The St. Joseph River is one of four major rivers draining into the Maumee River system, covering 1,085 mi2/2,810 km2 in northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio, and south-central Michigan. The river and its tributaries flow through Hillsdale County in Michigan, Williams and Defiance Counties in Ohio, and DeKalb and Allen Counties in Indiana before joining St. Mary’s River in Fort Wayne, Indiana to form the head of the Maumee River. Most of the watershed is rural and used for agriculture (79%), supporting a population of 65,000 excluding Fort Wayne, which has a population of 200,000.*
The St. Joseph River region score was based on nine indicators with adequate data. The highest-scoring indicator was fish, while the lowest-scoring indicator was total phosphorus. Read more about the individual indicator scores here.
*Infromation from the St. Joseph River Watershed Initiative.
