St. Joseph River Assessment

St. Joseph River Assessment

217

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles

Benton Harbor Watervliet

Paw Paw River

Dowagiac River

Nottawa Creek

ColdwaterLake

Lake Wawasee

Baw BeeseLake

Fawn River

Elkhart River

Pigeon River

Little Elkhart River

Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Sturgis DamMendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen

ElkhartMishawakaSouth

Bend

Albion

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 1.–The St. Joseph River watershed.


218

N

EW

S

12

435

6

789

10

11

1213

14

15

1819

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

2728

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

4142

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

5354

55

5657

58

5960

61

62

63

64

6566

17 16

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 2.–Major tributaries in St. Joseph River watershed.


219

1. St. Joseph River (Headwaters) 2. Beebe Creek 3. Sand Creek 4. Soap Creek 5. Hog Creek 6. N. Br. Hog Creek 7. Fisher Creek 8. Coldwater River 9. Swan Creek10. Little Swan Creek11. Nottawa Creek12. Pine Creek13. Bear Creek14. Little Portage Creek15. Portage River16. St. Joseph River (Upper)17. Rocky River18. Little Portage Creek19. Flowerfield Creek20. Prairie River21. Spring Creek22. St. Joseph River (Middle)23. Fawn River24. Sherman Mill Creek25. Mill Creek26. Curtis Creek27. Pigeon Creek28. Turkey Creek29. Pigeon River30. Fly Creek31. Buck Creek32. Trout Creek33. Little Elkhart River

34. Rowe Eden Ditch35. Pine Creek36. N. Br. Elkhart River37. S. Br. Elkhart River (Rimmell Branch)38. Solomon Creek39. Elkhart River40. Turkey Creek41. Rock Creek42. Yellow Creek43. Christiana Creek44. Baugo Creek45. Juday Creek46. St. Joseph River (Lower)47. Brandywine Creek48. Dowagiac Creek49. Dowagiac River50. Pokagon Creek51. McCoy Creek52. Lover Creek53. Farmers Creek54. Lemon Creek55. Love Creek56. Pipestone Creek57. Yellow Creek58. Hickory Creek59. E. Br. Paw Paw River60. S. Br. Paw Paw River61. N. Br. Paw Paw River (Campbell Creek)62. Brush Creek63. Paw Paw River64. Mill Creek65. Blue Creek66. Ox Creek


220

Mouth segment

Middle segmentUpper segment

Lower segment

Headwaterssegment

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 3.–Valley segements of St. Joseph River mainstem.


221

N

EW

S

Gauge sites

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 4.–Location of United States Geological Survey continuous gauges in St. Joseph Riverwatershed.


222

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Dis

char

ge (

cfs)

Month

Figure 5.–Mean monthly discharge for St. Joseph River at Niles for period of record (1931-95).Data are shown from October through September, a traditional water year. Data from United StatesGeological Survey.


223

Figure 6.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for St. Joseph River and tributaries in theheadwaters and upper valley segments. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q)discharge. Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Datafrom United States Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

St. Joseph @ Burlington

Hog Creek @ Allen

Nottawa Creek @ Athens


224

Figure 7.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for St. Joseph River and tributaries in headwatersand upper valley segments. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge.Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 950.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

St. Joseph @ Burlington

Hog Creek @ Allen

Nottawa Creek @ Athens


225

Figure 8.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for mainstem of St. Joseph River within themiddle valley segment. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge. Ex-ceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

St. Joseph @ Three Rivers

St. Joseph @ Mottville

St. Joseph @ Elkhart


226

Figure 9.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for mainstem of St. Joseph River within themiddle valley segment. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge.Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 950.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

St. Joseph @ Three Rivers

St. Joseph @ Mottville

St. Joseph @ Elkhart


227

Figure 10.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for major tributaries within the middle valleysegment of St. Joseph River. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge.Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Prairie River @ Nottawa

Pigeon Creek @ Angola

Pigeon River @ Scott

Little Elkhart @ Middlebury

Pine Creek @ Elkhart


228

Figure 11.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for major tributaries within the middle valleysegment of St. Joseph River. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge.Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 950.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Prairie River @ Nottawa

Pigeon Creek @ Angola

Pigeon River @ Scott

Little Elkhart @ Middlebury

Pine Creek @ Elkhart


229

Figure 12.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for Elkhart River and major tributaries. Stan-dardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves represent theprobability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Survey gaugestations for period of record.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Forker Creek @ Burr Oak

Rimmel Branch @ Albion

Solomon Creek @ Syracuse

Turkey Creek @ Syracuse

Elkhart River @ Cosperville

Elkhart River @ Goshen


230

Figure 13.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for Elkhart River and major tributaries.Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/ median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves representthe probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Surveygauge stations for period of record.

