After the proposal for creating the plan was funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, a four-phase process was established:

• Phase One: Prepare vision statement and determine goals

• Phase Two: Develop recommended actions

• Phase Thee: Preparing the plan

• Phase Four: implementation

In the summer and fall of 2006, the Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society held six public advisory meetings in which interested citizens first created a vision statement and then, in subsequent meetings, applied it to the watershed.  

Each meeting focused on a different sections of the watershed: Portage Waterway to Canal Road; Canal Road to Sharon Ave.; Sharon Ave. to Frog Pool; Frog Pool to the former Huron Lake; and the former Huron Lake to the creek headwaters.

In the spring of 2007, the goal is to address each of the tasks listed above at the level of detail appropriate for a Watershed Management Plan, including ways to monitor progress and potentially fund specific actions. In this phase, the Michgican Tech Center for Water and Society and interested community members are being assisted by students from two Michigan Tech classes: Alex Mayer's 2007 Civil-Environmental Senior Design course and Hugh Gorman's 2007 Environmental Decision Making course.    The recommended actions described on this website are the main outcome of this phase.