Jay K. Wesley and Joan E. Duffy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This is one
of a series of river assessments to be prepared by the Fisheries Division
of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) for Michigan rivers.
This report describes the characteristics of the St. Joseph River and
its biological communities.
River assessments are prepared to provide a comprehensive reference for
citizens and agency personnel who desire information about a particular
aquatic resource. These assessments will provide an approach to identifying
opportunities and solving problems. Hopefully, this river assessment will
increase public awareness of the St. Joseph River and its challenges and
serve to promote a sense of public stewardship and advocacy for the resources
of this watershed. The ultimate goal is to increase public involvement
in the decision making process to benefit the river and its resources.
This document
consists of four parts: an introduction, a river assessment, management
options, and public comments and response. The river assessment is the
nucleus of the report. The characteristics of the St. Joseph River and
its watershed are described in twelve sections: geography, history, geology
and hydrology, channel morphology, dams and barriers, soils and land use
patterns, water quality, special jurisdictions, biological communities,
fishery management, recreational use, and citizen involvement.
The management
options section of the report identifies a variety of challenges and opportunities.
These management options are categorized and presented following the organization
of the main sections of the river assessment. It must be stressed that
MDNR, Fisheries Division does not necessarily recommend the options listed.
They are intended to provide a foundation for public discussions and comment.
The St. Joseph
River and its tributaries form a network draining approximately 4,685
square miles of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. The mainstem
is 210 miles long and there are 1,641 miles of tributaries. Major tributaries
include Prairie, Coldwater, Fawn, Pigeon, Elkhart, Dowagiac, and Paw Paw
rivers.
For purpose
of discussion, the St. Joseph River mainstem is divided into five sections
called valley segments. Valley segments represent portions of a river
that share common channel and landscape features and were identified using
major changes in hydrology, channel and valley shapes, land cover, and
surficial geology. The headwater section is from Baw Beese Lake to Union
City. The upper segment is cool and moderately stable and extends down
to Mendon. The river goes from medium to large in the middle segment (from
Mendon to Elkhart) as it drains a major portion of the watershed. The
lower segment is in a confined valley as it cuts though the Kalamazoo
moraine and extends 65 miles downstream of Elkhart. The last 8 miles of
river flows across a lake plain and makes up the mouth segment.
The hydrology
of the St. Joseph River watershed is strongly influenced by glacial deposits.
A majority of the surficial geology is composed of outwash sand and gravel.
These glacial deposits contribute to the stable flows of the St. Joseph
River. The headwater and upper segments have fairly stable flows; however,
some tributaries in the middle segment have decreased flow stability.
Tributaries in the lower and mouth segments have the most stable flows
including Juday Creek, Dowagiac and Paw Paw rivers. Less permeable soils
coupled with agricultural land use lead to stream flow instability. Urbanization,
stream channelizations, filling of wetland retention areas, and installation
of drainage systems for agriculture and urban development also contribute
to stream flow instability. Seasonal flooding occurs throughout the watershed,
but most damage tends to be to developments within the floodplain.
The average
gradient of the St. Joseph River mainstem is 2.5 feet per mile with a
range of 0-45 feet per mile. The best gradients on the mainstem (5-45
feet per mile) are in the headwaters below Baw Beese Lake and in small
reaches near Union City, Sturgis Dam, and Niles. The lowest gradient (0
feet per mile) is at Sturgeon Lake near the town of Colon. The mainstem
of the St. Joseph River is mostly low-gradient channel - 157.5 miles (74.9%)
having gradient less than three feet per mile. Fish and other aquatic
animals are typically most diverse and productive in river sections with
gradient between 10 and 70 feet per mile. This highly desirable gradient
class is now found in only 1.9 miles (0.9%) of the mainstem. Dams in Litchfield,
Union City (Riley Dam), Centreville (Sturgis Dam), Mottville, Elkhart,
Niles, and Buchanan have inundated many of the high-gradient areas. These
dams and their impoundments have eliminated and fragmented some of the
best fish habitat on the river.
