(1) Before making a determination of optimum flow, the department shall hold a public hearing on the issue. The department shall set the time and place for the public hearing and shall publish notice of the hearing. The hearing shall be held not less than 180 days after the date of the first publication. The notice shall be published once during each of 2 separate weeks in at least 1 newspaper of general circulation in each county that requested the survey or later joined in the survey. Notice shall be given by first-class mail to each owner or party in interest of upper and lower riparian property that will be affected by the determination and whose name appears upon the most recent local tax assessment records. The notice shall be mailed at least 60 days prior to the date of the hearing to the address shown on the tax records. At the hearing, any interested person may appear, present witnesses, and submit evidence.

  (2) Upon the completion of the public hearing pursuant to subsection (1), the department, if it believes it to further the public interest, shall enter an order making a determination of optimum flow. The order shall become final 30 days after the mailing of a copy of it by certified mail to those interested persons who appeared and testified or filed a written statement at the hearing. The order is subject to review as to questions of law only by a writ of superintending control in an action in the nature of certiorari brought before the order becomes final. Only an owner or party in interest of upper or lower riparian property affected by the order who appeared, testified, or filed a written statement at the hearing, who considers himself or herself aggrieved by the order, has the right to file a petition for a writ of superintending control in the nature of certiorari in the circuit court for the county of Ingham or in the circuit court for any county that requested the survey or joined in the survey.

  (3) After the order of determination becomes final, the department shall hold a public hearing on the proposed plan as submitted by the board. The department shall set the time and place for the public hearing and shall publish notice in the manner provided in subsection (1). The hearing shall be held not less than 30 days after the date of the first publication. Notice shall be given by first-class mail to the persons and in the manner provided in subsection (1) and shall be mailed at least 30 days prior to the date of the hearing. At the hearing, any interested person may appear, present witnesses, and submit evidence. If the department finds that the proposed plan is in the public interest and in compliance with this part, it shall enter an order approving the plan. The order shall become final 30 days after the mailing of a copy of it by certified mail to those interested persons who appeared and testified or filed a written statement at the hearing. The order is subject to review as is provided in subsection (2).