Communities face water challenges

Michigan has more than 80 public harbors and marinas managed by state, county and local governments. The impact of boating on the Great Lakes on Michigan’s economy is billions of dollars per year.

St. Joseph and Benton Harbor community members study an area map to mark assets and areas in need of improvement during an open house. Courtesy of Michigan Sea Grant.

Yet public facilities face challenges such as fluctuating water levels, aging infrastructure and changes in the state’s economy due to sporadic funding. These challenges can leave waterfront communities struggling to adapt.

In response, Michigan Sea Grant and the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Office of the Great Lakes worked with partners to update their Sustainable Small Harbors Tools and Tactics Guidebook, originally published in 2017, to support riparian communities in their sustainability efforts.

So what are the characteristics of a sustainable small port? It must be accessible to all, economically diverse and welcoming to visitors and residents. Put simply, a community must be a place where people want to live, work and play. In detail, the handbook covers the topics of placemaking, community engagement, resilience, environmental aspects and value creation.

A community that provides places where people want to live, work and play is on the path to social sustainability, but the process is complicated. Social sustainability requires a shared vision for the future of the waterfront through master planning. A critical component of master planning is ensuring that all voices are heard during the process of shaping the community’s shared vision, so the handbook includes information on how to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion into placemaking.

In terms of environmental sustainability, the goal is not to work against nature through hard or ‘grey’ infrastructure, but with Nature to create more resilient infrastructure. This includes using natural systems to reduce the impacts of flooding or coastal erosion. The handbook offers opportunities for communities to improve their resilience to unprecedented climate extremes.

Most important to most community leaders is economic sustainability. Consider the economic viability of a community-owned and/or operated port and adjacent waterfront as the metaphorical center of the community. The waterfront or port provides quality of life value to both residents and visitors.

Visitors add real value to the community by spending money during their visits on boat trips, eating at restaurants, overnight stays and shopping – many of which are locally owned and operated. Residents add value in similar ways, but also through owning homes, cars and boats. The local businesses and port bring revenue to the community through taxes, fees and direct sales of goods. The final part of the picture is the expenditures owed by the community to operate and maintain the port and infrastructure. The goal of an economically sustainable port is for revenues to exceed expenses.

The web-based manual provides tools and tactics, as well as community case studies, to help community leaders and planners develop a shared vision and sustainability strategy for their waterfront, including the harbor.

Adapted from an article in the Michigan State of the Great Lakes Report 2023 from Don Carpenter of Drummond Carpenter Engineering and Research.