Flint River Assessment Saginaw Bay to Tittabawassee River Saginaw River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters North Branch Montrose Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Figure 1.–Flint River watershed drainage. 165 Flint River Assessment Upper South Branch Middle Flint 1. Horseshoe Lake 42. Mud Creek 2. South Branch 43. Cole Creek 3. Whigville Creek 44. Brent Creek 4. Winns Pond 45. Brent Run Creek Middle South Branch Lower Flint 5. Pine Creek 46. Pine Run Creek 6. Hunters Creek 47. Runnels Drain 7. Mill Creek 48. Silver Creek 8. Lapeer Lake 49. Misteguay Creek 9. South Branch Farmers Creek 10. Farmers Creek 11. Plum Creek Lower South Branch 12. Elm Creek 13. Cedar Creek 14. Bottom Creek 15. Bottom Creek Impoundment 16. Gravel Creek 17. Indian Creek 18. Fostoria Drain 19. Squaw Creek 20. Crystal Creek 21. North Branch Upper Flint 22. Henry Drain 23. Holloway Reservoir 24. Hasler Creek 25. Powers-Cullen Drain 26. Butternut Creek 27. C. S. Mott Lake 28. Lake Louise 29. Kearsley Creek 30. Duck Creek 31. Goodrich Mill Pond 32. Atlas Mill Pond 33. Black Creek 34. Kearsley Reservoir 35. Hamilton Impoundment 36. Gilkey Creek 37. Thread Creek 38. Thread Lake 39. Swartz Creek 40. West Branch Swartz Creek 41. Kimball Drain Figure 2.–Major tributaries and landmarks in the Flint River watershed. 166 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters 17 19 North Branch 18 48 49 46 21 Montrose 15 20 12 47 16 45 26 Columbiaville 14 13 Otisville 23 Clio 27 22 44 11 Flushing 25 New Lothrop 34 35 Lapeer Davison 24 43 Flint 42 36 33 10 6 4 5 38 40 Grand Blanc 8 32 Thornville 7 9 41 39 2 3 37 31 29 1 30 28 Figure 2. 167 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Lower South Branch Flint River Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters Lower Flint River North Branch Montrose Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Upper Flint River Middle South Branch Flint River Middle Flint River Upper South Branch Flint River Figure 3.–Flint River basin valley segments. 168 Flint River Assessment Superior Lobe Saginaw Lobe Michigan Lobe Huron-Erie Lobe Figure 4.–Diagram of Wisconsinan Glacier with major lobes. Information from Farrand, 1988. 169 Flint River Assessment N Saginaw River Tittabawassee River Huron District 0 10 Sandusky Subdistrict Shiawassee River MILES Cass River Saginaw District Fosters North Branch Ionia District Montrose Greenville Subdistrict Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Huron District Lum Subdistrict Ionia District Lansing Subdistrict Figure 5.–Regional Landscape Ecosystem boundaries of the Flint River basin. Data from Albert 1994. 170 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters North Branch Montrose Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Ground water inflows less than the Lower Pennisula mean Ground water inflows greater than the Lower Pennisula mean Figure 6.–Flint River basin groundwater inow. 171 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES 16 Fosters 15 North Branch Montrose 14 2 6 Columbiaville 3 Otisville Clio 4 7 5 Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer 1 13 Flint 8 Davison 9 12 10 Grand Blanc Thornville 11 1. Farmers Creek (04146000) 9. Gilkey Creek (04148160) 2. South Branch Flint River (04146063) 10. Thread Creek (04148440) 3. Flint River (04146500) 11. Swartz Creek (04148200) 4. Holloway Reservoir (04147000) 12. Swartz Creek (04148300) 5. Flint River (04147500) 13. Flint River (04148500) 6. Butternutt Creek (04147990) 14. Brent Run (04147200) 7. Flint River (04148000) 15. Flint River (04149000) 8. Kearsley Creek (04148140) 16. Flint River (04149500) Figure 7.–Approximate locations of Flint River basin United States Geological Survey (USGS) gauging stations. USGS identification number in parentheses. Bold circle indicates active gauging station, all others are retired stations. 172 Flint River Assessment 2000 1800 Flint River at Fosters Flint River at Flint 1600 1400 1200 1000 Flint River at Otisville 800 600 Discharge in cubic feet per second 400 200 South Branch Flint River 0 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Water year Figure 8.–Mean monthly discharge at four locations on the Flint River. Data source United States Geological Survey gauges for period of record (Table 2). 173 Flint River Assessment 250 Swartz Creek, Flint Kearsley Creek, Davison 200 150 Thread Creek, Flint Farmers Creek, Lapeer 100 Discharge in cubic feet per second 50 Butternut Creek, Flint 0 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Water year Figure 9.