Watershed Summary 

The St. Joseph River Watershed, located in the southwest portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan and northwestern portion of Indiana, is the third largest river basin in Michigan. Beginning in Michigan's Hillsdale County at Baw Beese Lake, it spans the Michigan-Indiana border and empties into Lake Michigan at St. Joseph, Michigan. In the fall of 2002, a grant was awarded from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to develop a Watershed Management Plan for the entire St. Joseph River Watershed. This plan will unite stakeholders in a concerted effort to address water quality issues and natural resource protection across jurisdictional boundaries. Although projects have been conducted in subwatersheds in both Michigan and Indiana, and the St. Joseph River has been identified by U.S. EPA as the biggest contributor of atrazine to Lake Michigan and a significant contributor of sediments and toxic substances such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). 

MDEQ Nonpoint Source Links 

• St. Joseph River Watershed Planning Project fact sheet (130 KB PDF) 
• St. Joseph River Watershed Planning Project - Supplemental Tasks fact sheet (130 KB PDF) 
• St. Joseph River Watershed Management Plan (11,000 KB PDF) 
• Watershed Plans within the larger St. Joe River Watershed

  • Dowagiac River 
  • Hog Creek 
  • Nottawa Creek 
  • Rocky River 
  • Swan Creek 

Watershed Websites 

• St. Joe River 
• Watershed Management Plan 

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