The Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources, and the Partnership for the Saginaw Bay Watershed will be hosting a presentation on improving water quality through low impact development practices, on June 6, at 7 p.m. at the Bay City State Recreation Area Visitors Center.

C. Patrick Sellenraad, RLA, Senior Landscape Architect at Designscapes, Inc., Frankenmuth, will show examples of low impact development techniques used in projects built within the Saginaw Bay Watershed ranging from residential to large commercial developments. Attendees will learn how the landscape can be designed to minimize detention basins and filter both storm and waste water, while maintaining their professional appearance. This presentation will touch on the basics of bio-retention and bio-filtration: how does it work; how is it used; what does it look like.

Sellenraad's presentation is the third in a series of discussions that will occur over the next few months on phosphorus impacts on Saginaw Bay and approaches to reduce these impacts, a priority issue identified through the Saginaw Bay Coastal Initiative.

Details of the Saginaw Bay Coastal Initiative and additional information are available online at http://www.michigan.gov/deq under "Issues to Watch."

Editor's note: DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

"Protecting Michigan's Environment, Ensuring Michigan's Future"

Revised May 29, 2008 by Pat Watson