Grand River Basin Michigan Appendix O Economic Base Study

Analysis of the social and economic forces which are expected to shape to economic future of the Grand River Basin Service Area (Barry, Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kent, Montcalm, Ottawa, and Shiawassee Counties in the State of Michigan, which are referred to in this report as the Are) leads to the basic finding that the Area can be expected to grow and mature significantly during the six decades from 1960 to 2020. The economic and social development of the Area can be expressed in terms of three indices: population, employment, and industry structure.

The Grand River Basin Comprehensive Water Resources Planning Study was authorized in 1962 and included in the 1963 Civil Works budget. The primary objectives of the study were to determine the short-term (10- to 15-years) and long-term (2020) water and related land resource problems and needs of the basin; to develop alternative plans to provide for the best use, or combination of uses, of the resources of the basin to meet these problems and needs; to select one of these alternative plans on the basis of its economic and environmental feasibility; and to determine what programs of the selected plan should be developed within the next 10- to 15-years.