What is a watershed?

A watershed is the region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water, or in this case, the Rouge River.

Map of watersheds in SE Michigan

Rouge Facts

• The Rouge River watershed is approximately 438 square miles and includes 48 municipalities in three counties.
• The Rouge River watershed has a population of over 1.5 million people.
• More than 50% of the watershed is considered urbanized with less than 25% remaining undeveloped.
• There are more than 400 lakes, impoundments, and ponds in the watershed.
• The Rouge River itself has a total of 126 river miles and is comprised of four major branches: the Main, Upper, Middle, and Lower.
• The Rouge River watershed is divided into six subwatersheds.

Rouge River Subwatershed Map

What issues affect the health of the Rouge River watershed?

Although most would believe that industry is the biggest contributor to pollution in the Rouge River, industry only causes about 2% of pollution to the river. Individuals are a major contributor to the pollution of the Rouge River. Large amounts of pollution are carried by storm water runoff, or the water that runs over the ground during a rainstorm, and directly into the Rouge River.

Storm water picks up pollutants in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, oil, various chemicals and bacteria from animal waste. Eventually this storm water flows through storm drains and into the Rouge River without treatment. Therefore, the health of the Rouge River is affected by activities within the entire watershed. One of the things that you can do is practice River Friends Lawn Care.

Other factors that affect the health of the Rouge River

• Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
• Illicit & illegal discharges
• Flooding & stream bank erosion
• Loss of wildlife habitat