This article was written by LLLA Shoreline Ambassador, long-time gardener, and Lake Leelanau stream and lake riparian, Elizabeth Huffaker.
“We bought it because of the brook”
This is the opening line in a 1928 The House Beautiful article entitled "A Camp in Northern Michigan." The article continues: “It was such a pleasant little brook, growing forget-me-nots quite on its own initiative. We promptly bought that part of it that runs into the lake, and of course some land went with it. But as we planned the camp we were going to build on the land, our minds kept wandering up to the spring from which the brook started...so we bought the whole brook.
Lake Leelanau's Surrounding Watershed
The brook referred to by Lucia and Helen Hill in 1928 runs through our property on North Lake Leelanau nearly 100 years after this article was written and it still holds many childhood memories for me, my children, my grandchildren, and neighborhood children. Although there have been changes in specific property lines, the brook remains essentially the same, even the spring from which it originates is just as my oldest brother remembers seeing it over seventy years ago. However, my parents never referred to it as a brook. It was always called "The Creek."
Brook, creek, and stream are all names for bodies of water flowing on the Earth's surface. As one commentator explained in his answer on how to differentiate between these different moving bodies of water, "The difference is size: you can step over a brook, jump over a creek, wade across a stream, and swim across a river."
As far as the US Geological Survey is concerned, the terms are essentially interchangeable. Flowing water finds its way downhill initially as creeks that merge to form streams and rivers. If water flows to a place that is surrounded by higher land on all sides, a lake will form.
Lake Leelanau is primarily fed by underground groundwater springs, surface runoff, and several local creeks and tributary streams, making up a 140-square-mile watershed — the area drained by a river or stream system (see Watershed 101 and Watershed 201 for more details).
Riparian Responsibilities
If a brook, creek, or stream runs through your property, you hold "riparian rights” which the State of Michigan defines as “those rights associated with the ownership of the bank or shore of an inland lake or stream.”
Along with riparian rights come riparian responsibilities. Lake Leelanau's water quality is directly affected by the water that flows into it from its entire watershed. The quality of the water in the watershed is dependent on the lands adjacent to streams known as riparian zones. According to John Pepin of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, riparian zones are ecologically and socially significant in their effects on water quality and quantity, as well as aesthetics, habitat, bank stability, timber production, and their contribution to overall biodiversity.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website states that "Rivers, streams and lakes can be buffered from the effects of human disturbance in the watershed by varied, multi-layered vegetation in the land corridor that surrounds them. Healthy, intact vegetative cover in these riparian areas can help reduce nutrient and sediment runoff from the surrounding landscape, prevent bank erosion and provide shade to reduce water temperature. Vegetative cover can also provide leaf litter and large wood (such as branches and logs) to serve as food, shelter and habitat for aquatic organisms."
"It has always been a happy thought to me that the creek runs on all night, new every minute, whether I wish it or know it or care." — Wendell Berry
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) further outlines responsibilities for stream protection and best practices:
- Buffer Strips - A 10-to-35-foot buffer of deep-rooted native plants, shrubs, and trees to filter runoff and anchor soil
- No Dumping - Never dump grass clippings, leaves, or yard waste into or near the bank, as it suffocates native plants and adds excess nutrients
- Provide Erosion Control - Fix active bank erosion using natural stabilization methods such as "bioengineering" and native planting, whenever possible
Be aware of permits and regulations regarding any construction, digging, or grading near streams, wetlands, or lakes. For instance, EGLE requires a state permit before dredging, filling, constructing structures, or altering the natural flow of the stream. Any earth change within 500 feet of a lake or stream in Michigan typically requires a local soil erosion permit.
"Watersheds come in families... The big river is like your nation... The creek is your sister." — Michael Parfit
Restoring the Banks of the Brook
I am in the gradual process of restoring native plant species to the banks of our creek in order to restore and enrich the biodiversity of our creek’s ecosystem. A major part of this restoration effort involves removing and replacing the invasive Vinca minor, which was planted with great care by my father long before Vinca was classified as an invasive species.
As I remove areas of Vinca (and Lily of the Valley), I stabilize the bank with split cedar logs and wood chips (left over from power line maintenance). Planting conditions are challenging since areas of the riparian zone are shady, sandy, and steep. I have also lost some plants to rabbits and deer. Native plants that have been planted successfully in place of the Vinca include:
- Native Ferns: Royal fern, Christmas fern, lady fern, cinnamon fern, sensitive fern, wood fern, maidenhair fern
- Flowers: Cardinal flower, marsh marigold, Clintonia, Canada mayflower, Jack in the Pulpit
- Red twig (Osier) dogwood
Sedges, jewelweed, and forget-me-not are some of the “volunteer” plants that have filled in on their own.
Today
Creeks and streams act as the circulatory system for Michigan lakes. They carry vital water, nutrients, and sediments from the land. Healthy streams filter pollutants, cool water temperatures, and provide clean inflows that keep lake ecosystems stable and vibrant.
The thousands of rivers, lakes and streams in Michigan are beautiful, special places, not only to a wide range of people, but to numerous plant and animal species also. “Because of the unique conditions adjacent to lakes, streams and open-water wetlands, riparian areas harbor a high diversity of plants and wildlife,” Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists say, “Life is simply richer along rivers and streams.”