Grand Rapids White Water (GRWW)’s dream of returning the “rapids” to the Grand River started in 2009 and has seen numerous setbacks over the years. But finally, last year, the project was approved by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (GLE), finally issued a permit was issued for the project. All that was left was approval from the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and construction was set to start in July of this year.
As promising as all this seemed, this final step has proven to be more difficult than expected. An apparent delay in approval from the NRCS has led to the City of Grand Rapids announcing it would be pulling out of this project, at least for the time being.
⬇️VIEW THE LAST TIME THE GRAND RIVER FLOODED, 2013⬇️
Project Put On Pause
The project is split into two portions, the Upper Reach and the Lower Reach. According to MLive, the Lower Reach from Bridge Street to Fulton Street is the area that has seen the city’s funding get pulled. The city claims it is still interested in the project, but due to the delays in the approval process, the city is choosing to prioritize other projects at this time.
This photograph shows the Grand River and the dam just north of the Bridge St Bridge. The Rowe Hotel can be seen in the background…