Steve Heacock, the President and CEO of the Grand Rapids Whitewater Project spoke about the plans for the Grand River through the City of Grand Rapids.

The indigenous people and the early European settlers talked about being able to navigate by listening for the rapids. Through what is now the City of Grand Rapids the river drops 18 feet. When the US Olympic committee built a training facility for Olympic white-water events, they created a drop of 21 feet. The Grand drops only 2 feet from its start near Jackson to Grand Rapids and only 4 feet from there to Lake Michigan.

 

Starting in the early 1800s the river was changed to suit human needs. First for the animal pelt trade, then for logging, and finally for industry. While industry was dumping waste into the Grand, citizens were getting their drinking water from the same location. A series of 6 dams were built to let the industrial waste settle to the bottom so drinking water could be taken from the top of the river.