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Trivia for you all - can you name one spot in the lower peninsula of Michigan that the local watershed drains to some destination that's not part of the Great Lakes system? In other words, pour some water on the ground, and this water should eventually flow out to somewhere other than the Atlantic via Lake Ontario.

I can only think of the southwestern part of the state - St. Joseph River and south - that would drain into Lake Michigan and get sucked into the backward flowing Chicago River and head southwest via the Illinois River eventually toward the Mississippi and the Gulf. Just guessing...

Man o' War

You are pretty close with that guess Man o' War. Not the part about the backward flowing Chicago River, but in the right general area of SW MI.

Geyer Ditch, southeast of Galien? Ends up in the Kankakee River then westward.

MP73point4 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:51 am

Geyer Ditch, southeast of Galien? Ends up in the Kankakee River then westward.

Agreed. Saw Critzer Farms at https://goo.gl/maps/kMViKwcgmfkWKG7M7 that shows a ditch just north of it that flows down towards South Bend, onto the Kankakee River and out west. Was browsing the Illinois River, thought it was odd it starts at the confluence of two other river names instead of having a traditional start as a tiny stream/lake. Looked up the Kankakee River as it's one of the two forms of the Illinois River, and it said it had 7 square miles of watershed in Michigan.

Agree as well. Little know fact that has been floating in my head for years.

Another interesting fact. There are places in that area where you cannot reach a water source by simply drilling a well. One of my friends who is in the well drilling business said that. Often where two watershed have a divide occasionally that will occur. That's an area know to be problematic for residential wells by those in the well drilling business.

A similar circumstance exists in the Upper Peninsula. The Wisconsin River originates at Lac Vieux Desert which lies partially in Michigan.

https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Waters ... sins/upwis

~Z~ wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:51 pm

Trivia for you all - can you name one spot in the lower peninsula of Michigan that the local watershed drains to some destination that's not part of the Great Lakes system? In other words, pour some water on the ground, and this water should eventually flow out to somewhere other than the Atlantic via Lake Ontario.

How much water are we talking? If it's just a small glass, most of it would likely dry up with evaporation.