BY JENNIFER WEINGART
The Michigan DNR has used sediment traps in rivers to solve a number of problems. A recent survey by the DNR shows that many of these traps are not working the way they should.
Sediment traps are used to catch excess sand in the river put there by construction or logging. There are more than 100 operating traps in Michigan.
The traps are designed to re-expose gravel that fish use for spawning.
Troy Zorn with the DNR said the traps are created by digging out a portion of the channel.
"As these rivers are flowing downstream carrying sand, when the river enters the larger channel of the sediment trap it's velocity slows down and as a result the sand that it's carrying is deposited in that trap,". Zorn said
According the the recently published research, the traps are not working as they were intended.
Zorn said many of the traps were not planned well and are not kept up the way they should be, which is why they do not work as they were intended.