The Rifle River Watershed is 253,000 acres, with a main stream over 60 miles long and fed by over 140 miles of tributaries. Land use in the watershed is 55% forest, 21% agriculture, 11% wetland, 3% urban, and 10% other uses. The upper section of the river system is considered a high-quality, coldwater river system.

The Rifle River Watershed Restoration Committee formed in the early 1990's in order to HELP (Honor, Enjoy, Love and Protect) the Rifle River.  Partners include the Ann Arbor Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Saginaw Bay RC&D, Ogemaw Conservation District, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Boy Scouts of America, Arenac Conservation District, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Mershon Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Huron Pines, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and area residents. To date, the partners have raised and spent nearly 1.5 million dollars to improve this resource, with projects including streambank erosion control, road-stream crossing improvements, stormwater management, and installation of agriculture Best Management Practices. 

While many factors in a watershed, such as soils, land use, and past/current development practices, impact the condition of a river, road-stream crossings are a primary source of polluted runoff and sedimentation in this watershed. Partners are working to reduce runoff and erosion at priority sites in the watershed. For a complete inventory of road-stream crossing sites in this watershed, download the files below.

Rifle River RSX Inventory Method -- 468 KB

Inventory for Arenac County -- 1.43 MB

Inventory for Ogemaw County (Part I) -- 2.34 MB

Inventory for Ogemaw County (Part II) -- 2.62 MB

Stormwater runoff is another source of pollution in the Rifle River Watershed. Polluted runoff, carrying sediment, oils, greases, pesticides, heavy metals, trash and other hazardous substances, is of particular concern in urban areas along the waterfront. Stormwater runoff results in fluctuating water levels, downstream erosion, increased water temperature, increased sedimentation, and more turbid water. All of these issues can pose a huge problem for the high quality trout waters found in the upper part of the watershed. Partners have recently worked to document this problem and have produced a preliminary engineering study. The next step is implementation of the Best Management Practices necessary to reduce and filter stormwater runoff.

Download Stormwater Study -- 240 KB

Rifle-Au Gres-Tawas Rapid Watershed Assessment

The Rapid Watershed Assessment (RWA) Program is designed to identify and organize information into one document that conservation leaders, resource professionals and units of governments can use to identify existing resource conditions and conservation opportunities. This will enable the user to direct technical and financial resources to the most significant needs of the watershed. The RWA provides a brief assessment of the Rifle-Au Gres-Tawas watershed's natural resources, resource concerns and conservation needs.

Funding for the assessment was provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) with additional support from the Americana Foundation.

Download the Rifle-Au Gres-Tawas 2008 Rapid Watershed Assessment