The channel
cross section of the St. Joseph River is normal, based on stream widths
compared to average discharge. The headwaters are characterized as having
a narrow channel that is straight to meandering. The channel widens going
downstream through the upper and middle segments. The river channel narrows
in the lower segment as it meanders confined in a narrow glacial valley
and widens again near the mouth. Tributaries in the middle and lower segments
including Pigeon, Forker, and Juday creeks and the Dowagiac River have
significantly narrow channels due to channelization. Substrates in the
headwaters consist of mostly silt and sand. The upper and middle segments
have more diverse substrates that are made up of more sand and gravel
with some cobble. The best substrate is in the lower segment where there
is more gravel and cobble. The mouth segment has more sand and silt substrate
as the river begins to lose power. Woody cover is common in the mainstem
but varies in tributaries. Agricultural activities such as stream dredging
and riparian vegetation clearing has removed or reduced the availability
of woody debris. Woody cover creates excellent fish habitat and provides
good substrate for production of aquatic insects and other fish food organisms.
There are 190
dams in the St. Joseph River watershed registered with Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality and Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Seventeen are on the mainstem. Dams fragment river systems and turn high
gradient river habitat into lentic habitat. Dams were generally constructed
in areas of highest stream gradient. These high-gradient riverine areas
are essential spawning habitat for several species of fish. Dams impede
fish movements to refuge habitats, segment populations, and block spawning
migrations. Mortality or injury often results while passing through or
over dams, especially those with hydroelectric turbines. Potamodromous
fish can migrate from Lake Michigan to the Twin Branch Dam through the
use of fish ladders at Berrien Springs, Buchanan, Niles, South Bend, and
Mishawaka dams. Salmonines composed 99.6% of all fish passed at the ladders.
Existing ladder designs are not sufficient to pass warm water species.
Impoundments created by dams warm temperatures and can lead to elimination
of certain aquatic species below dams. Dams also act as sediment and woody
debris traps. Sediment-free water released below dams has high erosive
power and can cause bank erosion. Seasonal flow is disrupted with dams
and lake-level control structures by reducing incidence and severity of
flooding.
The headwater
segment has nine dams that are used for recreation and lake-level control
structures. None of the mainstem dams in this area have official portage
facilities. There are 24 dams in the upper segment. The Riley Dam at Union
City is the largest and only hydroelectric dam in this segment that is
not licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The middle
segment has the most dams (104); Sturgis, Three Rivers, Mottville, Constantine,
and Elkhart are all hydroelectric dams on the mainstem. Thirty-two dams
exist in the lower segment, and four of the eight dams on the mainstem
are hydroelectric. Berrien Springs is the only dam in this section exempt
from FERC licensing due to an Act of the U.S. Congress. Entrainment at
the Niles (French Paper) and Buchanan dams was 12.3% and 21% for chinook
salmon and 2.3% and 19.8% for steelhead, respectively. Temporary turbine
shut downs in May reduce entrainment mortality for chinook salmon and
to a lesser degree for steelhead. There are 24 registered dams in the
mouth segment that are all within the Paw Paw River sub-watershed. These
dams are all low head or on small tributaries, so potamodromous trout
and salmon can migrate into its headwaters at Campbell Creek.
Land use in
the St. Joseph River watershed is dominated by agriculture (58%) followed
by forested land (19.8%) and urban development (7.7%) based on Michigan
counties in the watershed. Intensive agriculture with poor management
practices has lead to bank erosion and sedimentation problems. Channelization,
drainage of wetlands, and installation of artificial drainage systems
have altered stream temperature regimes and decreased flow stability.
Most large cities in the watershed are located along the mainstem, and
many have significant affects on water quality. The lower and mouth segments
are also threatened by increased development pressure. High-speed rail
with service from Niles to Chicago is expected to increase residential
development of commuters. The potential increase of impervious surfaces
(roofs, parking lots, and roads) could change the hydrology of several
groundwater fed streams.
