You can get to Coriander Kitchen and Farm by car but some people come by boat, down a canal on Detroit’s far east side, past backyards and boathouses. They tie up at a dock beside the striped umbrellas of the restaurant’s new outdoor bar.

The restaurant sits in what people call the Venice of Detroit — a web of canals running inland off the river through the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood.

Now the city is weighing whether to close those canals off.

A fear of flooding

It’s a flood fix. Nearly every parcel in this neighborhood sits inside a federal flood hazard area, and the city has $20 million to change that. A consultant hired to study the options started work in late June.

Residents have been fighting this idea for years. They fended off a version of it in 2022, and “no canal closures” signs have gone up across the neighborhood again this summer. In June, more than 200 people took boats onto the canals in protest. Their alternative: repair the seawalls instead.

The city says nothing has been decided. Detroit Building Authority Director Tyrone Clifton told Fox 2 in June: “We’re going to look at all the options, and one option could be closing canals, but it has to be a factual option we can bring back to the community so they can understand everything behind it and how it affects them too.” The city of Detroit did not respond to The Metro’s request for comment.

Alison Heeres is chef and co-owner of Coriander Kitchen and Farm, built into a fish marina that once sat empty. Traci Rubin chairs the Jefferson Chalmers WATER Project, a residents’ group that’s been working on this flooding for years.

They joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to talk about what the canals mean to the neighborhood — and what it would cost to keep them open.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.

More stories from The Metro

The City of Dearborn is receiving federal funds to improve its sewer system. FEMA awarded $8.1 million for the upgrades. 

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says the project is installing a series of flapgates for flood mitigation efforts.  

“Rather than installing a backflow and individual homes, the flap gate is a backflow for a whole neighborhood, and so this will actually help us prevent flooding to a greater degree for about 3,000 homes in a neighborhood in Dearborn,” he says. 

The upgrades will be added between Chase Road and Greenfield Avenue. About 6,200 feet of storm sewers will be added. 

Hammoud says the goal is to increase the capacity of stormwater management. 

“We can handle around three inches of rain every 24 hours of our storm event, and our goal is to try to increase that capacity by 50% increasing that capacity closer to four and a half inches, which will help alleviate the majority of flooding based on the storms that we’re having now,” he says.

But Hammoud says in 2021 there was 7 inches of rain.  

He says it would take about $700 million in infrastructure investments in the next 15 to 20 years to meet that capacity.  

This work is part of the second phase of a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. 

The city has installed bioswales and rain gardens, swapped out grass easements to help absorb gallons of water and clearing out sediment and debris from the Colson Palmer line.   

He says the city is looking for additional funding for more stormwater mitigation efforts.  

This project is expected to be completed by next year.   

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, says there are now over 700 cases of cyclosporiasis in the state. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services put out additional recommendations to prevent the spread of cyclospora over the weekend. 

Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal disease caused by parasites, which causes severe diarrhea.  

Dr. Bagdasarian says much of the spread has been caused by handling and consuming produce. 

“We know that it takes about one to two weeks after consuming something that’s contaminated with cyclospora to develop symptoms, so there’s a lag between being exposed and developing symptoms, said Bardgasarian. “And then, of course, there’s a lag when people are looking for healthcare, when they are finding a healthcare provider, getting tested, and actually determining that this is cyclospora.”

Wayne County is among several counties with large numbers of people diagnosed. Recommendations include washing all fresh produce under clean running water, and cooking foods to kill cyclospora.  

If people suspect being infected, they should see a health care provider, mentioning they may have cyclospora if symptoms of diarrhea don’t clear up in a few days. Treatment includes a dose of antibiotics.

Additional headlines for Monday, July 6, 2026

Dearborn FEMA funding

The City of Dearborn has received federal funding to improve its sewer system. FEMA awarded $8.1 million for the upgrades… as part of the second phase of a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Work will be done in the city’s neighborhoods between Chase Road and Greenfield Avenue.  

About 6,200 feet of storm sewers will be added to help with flood mitigation efforts. The city flooded in 2014, 2018 and in 2021when a “once-in-a-lifetime flood” backed up the sanitary sewer system, causing two-thirds of basements to flood in the city.  

While FEMA will pay for 90% of the upgrades, Dearborn will pay for the remaining 10% of the work.  

Power update

DTE Energy crews worked all weekend to restore power to customers who lost electricity due to Friday’s severe thunderstorms. At one point, more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Southeast Michigan lost power after strong winds knocked down tree limbs and power lines. That number is down to about 73,000. DTE says it expects to restore power to most of these customers by the end of the day.  

-Reporting by Pat Batcheller   

 Older Americans turn to friends for care

 A new University of Michigan study finds friends are replacing family members in caring for elderly Americans. 

Researcher Crystal Ng says changing family relationships including divorce are leaving gaps in care that children once provided. She says older Americans are relying on friends for more than a drive to the doctor’s office.  

“A lot of times friends will also participate in clinical settings. Such as not only picking them… to transportation… to the medical appointment… but also sit next to them.”

Ng says relying on friends also provides people over the age of 65 years with a social framework and helps them maintain their independence. 

The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Network Open portal.  

-Reporting by Steve Carmody 

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