculation of the acres...we're so close to 8,000 acres within the Greenbelt. There was a closing in Ann Arbor Township that added 24 more acres to the Greenbelt, and we are just 21 acres away from 8,000 acres of greenbelt. But this Davenport property is one of the fastest project turnarounds that any of us have ever really done. That goes over 8,000 acres, but that property is not in the Greenbelt. It's in the Bluebelt. But that will be 8,000 acres that the Greenbelt Fund has spent money on.
David Fair: Why was the Davenport property the right selection as the first in the Bluebelt Initiative?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: That's a great question! When we talked in October, I think I outlined the main functions of properties that we are trying to protect with the Bluebelt, which is broken into two large categories, one being groundwater recharge functions, protecting the ability of the land to intercept to infiltrate water down into our groundwater systems, which feed into our surface water systems and make its way down to the City of Ann Arbor. And then, the second piece being riparian buffers. Riparian buffer refers to natural area surrounding going down waterways, specifically surface waterways. It usually refers to forested buffers, but when I'm using it, I mean forested or naturally vegetated. And that has been tested, studied, proved over and over again to be a essential part of protecting water quality and installing riparian buffers vastly improves water quality. The longer it is down the waterway, the better, so that's why we focus on this. It's land use-based, which is the way we do our work is using land use tools. It has been shown and tested over and over again to have a water quality function. We can point to that to that research. So. This property has right point over, I think, with the tributary. It's more like half a mile of waterway and a 100-foot buffer on either side of Mill Creek, and that tributary goes up is about 13 or 14 acres of extra protected riparian buffer. And it's a big impact with one property, and the fact that it's sea simple like nature preserve, we know it will be managed really well and be in the public trust. And it's nice for the first project to be available for the public to see.
David Fair: It's got to be a big relief to get the first one on the books.
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Yeah!
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and on Washtenaw United today, we're talking with City of Ann Arbor Land Acquisition Supervisor Rosie Pahl Donaldson. Now, here at WEMU, we do a couple of feature segments exclusively focused on the environment, and this is not one of them. The mission of Washtenaw United is to explore equity and opportunity in our community, including social justice. Now, it's my contention that our conversation fits that bill because access to open space, agricultural land, and clean and safe drinking water, of course, is a social justice issue. In your estimation, did I reach too far?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: No. No, I think it is. It is working for easy, low-distance access to open space, especially in the Greenbelt, right surrounding the City of Ann Arbor. It's a minor but necessary form of environmental justice work. And the benefits that we're creating or protecting go further downstream too than just Ann Arbor, and there are additional communities beyond us. And I think it is part of equity for people with greater resources, like the City of Ann Arbor, to spend the money to make the world a better place for people that can't afford to do that.
David Fair: The Ann Arbor Bluebelt Program is the only such water fund in the state of Michigan, and if we look at it as a startup of sorts, I would imagine there are any number of funding and operational barriers to deal with in order to bring the initiative to full potential. What challenges are you finding in these early stages?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Yeah. I think Ann Arbor was already unique or very rare in its desire to do a Greenbelt and recognizing that sending money outside of itself had benefits for the taxpayers, recognizing that we are a regional system. That already is very hard to do and very admirable to do when you're voting for what to do with your taxpayer money. And the Bluebelt is an extension of that, and it's wonderful that our citizens agreed with that and our city council agreed with that and continue to expand that idea with the Bluebelt. But it's very hard to do when money is scarce. I think it would be better to have something else to scale this up to full watershed for at the very least because the Bluebelt is limited to Washtenaw County. Though upstream of us and the Huron River Watershed goes into several more counties north, and we're not working there. When the Greenbelt and Bluebelt is over, if it ends, we need someone else to continue that great work to recognize that we are people connected by land and water boundaries, not just political boundaries. So, the Hurón River Watershed Council is doing a study on the feasibility of some such full watershed-based water fund, so that's a success in this area, I'd say that study going on is funded by, I believe, the U.S. Forest Service. And the state now, I don't think it's receiving new funding, but they had the Michigan Forest to Mi Faucet program, which attended to this topic as well. And that was at the state level and supporting--re-supporting--that or something like it would be really great, and it is a challenge that it's not taking off at that level.
David Fair: There is a lot of work that is being done, a lot of work still to be done and that will be ongoing. And stakeholders are likely to get on board at some point down the line, at least that's the hope. I would imagine that bringing this concept to a successful level is one you not only want to achieve but then share and help spread to other parts of the state and the country. Has there been interest expressed in finding out exactly what it is you're doing?
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: I think we have to do a little bit better at getting the word out, so that's on us too. I need to push this in front of more people, perhaps, up the government chain. But Mike Smalligan at Michigan Forest to Mi Faucet at the state has been very supportive, and he's also been taking this message around and the Bluebelt around.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for the time and providing the updates today, Rosie! A great start! And we're looking forward to what comes next!
Rosie Pahl Donaldson: Cool, thank you! And, yeah, thanks for having me again and following the story of the Bluebelt!
David Fair: That is City of Ann Arbor Land Acquisition Supervisor Rosie Pahl Donaldson discussing the Bluebelt and the ongoing effort at land preservation and improved water quality. For more information, stop by our website at WEMU.org. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
