Drainage Basin Characterization-St. Joseph River Watershed

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Task 2. Drainage Basin Characterization

Description of Watershed

The St. Joseph River Watershed is located in the southwest portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and northwestern portion of Indiana. It spans the Michigan-Indiana border and empties into Lake Michigan at St. Joseph, Michigan. The watershed drains 4,685 square miles from 15 counties (Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren in Michigan and De Kalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, Lagrange, Noble, St. Joseph and Steuben in Indiana). The watershed includes 3,742 river miles and flows through and near the Kalamazoo-Portage, the Elkhart-Goshen, the South Bend and the St. Joseph/Benton Harbor metropolitan areas. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, approximately 1.5 million people live in the 15 counties of the watershed, with 53.6% living in Michigan. The most populated county is St. Joseph, IN. The watershed is largely agricultural. More than 50% of the riparian habitat is agricultural/urban, while 25-50% remains forested.

Online Watershed GIS

Interactive Online GIS Map (Developed for this project. This may take some time to load. It will load in a new browser window.)
Michigan State University Institute of Water Research Interactive Mapping Program (Understanding Your Watershed) for Michigan Watersheds. (Data available for the Michigan portion of the St. Joseph River Watershed.)
The USDA NRCS Geospatial Data Gateway offers access to GIS data and enables users to download shapefiles.
The USEPA Enviromapper for Water allows users to view watershed information and regulated facilities through online maps.

Watershed Map Images (click images for larger views)

	Subwatersheds of the St. Joe River Watershed.		Cities in the watershed.
	United States Geological Survey Water Resources Stations.		Digital Elevations of the Watershed on a 300-meter resolution and subwatershed delineation (using 300- and 30-meter resolution data).
	Wetlands in the Watershed. Click on the image to view each Michigan county individually and to view Indiana wetland maps.		River Valley Segments, as defined by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
	1990's Land Use. Watershed is over 70% agriculture.		Michigan Presettlement Land Cover, circa 1800s.
	Average Annual Precipitation, 1950-1999.		Percent Agricultural Land Cover in Each Subwatershed
	Percent Forest and Open Land Cover in Each Subwatershed		Percent Urban Land Cover in Each Subwatershed
	Percent Wetland and Open Water Land Cover in Each Subwatershed		Subwatershed Projects in the Watershed.
	Michigan Designated Trout Streams and Lakes. Link to Indiana Trout Stocking Information.		Geological Features
	Soils of the Watershed		Managed Areas (Nature Preserves, State Parks, etc.)
	Watershed Boundaries		Major Subwatersheds