Point source
water pollution from industrial and municipal sources in the St. Joseph
River watershed has decreased significantly over the past 30 years. Pollution
from point sources will continue to be reduced as municipal wastewater
treatment plants upgrade their facilities and technology and industrial
discharge permits are tightened. However, combined sewer overflows from
Elkhart and South Bend, Indiana continue to be a problem and are the cause
for non-attainment of designated water uses in the lower segment.
Nonpoint source
pollution is the greatest factor that degrades water quality in this watershed.
This type of pollution generally consists of sediments, nutrients, bacteria,
organic chemicals, and inorganic chemicals from agricultural fields, livestock
feedlots, construction sites, parking lots, urban streets, septic seepage,
and open dumps. Implementing best management practices with farmland,
construction sites, and urban development designs can significantly reduce
runoff, erosion, and influxes of sediment, nutrients, and other chemicals
to lakes and streams.streams in southwest Michigan.
Based on Michigan
Fish Commission surveys as early as the 1880s and fish collections from
the University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology, the St. Joseph River watershed
originally had 97 fish species. The watershed now contains 114 species
of fish due to intentional and accidental introductions. The creek chubsucker,
river redhorse, and lake sturgeon are present and considered threatened
in the state of Michigan. Although present fish species diversity in the
St. Joseph River watershed remains high, certain species of fish have
declined. Dams on the mainstem and headwaters create barriers to upstream
migration of potamodromous fish. Dams have inundated high-gradient areas
that have gravel, cobble, and rock substrates. These high-gradient areas
are of critical importance to certain species as spawning habitat and
for the production of aquatic insects and other macroinvertebrates that
are important fish food organisms. Silt-tolerant fish species have increased
in the watershed, whereas fishes requiring clean gravel substrate or clean
water with aquatic vegetation at some point of their life cycles have
declined. Agricultural and urban development activities have reduced flow
stability and increased sediment load in streams throughout the watershed.
Introduced pest species including sea lamprey, zebra mussels, rusty crayfish,
purple loosestrife, and Eurasian milfoil have had negative effects on
native fishes and macroinvertebrates. Draining and filling of wetlands
has negatively affected populations of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
and mammals. Fishery management of the St. Joseph River mainstem and tributaries
ranges from low in the headwater and upper segments to high in the lower
and mouth segments. Stocking fish is the main management tool used in
the headwater and lower segments. Development and enhancement of warmwater
fishing opportunities are needed in this area. The Interstate Anadromous
Fish Passage Project between the states of Indiana and Michigan has created
unique fishing opportunities in the lower and mouth segments by installing
fish ladders at five dams, building new boat launches, and construction
of the Twin Branch Fish Hatchery in Indiana. In conjunction with this
project, fish passage is estimated at three dams using time-lapse video
recording, catch rates are estimated through creel surveys, and salmon
and trout are stocked. There are also several tributaries in the lower
segment managed for brown trout through stocking and habitat improvement
projects.
Recreational
use of the river is high in the middle, lower, and mouth segments. Many
people use the river and corridor for fishing, canoeing, motor boating,
swimming, picnicking, and hunting. Lack of assured public access is the
largest deterrent to the recreational potential of the mainstem and tributaries.
There are only 17 boat and canoe launches on the mainstem. This is an
average of one launch site every 12 miles of river. Canoe portages at
dams are also lacking. Hydroelectric dams are required to install portages
through FERC licensing, but owners of other dams are not required by law
to build them.
The St. Joseph
River watershed has an improving public image with growing public support.
Several organizations work on various aspects of the river including fishing,
hunting, and other recreational use. Most groups work at the local level,
but Trout Unlimited and Friends of the St. Joseph River work at a watershed
level. With decreases in government funding and personnel, public involvement
through local and watershed organizations is important to ensure that
habitat protection and enhancement of water quality and recreational opportunities
continues to move forward in the St. Joseph River watershed.
