Projects
Plaster Creek Stewards engages in projects that help clean the water, restore relationships, and create beauty throughout the Plaster Creek Watershed. We do this in partnership with other organizations, watershed residents, volunteers, and businesses. Below are some of our past and current projects.
Current projects

Curb-cut rain gardens
Individual residential rain gardens throughout southeast Grand Rapids capture and filter stormwater off the streets. Catching sediment and pollutants flowing in the runoff water, the rain gardens filter through the ground, slowing and cooling it before it finally reaches the creek. These rain gardens are also a source of habitat and diversity – a way to welcome nature back to our urban spaces. To see some of these gardens, we recommend you take a drive or walk down Paris Avenue, Jefferson or Hobart to see a great variety!
This project has been funded wholly or in part through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Parkway pocket gardens
Similar to curb-cut rain gardens, parkway pocket gardens are designed for areas between the sidewalk and street, but without a basin and curb-cut. These gardens are selected for areas where obstacles exist or soil type will not work for capturing enough water from the street. However, by replacing lawn in parkways with native plants, it can still soak up any rainwater that does fall on the gardens, provide habitat and a food source for pollinators and birds, and increase biodiversity in your neighborhood. Apply today to see if your site qualifies for a parkway pocket garden.
Currently, there is a waiting list for free gardens, but if your site qualifies and funding becomes available, we will contact you for next steps. Homeowners can also contact Plaster Creek Stewards to install a parkway pocket garden for a reasonable fee.

String of Pearls tree planting
In 2023, Plaster Creek Stewards was awarded a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation to plant 500 native trees, install 30 curb-cut rain gardens, and plant 30 parkway pocket gardens by 2026. We called this project the “String of Pearls for Plaster Creek” because it funds projects near the creek all throughout the watershed, from the upstream community of Dutton all the way down to parks and schools near the creek’s mouth. It is designed to connect partners from diverse communities throughout the watershed to each other and to the creek. In addition to all of the planting this project involves, we’re also teaching, learning, and growing alongside our communities as the project unfolds.
The 500 native trees from this grant are being planted with our site partners, which include Dutton Christian School, Islamic Cultural Center Behar, Alger Park Church, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids Parks, and the Cities of Wyoming of Grand Rapids. As of the end of 2024, 175 native trees have been planted with the help of over 100 volunteers (students, community members, congregations).
Floodplain restorations
PCS has restored floodplains upstream to provide habitat and lessen the impact of runoff on downstream communities.

Shadyside Park
Shadyside Park in Dutton, Michigan marks where runoff from agricultural fields, yards and roads converges to form the main channel of Plaster Creek. Because the natural floodplain had been removed, rain would gush through this section of the creek, causing severe erosion of the banks, adding sediment to the water, and increasing flooding for downstream communities.
PCS, in partnership with Kent County Parks, MDEQ, and other partners, excavated the steep banks at Shadyside into a more natural floodplain. The route of the water was shifted to make the stream meander back and forth instead of gush in a straight line. The stream banks were reinforced with the deep roots of Michigan native plants and over 200 native trees, planted with the help of hundreds of volunteers. Over the years this space has grown into a beautiful area to walk through and enjoy, as well as a home to pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.
This project has been funded wholly or in part through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Leisure Creek Condos
Located downstream from Shadyside Park, the creek banks at Leisure Creek Condominium Association suffered from many of the same issues as other locations along Plaster Creek—excessive erosion and steep banks because the creek had become disconnected from floodplain habitats it used to overflow into.
Upstream of the bridge, we excavated and gently sloped the steep banks along the south side of the creek to recreate a natural, healthy flood shelf and stable creek banks. Two years later, this was also done downstream of the bridge on both the north and south banks. These flood shelves now provide room for the creek to overflow onto the shelf when water level rises. Local school students, residents, Calvin University staff and students, and volunteers from all over the watershed planted thousands of Michigan native plants to help clean the water and provide important habitat for native animals.
This project has been funded wholly or in part through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Calvin Avenue basin
Silver Creek is a tributary of Plaster Creek that runs almost entirely underground. The original overflow basin was designed in 1994 to address flooding and storm sewer surges. As a mowed grass basin, it would hold excess water during and after large rain storms to ease the water pressure on the underground pipe. However, this did very little to address water quality in the stream.
The Silver Creek Overflow Basin is now engineered with a two-stage ditch and “pits and mounds”. The creek now has room to spread out, capture stormwater and allow it to slow down and soak in the ground. 107 species of Michigan native plants help absorb water and filter contaminants, reducing flooding and pollution farther downstream. This space also provides much-needed green habitat in an urban area with little green space. It is a haven for birds, pollinators, small mammals, and aquatic creatures.
This project is part of a network of green infrastructure projects by local partners including Calvin University Plaster Creek Stewards, Kent County Drain Commission, the Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds, and Grand Rapids Christian High School. The project was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded to the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council.

Kreiser retention pond
This large ponded bioswale slows and filters 350 acres worth of stormwater from the neighborhood streets upstream. The surrounding banks and peninsula are planted with native trees and wetland plants that purify the stormwater while also providing habitat to native birds, insects and other wildlife. While this area is fenced off to the public for safety reasons, some school groups have had permission to visit and use the area as an outdoor classroom, even in the wintertime.
This project has been funded wholly or in part through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Bioswales
PCS has installed multiple bioswales to capture rainwater runoff from parking lots in urban areas.

Parking Lot 16 Bioswale
Parking Lot #16 on Calvin’s campus rarely fills up with cars and has started to crack and crumble from age. It also creates runoff that would flow into Plaster Creek via Whiskey Creek, carrying crumbling asphalt, road salt, chemicals, and sediment with it. In 2023, Plaster Creek Stewards removed about a quarter acre of asphalt from the southeast corner of Parking Lot 16 and replaced it with a bioswale that captures runoff from the entire 1.70 acre parking lot.
This bioswale is designed with two basins; water enters the swale through three inlets with sediment traps, and upon entering the upper basin, water slowly soaks into the ground and eventually passes through a soil berm into the lower basin, The lower basin is designed with an underdrain to drain off extra water after very large storm events. The Lot 16 bioswale can hold 49,745 gallons of water, enough to bring runoff levels from the parking lot well below pre-development conditions. This means that less water enters Plaster Creek from that 1.70 acre area now than it did before any human development (farming, building, paving, etc) occurred there.
In total, over 6,500 plants were planted into the quarter-acre project by student interns, volunteers, and staff in 2023. Fibrous-rooted sedges, rushes, bulrushes, and grasses make up the majority of the plant community in the basin. Their complex root networks serve as pathways for water to enter the ground. Native wildflowers and shrubs line the basin’s perimeter to support pollinators and add aesthetic appeal. Today, wildlife and pollinators have moved into the swale, creating a home even in the middle of the parking lot.
This project has been funded wholly or in part through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Whiskey Creek Bioswale
This multi-tiered bioswale receives the stormwater from a 2-acre parking lot at Calvin University. The stormwater previously rushed into Whiskey Creek, a tributary to Plaster Creek, causing serious erosion and carrying chemicals and sediment that accumulated on the parking lot. Now, the stormwater slowly travels through a long, s-curved swale full of thirsty native plants and trees. Any extra water must rise to the level of a spillover pipe before entering a wetland where it can be slowly released to the creek. This site has a trail network that visitors can hike on to see the bioswale as part of their visit to the Calvin University Ecosystem Preserve and Native Gardens.
This project has been funded wholly or in part through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.