The Ann Arbor City Council unanimously agreed tonight to accept the Huron River and Impoundment Management Plan, a new blueprint for taking care of the Huron River - the primary source of drinking water for city residents.

By its action, the City Council formally accepted 30 consensus recommendations from the HRIMP report that were endorsed by both the Environmental Commission and Parks Advisory Commission.

The report includes strategies for:

• Providing aquatic vegetation monitoring and harvesting.
• Improving water quality.
• Providing riparian buffers.
• Providing for limited and appropriate development of restaurants and other public facilities.
• Improving recreational facilities along the river.
• Improving the quality of recreation, including angling, swimming and boating.
• Expanding capacity for ongoing river stewardship through citizen engagement, city staffing and innovative funding arrangements.
• Apportioning costs to more appropriate funds.

Crew teams practice on Argo Pond just above the Argo Dam on the Huron River, north of downtown Ann Arbor. A new report looks at a new blueprint for taking care of the Huron River. Steve Pepple | AnnArbor.com

One recommendation includes creating a River Stewardship Committee that would identify funding needs for the Huron River and its dams. The report discusses the future options for maintenance of city dams, including Argo Dam and Geddes Dam, which currently are funded through the city's drinking water enterprise fund. Some have questioned the legality of that since those two dams serve purely recreational purposes at this point in time.

Council members spent time debating the details of the HRIMP report, with some saying a lot of politics were involved in its creation. The council's action directs the Environmental Commission and Parks Advisory Commission to further evaluate the options in the HRIMP report and, within one year, recommend which parts of the plan could be implemented at little or no cost to the city.

"Our intent is to recognize that we need to be proactive about managing our river," said Council Member Carsten Hohnke, D-5th Ward, who argued tonight the city shouldn't let the report simply sit on the shelf.

The resolution to accept the HRIMP report was sponsored by Hohnke and Margie Teall, D-4th Ward.

Mayor John Hieftje thanked those who served on the HRIMP committee that produced the report, calling it a good plan.

The resolution to accept the HRIMP report came before the City Council last month and originally included directions to evaluate the option of a "river millage." That language was stripped from the resolution as passed.

Click here to read AnnArbor.com's coverage of the discussion at the previous meeting or click here to download the full HRIMP report.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.