–Mean monthly discharge for Flint River tributaries. Data from United States Geological Survey for period of record (Table 2). 174 Flint River Assessment 12 S. Br. Flint River, Columbiaville 10 Flint River, Otisville Flint River, Flint 8 Flint River, Fosters 6 4 Standardized discharge 2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Percent exceedence Figure 10.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for the South Branch and mainstem Flint rivers. (Standardized discharge = discharge (Q)/median discharge(50% Q)). Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauges for period of record (Table 2). 175 Flint River Assessment 12 Farmers Creek, Lapeer 10 Butternut Creek, Genesee Kearsley Creek, Davison 8 Swartz Creek, Flint Thread Creek, Flint 6 4 Standardized discharge 2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Percent exceedence Figure 11.–Standardized high flow exceedence curves for Flint River tributaries. (Standardized discharge = discharge (Q)/median discharge(50% Q)). Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauges for period of record (Table 2). 176 Flint River Assessment 1.2 S. Br. Flint River, Columbiaville 1.0 Flint River, Otisville Flint River, Flint 0.8 Flint River, Fosters 0.6 0.4 Standardized discharge 0.2 0.0 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 Percent exceedence Figure 12.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for the South Branch and mainstem Flint rivers. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauges for period of record (Table 2). 177 Flint River Assessment 1.2 Farmers Creek, Lapeer 1.0 Butternut Creek, Genesee Kearsley Creek, Davison 0.8 Swartz Creek, Flint Thread Creek, Flint 0.6 0.4 Standardized discharge 0.2 0.0 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 Percent exceedence Figure 13.–Standardized low flow exceedence curves for Flint River tributaries. Standardized discharge is the discharge (Q)/median (50% Q) discharge. Exceedence curves represent the probability of a discharge exceeding a given value. Data from United States Geological Survey gauges for period of record (Table 2). 178 Flint River Assessment Precipitation in inches 0 0 0 0 1.33 0.37 0.02 1000 d 800 600 400 200 100 Streamflow in cubic feet per secon 50 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 September 2000 Figure 14.–Flint River daily flow at the Flint gauging station before and after a rain event. Data from United States Geological Survey. 179 Flint River Assessment 1050 Horseshoe Lake 950 Plum Creek Shiawassee River 850 Holloway Dam Pine Creek 750 Flushing North Branch 650 Foster Mott Dam Swartz Creek Elevation in feet above sea level 550 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 River mile Figure 15.–Flint River stream elevation. 12 Shiawassee River Flushing 10 Horseshoe Lake 8 Pine Creek 6 Holloway Dam 4 Plum Creek Gradient (feet per mile) 2 Swartz Creek North Branch Foster Mott Dam 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 River mile Figure 16.–Flint River gradient. 180 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters North Branch 23 Montrose 7 8 22 6 Columbiaville Otisville Clio 9 Flushing 10 5 New Lothrop Lapeer 15 19Flint 14 Davison 20 1 18 Grand 4 Blanc 13 Thornville 12 3 2 21 17 11 16 1. Winns Pond Dam 13. Atlas Dam 2. Metamora Dam 14. Kearsley Dam 3. Minnawana Dam 15. Utah Dam 4. White Sands Dam 16. Heron Lake Dam 5. Long Lake Dam 17. Perrysville Dam 6. Bottom Creek Dam 18. Thread Lake Dam 7. Hemmingway Lake Dam 19. Hamilton Dam 8. Tau Beta Dam 20. Fiber Dam 9. Earl Holloway Dam 21. Crystal Lake Dam 10. C. S. Mott Dam 22. Mistequay Creek 2A Dam 11. Lake Louise Dam 23. Mistequay Creek 3A Dam 12. Goodrich Dam Figure 17.–Approximate location of principal dams in the Flint River watershed. 181 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters North Branch Montrose Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Cold water designated Cool water designated Warm water designated Figure 18.–Flint River basin thermal habitat classication. 182 Flint River Assessment Saginaw River Tittabawassee River N Shiawassee River Cass River 0 10 MILES Fosters North Branch Montrose Columbiaville Otisville Clio Flushing New Lothrop Lapeer Flint Davison Grand Blanc Thornville Top quality warmwater Second quality warmwater Second quality coldwater Figure 19.–Michigan stream classication, 1967. Data from Michigan Department of Natural resources, Fisheries Division. 183 Flint River Assessment Water Site Location County T R Sec. 1. South Branch Oakwood Road Oakland 05N 10E 10 2.