Kalamazoo River

The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is 166 miles (267 km) long from the headwaters of the southern branch to Lake Michigan. The river's watershed drains an area of approximately 2,020 square miles (5,230 km²) and drains portions of eight counties in southwest Michigan: Allegan, Barry, Eaton, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Hillsdale, Kent and Ottawa. The river has a median flow of 1640 cubic feet per second (46.4 m³/s) at New Richmond, Michigan, upstream from its mouth at Saugatuck, Michigan.

The North and South Branches of the Kalamazoo River originate within a few miles of each other. The South Branch begins near North Adams in Moscow Township in northeastern Hillsdale County and flows north and west through Homer before joining the North Branch at the forks of the Kalamazoo in Albion. The North Branch begins near Farewell and Pine Hills lakes in southern Jackson County and flows north and west through Concord before reaching Albion in Calhoun County. It then flows through Kalamazoo and Allegan counties.

After Albion, the Kalamazoo flows mostly westward through Marshall, Battle Creek, Augusta, Galesburg, Comstock, and Kalamazoo. From Kalamazoo, the river flows mostly north until just before it reaches Plainwell and then flows northwest through Otsego, Allegan, Saugatuck and then into Lake Michigan.

Some of the larger tributaries of the Kalamazoo are Rice Creek, Wilder Creek, Wabascon Creek, Battle Creek River, Augusta Creek, Portage Creek, Gun River, Swan Creek, and Rabbit River.

History

Archeological evidence indicates humans have used the Kalamazoo River basin continuously for more than 11,000 years. At the time of European contact, the Kalamazoo River area was inhabited primarily by members of Potawatomi tribes. The Jesuit priest Father Jacques Marquette and his companions were probably the first Europeans to glimpse the mouth of the Kalamazaoo in 1675 as they returned from Illinois. It wasn't until the late 1700s that the area was frequented by fur traders. By the early 1800s, there were several small communities along the river, including Kalamazoo. With the introduction of the railroad in the 1840s, the importance of the river for transportation diminished. By the mid-1800s, several communities had grown up along the river as mill towns and commercial centers.

By the mid-1800s, several communities had grown up along the River as mill towns and commercial centers: Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Parchment, Plainwell, and Otsego. After the Civil War and into the 20th century, various industries, from cereal production to pharmaceuticals to automobile parts, flourished. Several communities became sites for paper production, which used the river for water intake and waste discharge. Deinking practices no longer in use led to PCB contamination of the river. Sewage effluent, other industrial discharges, and trash also contributed to the pollution of the river. For many years in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, the river was an "eyesore" and most people did their best to avoid it. Beginning in the 1970s with the federal Clean Water Act, serious efforts were made to clean up the river. Although today the river is cleaner, the persistent PCB contamination has led to Superfund designation of a 35-mile section from Kalamazoo to Allegan Dam.

Although the word Kalamazoo appears to be Native American in origin, various definitions have been suggested. One is that it means "river crossing" or "boiling water." Another is that it is related to another term Kikalamazoo, which means mirage or reflecting river.

External links

• Kalamazoo River Superfund Site (http://www.kzooriver.com/kalamazoo/)
• U.S. EPA Kalamazoo River Project (http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/kalproject/)
• Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality (http://www.deq.state.mi.us/erd1/k-zoo/index.jsp)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Natural Resource Damage Assessment (http://midwest.fws.gov/nrda/kalamazoo/)