Each year my office works with a number of other private and public organizations to support the region’s water festivals.  The water festivals include Clinton River Water Festival at Oakland University, the Detroit River Water Festival held at Belle Isle, and  the Rouge Water Festival at Cranbrook Institute of Science. Thousands of grade school and middle school students from around the region are reached with critically important educational programs about the importance of protecting our water resources and becoming environmental stewards for our rivers, lakes and streams. The young people get hands-on training led by professionals in water and environmental related fields. They gain an appreciation and respect for the importance of our water resources with the latest information, technology and science.

 These programs are provided at no charge to schools and can happen year after year only through the support of our staff members, volunteers, non profit organizations and corporate friends. I am very proud of this strong continuing support and I thank everyone who helps make it happen each year.     

Jim Nash

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner

A reception to kick-off the ground-breaking of the next phase of the Middlebelt Transport and Storage Tunnel Project was held last month at the Farmington Hills City Hall.

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash hailed the nearly $37 million project as a “commitment to environmental protection and service to the community.” He explained that the construction is designed to limit sanitary sewer overflows by providing an additional 3.6 million gallons of sewage capacity to the existing sanitary sewer system.

In addition to Farmington Hills, three other communities, Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake and West Bloomfield will share in the cost of the venture which is being financed through the state revolving fund administered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Extending 7,600 feet under Middlebelt Road between Thirteen Mile Road and I-696, the 9-foot diameter tunnel reaches depths of up to 86 feet below the surface. A tour of the construction site was held immediately after the reception for elected officials and members of the media.

Jody Caldwell, P.E. has been appointed as the Oakland County representative for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s (DWSD) Board of Water Commissioners.  Effective this month, Caldwell’s appointment replaces J. Bryan Williams, who recently resigned.

Caldwell is a Chief Engineer with the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s office where he has worked in various capacities for more than a decade. As a registered professional engineer with the State of Michigan, his responsibilities have included the management, operations and maintenance of many public water supply systems within Oakland County.  He also provides management and strategic direction for the WRC Finance, Planning and Information Systems Divisions.

“Jody is smart, energetic, and highly respected within this community and I know he will do a terrific job for the water customers of Oakland County and indeed the entire region,” said Jim Nash, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner.

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash is the recipient of the Sierra Club’s 2015 Jane Elder Environmentalist of the Year Award.  The award was present to Commissioner Nash in a ceremony on October 1st in Royal Oak.

The Jane Elder Environmentalist of the Year award is given annually by the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club to the political figure who has done the most to protect Michigan's environment.   During the presentation, Sierra Club spokespersons recognized Nash for his actions in “protecting the environment of Oakland County (and by extension all of Michigan and the Great Lakes) by making sure our waters are clean and natural.”   They mentioned his town halls across the region on “fracking” that have succeeded in educating many people on the dangers of unfettered and loosely regulated gas and oil drilling and the threats to our water supplies.   They also praised Commissioner Nash for his office programs to educate our children on environmental and water related issues with the river and water festivals he sponsors annually.  

“I learned environmentalism from my father, who learned it from President Theodore Roosevelt,” said Jim Nash.  “Nothing is more important than protecting the Earth and her resources for future generations,” he said.

The Sierra Club also thanked Nash for  his efforts as a county commissioner making Oakland County's buildings more energy efficient, and thus, greener.