HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Jun. 4, 2026) – The ongoing, multi-phase effort to clean up what some may still call “Lake Maca-toilet” has reached a milestone.
This month marks 15 years since what is now the ODC Network embarked on “Project Clarity: Restoring the Macatawa Watershed.” It was initially planned for a five-year project, to begin in the fall of 2012, to address sediment, nutrient and bacterial pollution that was, and to some extent, still is plaguing a 175-square mile area, which includes Lake Macatawa, the Macatawa River, and nearly 700 miles of rivers, streams and ditches.
Travis Williams, Executive Director and CEO of the ODC Network, admits that the effort, with an initial cost of nearly $12 million, is ongoing.
Williams said that, thanks to wetland management, land acquisition, best management practices and limitation, and education, phosphorous levels in the watershed has been reduced by 60 percent, and sediment is down about 40,000 tons annually.
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