Dr. Remke van Dam discusses the Jordan River sediment transport study at the Friends of the Jordan River Annual Meeting. - Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Jordan River.

On October 18, Roger Gordon, Jordan River National Fish Hatchery, and Rick Westerhof, Green Bay National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, attended the Friends of the Jordan (FOJ) Annual Meeting.  Roger was introduced at the meeting as the new Hatchery Manager at Jordan River, while Rick resigned as a Board Member of the FOJ.  FOJ was pleased to meet Roger and looks forward to working with both USFWS offices on issues related to the Jordan River. 

The keynote presentation was by Michigan State University’s Dr. Remke van Dam and graduate student Chris May on their Sediment Transport Study on the Jordan River.  Here are just a few interesting facts. 

The Jordan River drains 67.9 square miles and has an average flow of 187 cubic feet per sec (cfs) compared to the Red Cedar River that drains 355 square miles and has an average flow of 213 cfs. 

The Jordan River has almost the same flow with 1/5^th of drainage area because of the massive amounts of groundwater flow it receives.  Average water temperature for the Jordan River is 45 degrees F. 

The study was very interesting and should shed some light on sediment issues in the Jordan River and similar streams in Michigan.