whiskey creek

Whiskey Creek is a tributary of Plaster Creek. Plaster Creek runs through the city of Grand Rapids and is known for its poor water quality. In its efforts to be a good neighbor, the Calvin College Biology Department would like to improve the water quality of storm runoff that flows from the campus grounds and into Whiskey Creek. Whiskey Creek runs from the eastern portion of the Nature Preserve and then through the southern portion of campus, eventually running into the Seminary Pond. The goal of this project is to take a hydrologic survey of the Whiskey Creek watershed through campus and to create a study to determine best management practices of the storm water that flows into the creek.

1. To perform a hydrologic analysis of such quality that Calvin can benefit from it in the future. As it stands, Calvin has no georeferenced delineation of the Whiskey Creek drainage basin. The team should combine Calvin’s existing knowledge of the drainage basin with the information that the team gathers to create a document that Calvin can reference for future development plans.
2. To use this project as a pilot study for Low Impact Development Best Management Practices specifically in the Plaster Creek watershed. By designing solutions to problems associated with Whiskey Creek, the surrounding community could adapt our solutions for their own situations. So, the solution should be specific enough to fulfill the needs of the Whiskey Creek problem, but also broad enough to be applicable to similar drainage problems in the Plaster Creek watershed.
3. To develop a solution for the erosion due to runoff from the Beltline lot that restores ecology and is low impact. This would be a joint effort with Professor Van Dragt and the Biology Department. Fulfilling this objective would involve removing invasive species present on site.