| River Rouge Rivière Rouge | |
|---|---|
 Man-made falls on the River Rouge atHenry Ford'sFair Lane estate. | |
  Location of mouth within the state of Michigan | |
 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Rochester Hills, Oakland County, Michigan |
| • coordinates | 42°37′56″N83°10′35″W / 42.63225°N 83.17632°W /42.63225; -83.17632[1] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Detroit River,Michigan |
• coordinates | 42°17′17″N83°06′10″W / 42.28809°N 83.1027°W /42.28809; -83.1027 |
| Length | 127 mi (204 km) |
| Basin size | 467 sq mi (1,210 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | mouth |
| • average | 378.16 cu ft/s (10.708 m3/s) (estimate)[2] |
TheRiver Rouge is a 127-mile (204 kilometer)[3]river in theMetro Detroit area of southeasternMichigan. It flows into theDetroit River atZug Island, which is the boundary between the cities ofRiver Rouge andDetroit.
The river's roughly 467-square-mile (1,210 km2)watershed includes all or parts of 48 municipalities, with a total population of more than 1.35 million, and it drains a large portion of central and northwestWayne County, as well as much of southernOakland County and a small area in easternWashtenaw County. Nearly the entire drainage basin is in urban and suburban areas, with areas of intensive residential and industrial development. Still, more than 50 miles (80 km) of the River Rouge flow through public lands, making it one of the most accessible rivers in the state.
Until recently the river was heavily polluted, and in 1969 oil on the surface caught fire.[4] The passage of theClean Water Act in 1972 made it unlawful to discharge any pollution from a point source into navigable waters, and the EPA's National Pollution Discharge Elimination Program was created to regulate these discharges.
In 1986, a non-profit organization of concerned citizens called Friends of the Rouge was formed and began organizing an annual cleanup called Rouge Rescue, to raise awareness about the need to clean up the Rouge. In 1987, the entire watershed was designated a Great Lakes "area of concern" under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.[5]
In 1992, a massive project called the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project was implemented,[6] and further cleanup measures are ongoing. TheAlliance of Rouge Communities is an organization of governmental and non-governmental entities created in 2006 to manage the watershed.[7]
The River Rouge totals 127 miles (204 km) in length[3] and is divided into four branches, the main, upper, middle, and lower branches. The upper branch flows into the main branch in western Detroit within the historicEliza Howell Park, just east ofRedford Township, near the intersection of U.S. Route 24 and U.S. Interstate 96. The middle branch enters the main branch inDearborn Heights just north of the boundary with Dearborn. The lower branch joins less than two miles (3 km) downstream in Dearborn.
The lower 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the river south ofMichigan Avenue were channelized, widened, anddredged to allow freighter access to Ford'sRiver Rouge Plant inland factory facilities. The plant was built between 1915 and 1927. It was the first manufacturing facility for automobiles that included within the plant virtually everything needed to produce the cars: blast furnaces, an open hearth mill, a steel rolling mill, a glass plant, a huge power plant, and an assembly line. During the 1930s, some 100,000 workers were employed here. The plant has been designated as aNational Historic Landmark.
The headwaters of the main branch rise in the southwest corner ofRochester Hills and the northeast corner ofBloomfield Township. It flows mostly south through the western part ofTroy, and then flows southwest throughBirmingham, a noncontiguous portion of Bloomfield Township,Beverly Hills, the southeast corner ofBingham Farms, andSouthfield. It then flows mostly south through westernDetroit andDearborn Heights, then turns southeast inDearborn and continues along the northern edges ofAllen Park,Melvindale,River Rouge and the southern edge of Detroit. Other municipalities that are part of the main branch watershed areAuburn Hills,Bloomfield Hills,Farmington,Farmington Hills,Franklin,Lathrup Village,Oak Park,Orchard Lake,Pontiac,Southfield Township, andWest Bloomfield Township.
Major tributaries of the main branch include:
The headwaters of the upper branch rise in southwesternWest Bloomfield Township, the southeast corner ofCommerce Township, and the northeast corner ofNovi. It forms inFarmington Hills with the confluence of Minnow Pond Drain and Seeley Drain, where it flows mostly southeast throughFarmington,Livonia,Redford Township and enters the main branch inEliza Howell park, in western Detroit.
