Did you know you live in a watershed? You might live in the Kalamazoo River Watershed. The watershed is defined as all the land that drains into the Kalamazoo River, which in turn drains to Lake Michigan and then on through the Great Lakes. Much of the rain falling in the watershed moves across the land and through the groundwater towards rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
There are approximately 400,000 watershed residents. The watershed communities include ten counties, 19 cities, 11 villages, and 107 townships between Hillsdale County and the City of Saugatuck. Communities in the watershed are connected by human infrastructure, green infrastructure, surface water, and groundwater.
Hundreds of people are managing land and water in the watershed. Long-term, big picture analysis, planning, and action at the watershed scale provide people with an understanding of how their actions and uses of land, even on their property or in their neighborhood, impact their water resources between their front door, streams, the Kalamazoo River, and the Great Lakes. That is watershed management! It is people, the decisions they make, and how they value their water resources. So please, get informed, and get involved!