Michigan's water challenges include flooding, drought, water-quality problems, uneven water supply, stormwater, damaged aquatic ecosystems and invasive species. Its waters: about 36,000 miles of streams, more than 11,000 inland lakes, 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, and aquifers statewide.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) works with local, state and federal agencies, tribes and universities to supply the science for managing them — using standard methods at streamgages, water-quality and groundwater stations, and keeping all data in a national, quality-assured database. Funding comes from partners, federal appropriations and the USGS Cooperative Matching Funds. This is the 2016 picture; more at the Michigan Water Science Center.
A streamflow monitoring station on the Falls River near L'Anse, Michigan. USGS.
Continuous monitoring
Data from about 350 sites — surface water, groundwater, water quality, precipitation and lakes — flow into the National Water Information System (NWIS), the nation's main water-data repository.
| Network | Scale | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Streamgages | about 180, plus 11 lake-level gages | stage and flow every 15 minutes, online every 1 to 2 hours; used for flood prediction, allocation, engineering, research and recreation |
| Groundwater wells | about 100 monitored for levels; about 35 continuously, 3 in near real time | NWIS holds more than 850,000 records of wells, springs and more nationwide |
| Water-quality stations | 45 real-time | temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity; used for hydropower, water treatment, fish habitat, regulation and public safety. NWIS holds more than 400,000 sample records |
Surface-water studies
- AFINCH (Analysis of Flows In Networks of CHannels): software that estimates monthly flows for stream segments in the National Hydrography Dataset from streamflow, water use, climate, land cover and catchment data. It has produced monthly flows for more than 100,000 stream segments in the Great Lakes basin, 1951–2012.
- Great Lakes connecting channels: with the International Joint Commission and Water Survey Canada, USGS measures flow in the St. Marys, St. Clair and Detroit rivers using acoustic Doppler velocity meters and current profilers, which cope with backwater and unsteady flow.
- Flood inundation maps: hydraulic models plus detailed topography yield libraries of maps showing what floods at each river level, tied to real-time gages and National Weather Service forecasts — for preparedness, emergency response, recovery and planning, with the NWS and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. See the Flood Inundation Mapper.
Data-collection platforms for acoustic Doppler velocity meters on the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie. USGS.
Water-quality studies
- Inland lakes: monitoring and modeling the effects of shoreline development and the nutrient sources behind algal blooms and eutrophication; an interactive map ties measurements to satellite imagery to predict eutrophication.
- Harmful algal blooms: some cyanobacteria make toxins that threaten people and wildlife near drinking-water intakes and beaches. USGS tracks nutrients and flows in Great Lakes tributaries and uses next-generation sequencing to see how microbes change before, during and after blooms.
- Urban stormwater: monitoring green infrastructure — groundwater response, flow, emerging contaminants, nutrients, sediment and pathogens — to improve best management practices.
- Farms: edge-of-field, tile-drain and receiving-stream monitoring of nutrients, sediment and pesticides to judge conservation practices.
A harmful algal bloom in Brest Bay, Lake Erie, near Monroe. USGS.
Edge-of-field monitoring near Swartz Creek. USGS.
Microbiology
The Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) combines culturing, microscopy, E. coli and enterococci counts, PCR and qPCR for pathogens, source tracking and antibiotic-resistance genes, and next-generation sequencing. Its research covers:
- how algal blooms and pollution reshape microbial communities, and genes for nutrient cycling, biodegradation, pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance;
- pathogens in beaches, drinking water and farm and city watersheds — sources, transport and survival, alongside fecal indicator bacteria;
- antibiotic-resistant bacteria near farms, animal-feeding operations, wastewater and cities;
- wildlife health — for example, searching lake sediment, water, Cladophora, mussels and invertebrates for the source of the botulinum toxin behind mass shorebird deaths.
Groundwater and water use
- Groundwater studies measure well levels, aquifer properties, flow and contaminants, and budget how aquifers respond to pumping or climate — including how groundwater feeds streams and lakes. Examples: Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties, the Great Lakes basin.
- Water use: county-by-county surveys of amounts, sources and categories every 5 years since 1950, supporting the Great Lakes Compact. Michigan water-use data.
Drilling a monitoring well near Schoolcraft. USGS.
Sources
Based on Science Center Capabilities to Monitor and Investigate Michigan's Water Resources, 2016, compiled by Julia A. Giesen and Carrie E. Givens, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2016–3064 (publication page), citing Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (2016). Photographs restored from the fact sheet's PDF; one credited to a university is left out. A work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from pubs.usgs.gov
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