The Kalamazoo River is a river located in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is 130 miles (210 km) long from the point where its north and south branches meet to its mouth at Lake Michigan. When including the South Branch, the river’s total length is 178 miles (286 km). The river’s watershed covers about 2,020 square miles (5,200 km²) and includes parts of ten counties in southwest Michigan: Allegan, Barry, Eaton, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Hillsdale, Kent, and Ottawa. The river has a median flow of 1,863 cubic feet per second (52.8 m³/s) at New Richmond, which is upstream from its mouth at Saugatuck and Douglas.
The north and south branches of the Kalamazoo River begin within a few miles of each other. The South Branch starts near North Adams in Moscow Township, which is in northeastern Hillsdale County. It flows north and west through Homer before joining the North Branch at the forks of the Kalamazoo River in Albion. The North Branch begins near Farwell and Pine Hills lakes in southern Jackson County. It flows north and west through Concord before reaching Albion in Calhoun County. From there, it continues through Kalamazoo and Allegan counties.
After Albion, the Kalamazoo River flows mostly westward through Marshall, Battle Creek, Augusta, Galesburg, Comstock, and Kalamazoo. From Kalamazoo, the river flows mostly north until near Plainwell, then turns northwest through Otsego, Allegan, Saugatuck, and finally into Lake Michigan.
Some of the larger tributaries of the Kalamazoo River include Rice Creek, Wilder Creek, Wabascon Creek, Battle Creek River, Augusta Creek, Portage Creek, Gun River, Swan Creek, and Rabbit River.
History
Archaeological evidence shows that people have lived in the Kalamazoo River basin for more than 11,000 years. When Europeans first arrived, the area was mainly home to members of the Potawatomi tribes. In 1675, the Jesuit priest Father Jacques Marquette and his group may have been the first Europeans to see the mouth of the Kalamazoo River as they returned from Illinois. Europeans did not visit the area much until the late 1700s. By the early 1800s, small communities, including Kalamazoo, had formed along the river. The arrival of railroads in the 1840s reduced the river's role in transportation.
By the mid-1800s, several towns had developed along the river, such as Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Parchment, Plainwell, and Otsego. These towns became centers for industries like cereal production, pharmaceuticals, and automobile parts. Paper mills in some areas used the river for water and waste disposal. Old paper-cleaning methods led to pollution from toxic chemicals called PCBs. Sewage, industrial waste, and trash also polluted the river. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the river was heavily polluted and avoided by most people. In the 1970s, the federal Clean Water Act began efforts to clean the river. While the river is now cleaner, a 35-mile section from Kalamazoo to Allegan Dam remains polluted and is labeled a Superfund site. Fish species like smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, catfish, carp, and panfish live in the river. Although fish populations have grown due to cleanup efforts, people are advised to limit fish consumption, and pregnant women are told not to eat any fish from the river because of pollution, especially in bottom-feeding fish like catfish, which can accumulate high levels of mercury.
In the late 1950s, a developer built a dam at the North Branch headwaters (Farwell and Pinehill Lakes) to create a commercial marina. The dam raised lake levels, causing soil and dirt to enter the water through erosion. Residents of Farwell Lake have worked to restore the lake's quality. A sewer system has been added, and people are being taught to keep fuels, lawn chemicals, and fertilizers out of the water. Property owners hope the dam will be removed to allow the river to flow naturally and restore the lake's natural sandy shoreline.
The word "Kalamazoo" appears to have Native American origins, but its exact meaning is unclear, and different explanations have been proposed.
Kalamazoo River oil spill
On July 26, 2010, an Enbridge Energy pipeline leaked more than 1 million US gallons (3,800 m³) of tar sands, also called dilbit, into Talmadge Creek, which flows into the Kalamazoo River. This caused two homes to be evacuated, and signs were posted banning fishing and swimming in the area. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later said the spill was more than 1 million gallons. On July 29, 2010, the Calhoun County Health Department asked 30 to 50 families to leave their homes, and twice as many families were told not to use their water for drinking. The National Transportation Safety Board stated that the Enbridge oil spill is the most expensive cleanup of an oil spill on land in U.S. history.