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 950.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Forker Creek @ Burr Oak

Rimmel Branch @ Albion

Solomon Creek @ Syracuse

Turkey Creek @ Syracuse

Elkhart River @ Cosperville

Elkhart River @ Goshen


231

Figure 14.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for mainstem and major tributaries withinlower and mouth valley segments of St. Joseph River. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding agiven value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Juday Creek @ South Bend

St. Joseph @ Niles

Dowagiac River @ Sumnerville

Paw Paw River @ Riverside


232

Figure 15.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for mainstem and major tributaries withinlower and mouth valley segments of St. Joseph River. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding agiven value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauge stations for period of record.

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 950.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Sta

ndar

dize

d di

scha

rge

Percent exceedence

Juday Creek @ South Bend

St. Joseph @ Niles

Dowagiac River @ Sumnerville

Paw Paw River @ Riverside


233

Figure 16.–St. Joseph River yield at Niles for water year 1995. Data from United States GeologicalSurvey.

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Yie

ld (

cfs/

wat

ersh

ed a

rea)

Date


234

Figure 17.–Rimmell Branch yield for water year 1995. Data from United States Geological Survey.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14


Yie

ld (

cfs/

wat

ersh

ed a

rea)

Date


235

Figure 18.–Dowagiac River yield in Sumnerville for water year 1995. Data from United StatesGeological Survey.

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0


Yie

ld (

cfs/

wat

ersh

ed a

rea)

Date


236

09:0

0 AM

11:0

0 AM

01:0

0 PM

03:0

0 PM

05:0

0 PM

07:0

0 PM

09:0

0 PM

11:0

0 PM

01:0

0 AM

03:0

0 AM

05:0

0 AM

07:0

0 AM

09:0

0 AM

11:0

0 AM

01:0

0 PM

03:0

0 PM

05:0

0 PM

07:0

0 PM

09:0

0 PM

450

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

Dis

char

ge (

cfs)

Time

Figure 19.–Instantaneous discharge of St. Joseph River at Three Rivers from June 20 to June 21,1999. Fish habitat ranking in parenthesis. Data from United States Geological Survey.


237

Figure 20.–Gradient class and length of river in each, separated by water type, for St. Joseph River.Fish habitat ranking in parenthesis. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, FisheriesDivision.

0.0-2.9(low)

3.0-4.9(fair)

5.0-9.9(good)

10.0-69.9(excellent)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Riv

er m

iles

Gradient class (ft/mi)

Hydro-impoundment

Other impoundment

Natural flooding

River

Sturgeon Lake


238

Figure 21b.–Gradient (elevation change in feet per mile) of St. Joseph River. Gradient is shownwithout existing dams. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division.

Figure 21a.–Elevation changes, by river mile, from headwaters to mouth of St. Joseph River. Datafrom Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division.

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

0 50 100 150 200

Ele

vatio

n ab

ove

sea

leve

l in

feet

River mile

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2000

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Gra

dien

t (fe

et p

er m

ile)

River mile

Lake Michigan

Niles Dam

Elkhart Dam

Sturgis Dam Riley Dam

Litchfield Dam

Baw Beese Lake

Lake Michigan

NilesElkhart

SturgisDam

Riley

Litchfield

Baw Beese Lake

BerrienSprings Mottville

SturgeonLake


239

0.0-2.9(low)

3.0-4.9(fair)

5.0-9.9(good)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30R

iver

mile

s


Impoundment

River

0.0-2.9(low)

3.0-4.9(fair)

5.0-9.9(good)


0

5

10

15

20

25

Riv

er m

iles


Hydro

River

Natural flooding

Sturgeon Lake

Figure 22a.–Gradient class and length of river in each, separated by water type, for headwater segmentof the St. Joseph River. Fish habitat rankings in parenthesis. Data from Michigan Department ofNatural Resources, Fisheries Division.

