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west viewShow counties and stream names.

Five river valley segments were defined by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. They were utilitized to geographically divide the watershed in the comprehensive MDNR study by Wesley and Duffy (1999) and in the preparation of the Designated Use Tables for this project. The main stem of the St. Joseph River is shown in yellow. What other data can we analyze by these geographic divisions?

Valley Segment
Major Tributaries
Extent
Characteristics
Headwaters
Beebe Creek, Soap Creek
59 miles along St. Joe River, Baw Beese Lake to Union City, MI
124,000 acres, low gradient
Upper
Hog Creek, Coldwater River, Swan Creek, Nottawa Creek, Little Portage Creek
26 miles along St. Joe River, Union City to Mendon, MI
491,000 acres, flow is moderately stable, river meanders unconfined by geological features, cool summer water temperatures
Middle
Portage River, Rocky River, Prairie River, Fawn River, Mill Creek, Pigeon River, Pine Creek (downstream of Bristol, IN) Little Elkhart River, Elkhart River, Christiana Creek
52 miles along St. Joe River, Mendon, MI to Elkhart, IN
1.5 million acres, drains major portion of watershed, moderate gradient, St. Joe River flows through broad glacial river valley
Lower
Baugo Creek, Juday Creek, Brandywine Creek, Dowagiac River, McCoy Creek, Pipestone Creek
65 miles along St. Joe River, Elkart to confluence with Pipestone Creek
506,000 acres, St. Joe River flows through confined valley that cuts through the Kalamazoo moraine
Mouth
Paw Paw River, Hickory Creek
8 miles along St. Joe River to Lake Michigan
337,000 acres, glacial lake plain, low gradient

Print/zoom in on the above map with counties and stream names overlaid (PDF file).