Kieser & Asssociates Web Design

K&A Web Design

Linking Watershed Management to the Internet

Friends of the St. Joseph River (2002-2004)
KIESER & ASSOCIATES (K&A) was retained by the Friends of the St. Joseph River Association, Inc. to redesign their website with a crisp, clean look that conveyed vital organizational information to its current and potential members. The project included the programming of an on-line water quality data entry system. The Friends coordinates volunteer teacher-student monitoring of tributaries entering the St. Joseph River. Therefore, they required a user-friendly system that allowed both teachers and students to enter and edit the data they collected. It also needed to display that information and scoring of the site to viewers of the site. (See http://www.fotsjr.org.)

Kalamazoo River/Lake Allegan TMDL Phosphorus Point Source Tracking (2000-ongoing)
K&A has participated in the development of the phosphorus TMDL for the Kalamazoo River Watershed (Michigan) since the planning began 1997. The plan calls for a 23% reduction in the pre-TMDL phosphorus waste load allocation from point sources, as a group. Therefore, an on-line system was needed to track phosphorus loads by each point source on a monthly basis. This sharing of loading data allows the point sources to monitor their collective phosphorus loading and target reductions to meet the goals of the TMDL. The point source tracking system resides at www.kalamazooriver.net, the website for everything water in the Kalamazoo River Watershed. The site also includes the non-point source loading model, the TMDL Implementation Plan, and the Watershed Management Plan for a subwatershed of the Kalamazoo River Watershed, described below.

Portage/Arcadia Creeks Watershed Management Plan (2001- ongoing)
The Forum of Greater Kalamazoo received a Section 319 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a Watershed Management Plan for four contiguous subwatersheds of the Kalamazoo River Watershed. K&A served as the technical consultant for the project responsible for: data collection, stream scoring and website design. Carefully designed navigational tools allow viewers to retrieve information specific to each subwatershed or pertaining to the project as a whole. Viewers can literally tour the watersheds by following an animated series of photographs depicting the creek corridors. This tour led to information regarding scoring, sites of concern, sites selected for preservation and BMP recommendations. A Natural Features Inventory, water quality monitoring information and watershed modeling provide additional information. Committee and community members can also find information on upcoming meetings and review summaries of past meetings in order to stay informed on the development of the Watershed Management Plan. The site allows a diverse group of viewers to access information on the project without the costly printing expenses associated with similar projects. The site will continue to be updated as implementation projects stemming from the MDEQ-approved Plan are undertaken. (See http://www.kalamazooriver.net/pa319new.)

Environmental Trading Network (1998-ongoing)
Through a grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the Great Lakes Trading Network (GLTN) was established to support the Kalamazoo River Watershed Trading Project. The Network developed into the only national clearing house of watershed trading information and conducts monthly conference calls to share information on trading efforts in the United States. A website was developed to disseminate such information. As the Network grew to encompass international interest s, it obtained non-profit status and changed its name to the Environmental Trading Network (ETN). The ETN is now located at http://www.envtn.org and serves as a central database for trading information, case studies and policy.

St. Joseph River Watershed Management Plan (2002-ongoing)
K&A is serving as the technical consultant for a Section 319 Grant awarded to the non-profit, Friends of the St. Joseph River Association, Inc. The goal of the project is to develop a Watershed Management Plan for a bi-state three million-acre watershed. K&A has designed a website at http://www.stjoeriver.net to communicate watershed information and the progress of the planning effort to watershed residents and stakeholders.

Muskegon River Watershed River Initiative Assessment (1999-2000)
The Great Lakes Fishery Trust selected the Muskegon River Watershed for their “River Initiative”, a multi-million dollar program designed to restore fisheries of the region. K&A was retained to perform an assessment to determine whether sufficient watershed groups and stakeholder resources existed within the watershed to implement a model fishery enhancement program. This was performed through on-line surveys accessible through the project website at http://www.muskegonriver.org designed by K&A.

Industrial Prairie Site, City of Kalamazoo (2001-2002)
A highly erodible industrial site in the City of Kalamazoo adjacent to the Kalamazoo River was vegetated with native prairie plantings through grant funds provided by the Great Lakes Basin Commission. Streambank restoration efforts were also undertaken. The success of the plants and their ability to stabilize the soils was document through the website at: http://www.kieser-associates. com/prairie.

City of Portage Consolidated Drain (1999-2002)
K&A teamed with URS Corporation to design a stormwater treatment system to capture and treat stormwater from an 463-acre urban watershed before it is released to Portage Creek in the City of Portage, Michigan. A website containing animated graphics of the improvements of the facility over time and describing the benefits of the project was developed at http://www.kieser-associates.com/condrain.

Davis Creek Natural Features Inventory (2000)
A Section 319 grant was awarded to the Forum of Greater Kalamazoo for the Davis Creek Watershed Project. The Davis Creek Watershed is a primarily urban watershed of the Kalamazo o River Watershed. K&A conducted a natural features inventory of the watershed and created an interactive online component. The interactive inventory allows viewers to learn about land use and the unique flora and fauna inhabiting the watershed. (See http://www.kieser-associates.com/nfi.)