Dowagiac River Restoration Progress

Restoring Historic Meanders to the Dowagiac River

The Dowagiac River that you see today is not the Dowagiac River of historic times. The Dowagiac River used to be a sinuous, winding river as it moved through the land. In the early 1900s the river was dredged and straightened to drain, what was referred to at the time as, the swampland, which was seen as a hinderance to progress. Unfortunately, the dredging of the river resulted in the river being disconnected from the floodplains, due to digging the riverbed to a lower elevation and placing the dredging spoils on either side of the straightened river. The river lost half of its length during this time. The areas referred to as swamplands were home to many species of wildlife and plants, as well being a natural filtering system that helped keep the waters clean and healthy. Over a decade ago the Pokagon Band began exploring the possibility of restoring a section of the Dowagiac River adjacent to tribal properties in Dowagiac, Michigan.

This process consisted of determining if it was feasible to restore the historic meander bends to the Dowagiac River without causing a negative impact to surrounding lands during flood events. The restoration was deemed feasible and after a decade of surveys, analyses, research, permitting, and funding acquisition, the restoration of meanders to a section of the Dowagiac River began in 2022. In February of 2022 a small blessing ceremony was held to let the spirits know that the restoration was beginning in March and that, in the long-term, the restoration would benefit the plants, wildlife, and greater community once complete. The restoration was completed in two phases, with phase two beginning when enough funding was secured. Phase one was substantially complete on September 9, 2022. Due to securing enough grant funds to proceed with phase two, phase two began on November 15, 2022. Phase two was substantially complete on July 7, 2023. Native seeding and tree/shrub planting occurred in November 2023. The restoration area has now entered the maintenance phase where Pokagon Band Kowabdanawa odë kė cares for the native plantings, trees, and shrubs until they are established and thriving.

Now that both phases are complete, the historic sinuosity of the Dowagiac River has been restored and the river in this section has doubled in length to 1.29 miles. Additionally, hydrologic functionality is being restored to approximately 53 acres of adjacent wetlands. Given future climate scenarios, this restoration project adds resiliency to the riverine system and helps prevent flooding to neighboring properties.

The Restoration Process:

1. Create access roads, clear trees, and remove trees with rootwads. Set up soil erosion and sediment control protection measures.
2. Continue clearing trees and shrubs. Monitor soil erosion and sediment control measures.
3. Count and pile trees with rootwads for re-use.
4. Excavate old meander bends.
5. Create cribwalls using trees with rootwads to divert the Dowagiac River into new meander bends.
6. Create banks using trees with rootwads, fabric, live stakes, seeding, and revetement.
7. Divert Dowagiac River into meander bends.
8. Begin restoration of area with native plants, trees, and shrubs.
9. Monitor the restoration area for functionality.
10. Monitor planted species for survival and replanting needs.
11. Monitor for and remove invasive species found in the restoration area.

Funding for the project was provided by: