Watersheds in your District

This interactive tool will help users explore the overlap of human and natural boundaries to help elected officials make wise and informed decisions about the waterways that flow through their Michigan legislative districts.

Instructions for use

  1. Click on the “See map” button below. This will take you to an interactive ArcGIS map
  2. From the Layer List panel on the right, toggle which type of district you want to search by
  3. If you do not know the district number you want to search by, use the What Are My Districts? widget to find out based on an address. You can also find out using the state of Michigan website
  4. Open the Watershed Finder widget and select a district type. Be sure the district type you select matches the one toggled in the Layer List
  5. Click Apply
  6. Once the map finishes loading, a list of the watersheds in the selected district is available for download in the Options tab from the pop up at the bottom of the page
  7. A list of organizations that you can contact within each watershed is provided below.

Disclaimer: Application was updated on 01/20/2022. This application is for informational purposes only and was created by Michigan Sea Grant and Austin Bartos. Questions can be directed to: miseagrant@umich.edu. The Michigan Watersheds layer is sourced from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

What is a watershed?

A watershed is an area of land wherein all of the rain and melting snow drains to a single body of water such as a creek, river, or lake. Nearly all of Michigan’s watersheds eventually flow into one of the Great Lakes.

Why are watersheds important?

  • Healthy watersheds reduce flood risk, support crops, filter pollutants, mitigate effects of climate change, and boost human wellbeing.
  • Our actions upstream have consequences downstream.
  • Water is only as clean as the land it flows over.
  • A river or lake is only as healthy as the water draining into it.

Michigan Watersheds Poster

When you pour out a bucket of water in your yard, where does it go? Explore Michigan’s rivers and watersheds in this new edition of our Michigan Watersheds Map. This 26 x 36 inch poster uses high-resolution geographic data to show watershed boundaries at local and greater levels. The high-contrast colors are designed to match the new Great Lakes Basin map, making the two an attractive addition to a classroom, office, or home.

Contacts

Find your state representatives

House

www.house.mi.gov/AllRepresentatives

Senate

senate.michigan.gov/senators/senatorinfo_complete.html

Find your local watershed council/group

Note: The Internet Explorer browser may not display this contact list properly. Please email msgpubs@umich.edu for a PDF copy. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Michigan-Watershed-Organizations-Sheet1.pdf

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