In (2004?) Wal-Mart in Houghton applied to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for a permit to fill 5.5 acres of wetland and relocate a portion of Huron Creek. The permit applicant was the City of Houghton. Expansion of the store to a Wal-Mart Supercenter was the reason for the permit application. Because the wetlands that were to be filled were considered contiguous (connected to other bodies of water), and due to the length of stream to be relocated, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also had jurisdictional review of the permit application.

The designated wetland mitigation ratio for this site was 2:1 meaning that 2 acres of wetland would be required to be created for every acre filled (i.e. the mitigation site would have to be 11 acres in size). The selected mitigation site included the former Huron Lake area (to the southeast of the existing store), and areas of stream relocation to the east and northeast of the existing store. Because part of the proposed mitigation plan was to rehabilitate the Huron Lake area (removal of stamp sands and establishment of vegetation), the City of Houghton negotiated to get the required mitigation area reduced by 10%. This resulted in the final mitigation area being approximately 10 acres. In addition to the permit application and mitigation site design plans, the City of Houghton was required to provide a wetland mitigation monitoring plan. This plan is required by MDEQ and lays out guidelines for monitoring of the wetland so that an established, vegetatively diverse wetland results from the mitigation. The minimum required monitoring period is 5 years.

The proposed permit application and mitigation plan was approved by all regulatory agencies (date unknown) and mitigation monitoring is in progress.

Developing the Huron Creek Watershed Management Plan