Tributaries of the upper branch include (from downriver to upriver)
The middle branch forms inNorthville in northwest Wayne County with the confluence of the "Walled Lake branch" and Johnson Drain. The Walled Lake branch rises inNovi in a marshy drainage area south ofWalled Lake, in southwest Oakland County. Johnson Drain rises inSalem Township in northeast Washtenaw County. From Northville, the middle branch flows south throughNorthville Township andPlymouth Township before turning to the southeast in the city ofPlymouth. From Plymouth, it continues through the southwest corner ofLivonia intoWestland, then along the northern edge ofGarden City and intoDearborn Heights where it merges with the main branch near the southern boundary with Dearborn. Other municipalities that are part of the middle branch watershed areCanton Township,Commerce Township,Farmington,Farmington Hills,Lyon Township,Redford Township, andWixom.
Tributaries of the middle branch include (from downriver to upriver)
The lower branch rises insections 11 and 12 inSuperior Township in Washtenaw County and flows mostly eastward into Wayne County throughCanton Township,Wayne,Westland,Inkster,Dearborn Heights and Dearborn before joining the main branch. Other communities in the lower branch watershed includeVan Buren Township,Plymouth Township,Salem Township,Ypsilanti Township.
Tributaries include (from downriver to upriver):
The U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement defines an Area of Concern (AOC) as “geographic areas designated by the Parties where significant impairment of beneficial uses has occurred as a result of human activities at a local level.” The EPA and other environmental agencies are working to restore the 27 remaining U.S. AOCs in theGreat Lakes Basin Region, including River Rouge.[9] There are 43 AOCs in the Great Lakes Basin total, with the rest in Canada or shared by the two countries.
Over 50% of the land surrounding the River Rouge is used for residential, industrial, and commercial purposes and development pressure continues to increase.[10] Consequently, the river is highly polluted and was designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. The designated AOC covers the entire River Rouge watershed including 48 communities that drain 466 square miles of southeastern Michigan into the Detroit River.[11] Sources of pollution include municipal and industrial discharges, sewer overflows, and severalnonpoint source pollution (e.g., storm water runoff).[10] These activities contaminated river sediments and water withpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),heavy metals (e.g., mercury),polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oil and grease. These contaminants are known to be harmful to fish and wildlife and affect recreational activities.
A 2008 remedial action plan for the AOC identified nine “beneficial use impairments” associated with the pollution:[11]
The 250-acre (100 ha)Eliza Howell Park includes 138 acres (56 ha) donated to the city of Detroit in 1936.
Hines Park is a 2,300-acre (930 ha) linear park along the entire course of the Middle Rouge, from Northville to Dearborn. Hines Park, named for Wayne County Road CommissionerEdward N. Hines, provides numerous recreation opportunities along the Middle Rouge, and also provides flood control for the flood-prone river.
Henry Ford built an estate,Fair Lane, on the river inDearborn, upriver from the manufacturing plant, on what is now the campus of theUniversity of Michigan–Dearborn. The estate is now aNational Historic Landmark. The master plan and gardens were designed by landscape architectJens Jensen. A portion of the estate's grounds are a preserved historic landscape and more of it is held as a nature study area since 1956. The residence is now a museum and open to the public.[12]
The Henry Ford, billed as "America's Greatest History Attraction", is a major tourist destination in the area. It includesGreenfield Village, which was opened in 1929 to preserve historic landmarks, includingNoah Webster’s House,Thomas Edison’s Menlo Lab and the garage where Henry Ford built theQuadricycle, his first car.
Since 1992 the Rouge River Bird Observatory has operated on the campus of University of Michigan-Dearborn.[13]
The trail has access points from Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, fromFair Lane and from theUniversity of Michigan Dearborn campus.[14] There is an aspiration to develop the greenway trail all the way to the Detroit River.[15]
River Rouge Park has been operated by the city of Detroit since the 1920s. Its boundary is formed by the railway to the north and West Warren to the south and by Outer Drive, West Parkway and Parkland on the west and Trinity and Burt Road on the east.[16] In July 2014, two Olympic-sized pools and a bath house were reopened at Rouge Park as part of a $5.5 million park renovation project.[17] Covering 1,184-acre (479 ha), River Rouge is the largest park in the city. In contrast, the more well-knownBelle Isle State Park of Detroit covers 982 acres (397 ha).
In 1969 ... the oil-matted Rouge River in Detroit caught fire, shooting flames 50 feet in the air ...
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