HOUGHTON - The draft of the Huron Creek Watershed Plan is complete. But that doesn't mean the work is, Alex Mayer said.

"There's a history with watershed management plans ending up being just that ... and not being implemented," said Mayer, director of Michigan Technological University's Center for Water and Society.

Mayer and Tech graduate student Linda Kersten gave a presentation on the plan Monday night at BHK in Houghton.

Recommendations for the creek include: stabilizing the banks at the Kestner Waterfront Park; slope and stamp sand stabilization in the former Hurontown landfill area; connecting homes in Dakota Heights to sanitary sewers; monitoring water quality, erosion and invasive vegetative species; and creating a stormwater ordinance for the city of Houghton and Portage Township.

The Huron Creek Watershed Advisory Committee, funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, met over two years to develop recommendations for the plan. The work was prompted by concerns over the water quality of the creek, which stretches from Green Acres Road in Portage Township to the Kestner Waterfront Park in Houghton.

After this, the draft of the plan will be amended to reflect public comments, then again after meetings with Houghton and Portage Township's planning commissions. A preliminary plan has been submitted to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Mayer said the goal is to have a final version of the plan by the end of the year. Once the MDEQ approves the plan, Huron Creek will be eligible for funds from the state.

When the plan is in place, Mayer said, the Center for Water & Society will continue as lead agency, while subcommittees of advisory committee members and other interested people will carry out the plans for various sites along the creek.

Kristine Bradof, a member of the Houghton Planning Commission and the creek advisory committee, suggested the subcommittees meet up periodically to update the rest of the group on their progress.

"Now that it's to the point of 'OK, we need your help again,' you think there'd be some hope of getting people involved," she said.

Additionally, Mayer said, classes at Michigan Tech and Houghton Middle School could use the creek as a field laboratory.

To view the draft of the plan, go to http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~asmayer/HuronCreek/HuronCreek.htm.

Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com