To many, the Huron River is a symbol of warm weather: kayaks at Gallup Park, families wading near Delhi Metropark and anglers lined up below the Argo Dam.
Stretching 130 miles across southeast Michigan, the Huron River supplies 85% of Ann Arbor’s drinking water, pulled from Barton Pond near the city’s northwest edge. The city of Ann Arbor’s multi-year Barton Dam embankment remediation project, which costs at least $2 million, aims to stabilize the embankment after slight leaking was detected along its downstream face. The project involves installing a multilayered mineral drain system to prevent soil loss and improve long-term embankment stability.
While city officials say the construction itself poses no threat to water quality, environmental experts say the project has renewed attention on broader, long-standing chemical and physical safety risks in the river — risks that intensify after storms and during peak recreation season…