Description of The Watershed
The St. Joseph River watershed drains 4,685 square miles (12,130 km2) 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 (6,022 km) and flows through and near the Kalamazoo-Portage, Elkhart-Goshen, South Bend-Mishawaka, and St. Joseph/Benton Harbor metropolitan areas. The St. Joseph River main stem is 206 miles (332 km) long, rising in southern Michigan in Hillsdale County near Baw Beese Lake, within 5 miles (8 km) of the headwaters of the other St. Joseph River of the eastward-flowing Maumee River watershed. Baw Beese Lake was historically named for the Potawatomi Chief Baw Beese.
The river follows a zigzag route generally westward across southern Michigan, dipping into northern Indiana. From its headwaters, it flows initially northwest past Hillsdale into southeastern Calhoun County, then turns abruptly southwest to flow past Tekonsha, Union City, and Sherwood. At Three Rivers it is joined from the north by the Rocky and Portage rivers, then 3 miles (5 km) further southwest by the Prairie River from the east. The river continues southward into northern Indiana, flowing west through Elkhart and South Bend, where it turns abruptly to north to re-enter southwestern Michigan in southeastern Berrien County. In southwestern Michigan, it follows a wide meandering route generally northwest through Niles and past Berrien Springs. It enters Lake Michigan between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, receiving the Paw Paw River from the north approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from its mouth on Lake Michigan.
There are 190 dams in the St. Joseph River watershed, and 17 on the river mainstem. Most of these dams block fish passage, although fish ladders constructed on the lower dams allow salmonine passage as far as the Twin Branch Dam in Mishawaka. But, the fish ladders are not adequate for many native species, such as sturgeon, and the dams tend to be built on the higher gradient portions of the river, which are the most critical river habitats for fish spawning.
Read more about this topic: St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
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