Figure 22b.–Gradient class and length of river in each, separated by water type, for upper segmentof the St. Joseph River. Fish habitat rankings in parenthesis. Data from Michigan Department ofNatural Resources, Fisheries Division.


240

Figure 23b.–Gradient class and length of river in each, separated by water type, for lower segmentof the St. Joseph River. Fish habitat rankings in parenthesis. Data from Michigan Department ofNatural Resources, Fisheries Division.

0.0-2.9(low)

3.0-4.9(fair)

5.0-9.9(good)


0

10

20

30

40

Riv

er m

iles


Hydro Impoundment

River

0.0-2.9(low)

3.0-4.9(fair)

5.0-9.9(good)


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Riv

er m

iles


Hydro Impoundment

Other Impoundment

River

Figure 23a.–Gradient class and length of river in each, separated by water type, for middle segmentof the St. Joseph River. Fish habitat rankings in parenthesis. Data from Michigan Department ofNatural Resources, Fisheries Division.


241

Figure 24a.–Stream channel cross-section of St. Joseph River at Three Rivers. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey.

Figure 24b.–Stream channel cross-section of Dowagiac River at Sumnerville. Data from UnitedStates Geological Survey.

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

00 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Dep

th (

ft)

Width (ft)

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.00 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

Dep

th (

ft)

Width (ft)


242

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Figure 25.–Approximate locations of major dams (192) in St. Joseph River watershed.


243

Figure 26.–Soil groups in St. Joseph River basin. Data from State Soil Geographic Database(Michigan); IDNR 1987.

��

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

��yyyyyy

��yyyy

��yyyy

��yyyyyy

Lake

Mic

higa

n

N

EW

S

��yyyyGroup A (sandy, loamy sand, or sandy loam)

Group B (silt loam or loam)

Group C (clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay or clay)


244

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 27.–Sections of St. Joseph River included in advisories against whole body contact. Datafrom Michigan Department of Community Health.


245

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 28.–Reaches in St. Joseph River with fish consumption advisories. Data from MichiganDepartment of Community Health and Indiana Department of Health.


246

Second quality warmwaterTop quality warmwaterSecond quality coldwaterTop quality coldwater

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 29.–Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division, stream classifications,1964. Indiana did not classify streams in this way.


247

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 30.–Streams with natural reproduction of salmon and steelhead in St. Joseph River watershed.Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division.


248

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Mendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Lake Wawasee

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 31.–Streams that sea lampreys have been found in St. Joseph River watershed. Data fromUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service.


249

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw River

Dowagiac River

Nottawa Creek

ColdwaterLake

Lake Wawasee

Baw BeeseLake

Fawn River

Elkhart River

Pigeon River


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Sturgis DamMendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 32.–Canoe and boat launches in St. Joseph River watershed.


250

State game area

Mini state game area

County park/forest

State park Crane Pond

Gourdneck

Three Rivers

Leidy Lake

Pigeon River

Lawless

Pokagon

Pigeon River

Baugo Creek

St. Patricks

N

EW

S

Lake

Mic

higa

n

St. Joseph

BerrienSprings

Buchanan Niles


Paw Paw River

Dowagiac River

Nottawa Creek

ColdwaterLake

Lake Wawasee

Baw BeeseLake

Fawn River

Elkhart River

Pigeon River


Paw Paw

SchoolcraftDecatur

Dowagiac

Three Rivers

Constantine

Sturgis DamMendon

Litchfield

Jonesville

Coldwater

Allen

Tekonsha

Burlington

UnionCity

Mottville

AngolaMongo

ShipshewanaBristol

Goshen


Bend

Albion

Pucker-Street Dam

TwinBranch Dam

Figure 33.–Large public lands in St. Joseph River watershed.


251

Figure 34.–Estimated total catch and effort (angler hours, trips, and days) for lower St. JosephRiver, 1992-96. Data from Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division and IndianaDepartment of Natural Resources, Fisheries Section.

1992 1993 1994 1995 19960

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Num

ber

of fi

sh

Year

Total Catch

Angler trips

Angler days

Documents

St. Joseph River Assessment