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Shiawassee River
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Shiawassee River
The Shiawassee River (/ˌʃaɪəˈwɒsi/ SHY-ə-WOSS-ee) in the U.S. state of Michigan drains an area of 1,201 square miles (3,110 km2) within Oakland, Genesee, Livingston, Shiawassee, Midland and Saginaw counties. It flows in a generally northerly direction for approximately 110 miles (180 km) from its source to its confluence with the Tittabawassee River creating the Saginaw River, which drains into Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron.
The name is derived from the Chippewa "Gwayak-waasizo" meaning "the straight ahead & shining or sparkling river."
The Shiawassee watershed is located south and west of Saginaw Bay in Central Michigan. Its basin is shaped like an hourglass, approximately 65 miles (105 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide at each end, and narrows to 5 miles (8.0 km) wide near Corunna. The river rises in Oakland County in Springfield Township at Shiawassee Lake. It is predominantly a rural watershed that is dominated by agriculture uses in its lower region and agricultural and rural/small community residential uses upstream.
Near its confluence with the Tittabawassee River, within the bounds of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, the Shiawassee receives the waters of the Bad, Flint, and Cass rivers. Smaller tributaries of the river include: Denton/North Ore Creek, South Branch Shiawassee, Jones Porter Drain, Beaver Creek, Birch Run Creek, and Swan Creek. It flows through Holly, Fenton, Linden, Byron, Corunna, Owosso, and Chesaning.
Supporting approximately 1,201 square miles (3,110 km2) of watershed environment, there are over 61 species of fish, including darters, minnows, channel catfish, pugnose shiner, greater redhorse, stonecat, river chub and striped shiner. There are also 14 species of freshwater mussel found in the watershed. The swamps and fens adjacent to the river's headwaters support several rare species of plants and animals and play a major role in the travels of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
The Upper Shiawassee River is bordered by alternating east–west trending moraines, glacial till, and outwash plains. The moraines and outwash plains contain sand and gravel deposits that are more permeable than the fine-grained glacial till and lake clays found in the downstream. The upper half of the watershed has variable (high) relief and is generally well drained with numerous shallow aquifers that contribute groundwater flow to the headwaters of the Shiawassee River.
The Lower Shiawassee is bordered by a low-relief till plain overlain by relatively impermeable and are poorly drained fine-grained glacial lake clays and relict beach deposits that were deposited over a period of several thousand years when glacial Lake Saginaw covered much of the area, after the most recent retreat of the ice at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. The present-day riverbed has eroded into the till plain surface and is now deeply incised, as are the tributary streams and agricultural drains flowing into it.
HeadWaters Trails Inc. in Holly (Oakland County) promotes the navigability of the river through Fenton towards Lake Ponemah, all the way to Byron, Michigan and the protection of the habitat along the river and in the river to make that experience special. They have cleaned the river as far down as Byron each year. Volunteer crews remove dead falls, and woody debris, which are anchored to the banks for shore protection and fish habitat; and remove garbage to allow canoe/kayak paddling. This will allow paddlers to start in Holly, do a small portage at Fenton dam, and continue on to Lake Ponemah. The more adventuresome can go as far as the dam in Byron. Every year Headwaters Trails hosts an annual Shiawassee River Paddle along the river between Holly and Fenton in June, known as the "Adventure Paddle". In the October, it hosts "Canoeing in Color", a time to see migrating birds and the changing of the leaves to brilliant fall colors. These paddles are to raise awareness of the river to the community and help support the efforts of Headwaters Trails to continue making improvements in the form of new places to put in the river as well as signage and fund the purchase of things like steel cables to anchor logs to the banks of the river. They work closely with the communities along the river to promote and conserve that trail as a place where paddle craft can go and where fish habitat is preserved. The number of kingfishers, Blue Herons and other fishing birds is a tribute to that effort.
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Shiawassee River
The Shiawassee River (/ˌʃaɪəˈwɒsi/ SHY-ə-WOSS-ee) in the U.S. state of Michigan drains an area of 1,201 square miles (3,110 km2) within Oakland, Genesee, Livingston, Shiawassee, Midland and Saginaw counties. It flows in a generally northerly direction for approximately 110 miles (180 km) from its source to its confluence with the Tittabawassee River creating the Saginaw River, which drains into Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron.
The name is derived from the Chippewa "Gwayak-waasizo" meaning "the straight ahead & shining or sparkling river."
The Shiawassee watershed is located south and west of Saginaw Bay in Central Michigan. Its basin is shaped like an hourglass, approximately 65 miles (105 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide at each end, and narrows to 5 miles (8.0 km) wide near Corunna. The river rises in Oakland County in Springfield Township at Shiawassee Lake. It is predominantly a rural watershed that is dominated by agriculture uses in its lower region and agricultural and rural/small community residential uses upstream.
Near its confluence with the Tittabawassee River, within the bounds of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, the Shiawassee receives the waters of the Bad, Flint, and Cass rivers. Smaller tributaries of the river include: Denton/North Ore Creek, South Branch Shiawassee, Jones Porter Drain, Beaver Creek, Birch Run Creek, and Swan Creek. It flows through Holly, Fenton, Linden, Byron, Corunna, Owosso, and Chesaning.
Supporting approximately 1,201 square miles (3,110 km2) of watershed environment, there are over 61 species of fish, including darters, minnows, channel catfish, pugnose shiner, greater redhorse, stonecat, river chub and striped shiner. There are also 14 species of freshwater mussel found in the watershed. The swamps and fens adjacent to the river's headwaters support several rare species of plants and animals and play a major role in the travels of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
The Upper Shiawassee River is bordered by alternating east–west trending moraines, glacial till, and outwash plains. The moraines and outwash plains contain sand and gravel deposits that are more permeable than the fine-grained glacial till and lake clays found in the downstream. The upper half of the watershed has variable (high) relief and is generally well drained with numerous shallow aquifers that contribute groundwater flow to the headwaters of the Shiawassee River.
The Lower Shiawassee is bordered by a low-relief till plain overlain by relatively impermeable and are poorly drained fine-grained glacial lake clays and relict beach deposits that were deposited over a period of several thousand years when glacial Lake Saginaw covered much of the area, after the most recent retreat of the ice at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation. The present-day riverbed has eroded into the till plain surface and is now deeply incised, as are the tributary streams and agricultural drains flowing into it.
HeadWaters Trails Inc. in Holly (Oakland County) promotes the navigability of the river through Fenton towards Lake Ponemah, all the way to Byron, Michigan and the protection of the habitat along the river and in the river to make that experience special. They have cleaned the river as far down as Byron each year. Volunteer crews remove dead falls, and woody debris, which are anchored to the banks for shore protection and fish habitat; and remove garbage to allow canoe/kayak paddling. This will allow paddlers to start in Holly, do a small portage at Fenton dam, and continue on to Lake Ponemah. The more adventuresome can go as far as the dam in Byron. Every year Headwaters Trails hosts an annual Shiawassee River Paddle along the river between Holly and Fenton in June, known as the "Adventure Paddle". In the October, it hosts "Canoeing in Color", a time to see migrating birds and the changing of the leaves to brilliant fall colors. These paddles are to raise awareness of the river to the community and help support the efforts of Headwaters Trails to continue making improvements in the form of new places to put in the river as well as signage and fund the purchase of things like steel cables to anchor logs to the banks of the river. They work closely with the communities along the river to promote and conserve that trail as a place where paddle craft can go and where fish habitat is preserved. The number of kingfishers, Blue Herons and other fishing birds is a tribute to that effort.
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