The St. Joseph River Watershed is located in the southwest portion of Michigan and the northern portion of Indiana. The river flows near the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek area in Michigan and through the Elkhart-Goshen and the South Bend metropolitan areas in Indiana before emptying into Lake Michigan at St. Joseph, Michigan.
The St. Joseph River Watershed by the Numbers:
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4,685 square miles are drained by the river (watershed size)
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3rd largest watershed draining to Lake Michigan
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2 states - Indiana and Michigan share the watershed
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3,000 square miles of the watershed are in Michigan
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1,685 square miles of the watershed are in Indiana
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15 counties are entirely or partially within the watershed
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1,524,941 people live in the watershed (2000 Census)
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210 miles - length of the main branch of the river
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2 times - the main branch crosses the IN/MI state line
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1,631 miles - length of significant tributaries to the river
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600 feet of fall from the headwaters to Lake Michigan
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70% of the watershed land is used for crop/animal production
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50% of historic wetlands in the watershed have been lost
Click here to download the St. Joseph River Watershed fact sheet.