NEMOKA DRAIN PROJECT TO BEGIN THIS SUMMER - During Meridian Township’s Environmental Commission meeting on May 3, 2017, Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann gave a Green Themes Presentation on infrastructure.

During the presentation Lindemann explained Ingham County has 536 different drains and Meridian Township is home to 181 of those drains in the county. Looking at the bigger picture Meridian Township is essentially a swamp that has been drained, so each drain plays an important role since the township has run into problems with surface water and surface water movement. Over the course of 24 years the Drain Commission has moved toward being proactive when addressing infrastructure problems.

The Nemoka Drain was built over 100 years ago and supplies drainage to some of the oldest houses within Meridian Township. Pipes will be replaced and the Drain Commission will have to find a place to store the water where it won’t do any harm. Currently there’s a lot of flooding in that area, so in order to change that the Drain Commission had to purchase some properties so that they can create ponds to hold the water. Lindemann said, “we’re in the process of negotiating for the last piece of property that we need, and when that’s done we put our final plans together, we go to bid, and we should be in construction mode this summer.”

Lindemann has also received a grant from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for 427,000 dollars to help rebuild parts of the Red Cedar River. The goal is to make the stream more natural and create fish habitats.

Tower Gardens is one of many successful projects that has taken place over the the years. It’s home over 150 rain gardens which makes it the largest constructed rain garden complex in the country so far. Tower Gardens has cut the peak flow rate to the Looking Glass River by 94 percent. This means the water is captured and goes though the rain gardens and eventually evaporates through the plants, which means very little water is getting into the river which helps prevent it from flooding the basements of the homes nearby.

The Smith Drain and Ember Oaks Drain we’re also two successful projects discussed during the Green Themes Presentation.