River Restoration plans for Grand River move forward

MLive: How they’ll bring the rapids back to the Grand River beginning in 2019

Jim Harger | May 2, 2018

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“In 1826, the National Intelligencer wrote about Grand Rapids in a way no person living today has experienced it.

“These rapids are about a mile in extent and 300 yards wide and must have at least a 10-foot fall, some think 15. They are crowded with huge round rocks, among which the water roars and foams with great fury.”

That vivid description will return someday as Grand Rapids Whitewater continues to make progress on the $45 million plan to unwind the changes European settlers made to Michigan’s longest river when they arrived more than 150 years ago.

The rapids, for which the city was named, will be back as dams are removed and rocks and substrate are returned to the riverbed that was mined for some of the city’s earliest building projects.”