The Flint River is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in the
Flint/Tri-Cities region of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The river's headwaters are in
Columbiaville in
Lapeer County and flows through the counties of
Lapeer,
Genesee, and
Saginaw. The cities of
Lapeer,
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
,
Flushing, and
Montrose are along its course.
Name
The river's name is a translation from the
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe ( ), also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous la ...
''Biiwaanagoonh-ziibi'' (Flinty River). For a time, an
Indian Reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...
named Pewonigowink (''Biiwaanagoonying'': By the Flinty
iver
Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
existed near
Genesee, Michigan.
Course
The Flint River drains of Michigan, in
Lapeer,
Genesee,
Shiawassee,
Saginaw,
Oakland,
Tuscola, and
Sanilac counties.
The river forms in Lapeer County near
Columbiaville where the river's South Branch and North Branch come together. Its volume is supplemented by numerous creeks, including: Kearsley Creek, Thread Creek and
Swartz Creek in Genesee County, and
Misteguay Creek in Saginaw County. The river flows in a southwesterly direction past Flint before turning northward near Flushing. It empties into the
Shiawassee River in the
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge near the city of
Saginaw, as do the
Bad River and
Cass River. The Shiawassee then converges with the
Tittabawassee River to form the
Saginaw River. The Saginaw empties into the
Saginaw Bay of
Lake Huron.
Features along the Flint River
The river is
dammed in
Richfield Township to form the Holloway Reservoir, which was formed in 1953 and fully completed 1955. The reservoir was constructed, originally, as a water supply for Flint, and to move the river through the city more quickly to dilute sewage. By 1967, though, the city purchased its drinking water from the City of Detroit, via a pipeline from Lake Huron, and only used the reservoir as an emergency back-up water supply.
The C.S. Mott Dam just downstream and west of
Genesee forms C S Mott Lake and was completed in 1972 for recreational use. Local attractions along the lake include
Crossroads Village (home of the
Huckleberry Railroad), Stepping Stone Falls, and the
riverboat ''Genesee Belle''.
The next dam is the Utah Dam. A largely steel dam, it was completed in 1928 to prevent industrial discharges from entering the drinking water supply downstream. The gates have since been locked in the open position so that it no longer impedes the flow of the river.
The Hamilton Dam exists downstream at the
University of Michigan–Flint campus in downtown Flint. Constructed in 1920, it once also served as a pedestrian bridge, but is now in severe disrepair. Because of its dilapidation, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ordered that steps be taken by 2008, and if that did not occur that the river be lowered to reduce the use of the dam.
[John Foren]
Flint's Hamilton Dam under the microscope for repairs
''Flint Journal'' via MLive (February 22, 2008). In 2008, the city of Flint spent $30,000 on a pre-engineering study to assess whether a new dam was needed or the old one be repaired.
Finally, downstream from the Hamilton Dam is an inflatable dam just west of the Grand Traverse Street Bridge. The Fabridam was completed in 1979 mostly for visual and recreational purposes as it impounds very little of the river. It was replaced in 2001 with a $604,000 Obermeyer Hydro Inc. dam.
In the city of Flint, the river flows past the sites of several former
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
factories, most notably
Chevrolet's first assembly plant, which was bisected by the river, and downtown through the campus of the University of Michigan–Flint and Riverbank Park. Also along the river front is the Flint Carriage Factory site, later
Dort Motors. The
Durant-Dort Carriage Company Office, now a historic landmark, is across the street. Continuing downstream, the river runs past
Kettering University and McLaren Hospital, then into Flint Township and through
Flushing. The stretch of the Flint River from downtown Flint to Kettering University is channelized with concrete sides.
A recreational trail called the Flint River Trail runs along the river from Grand Traverse Street in downtown Flint to Carpenter Road on one side and Johnson Elementary School on Pierson Road on the other. It is a paved path, except behind the Flint water plant. North of Carpenter Road, the trail connects to the Mott Lake Trailway, which goes to Bluebell Beach on Bray Road and Stepping Stone Falls on Branch Road in Genesee Township. Another portion of the Mott Lake Trailway runs alongside the lake from the corner of Center Road and Coldwater Road to the corner of Genesee Road and Stanley Road. Together, the trails run . An organization named Friends of the Flint River Trail maintains it, in addition to the Genesee County Parks & Recreation Commission and Flint Parks & Recreation Department.
Wildlife, conservation, and pollution
The river has suffered from decades upon decades of
industrial pollution,
[John Wisely & Robin Erb]
Chemical testing could have predicted Flint's water crisis
''Detroit Free Press'' (October 11, 2015). although cleanups following the
Clean Water Act have vastly improved pollution since the 1950s and 1960s.
[The Flint: A good river with a bad reputation](_blank)
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (December 2, 2015).[Scott Atkinson]
The Flint River isn't what you think it is, and here's why you should check it out
MLive (August 11, 2014).
The river has the same fishing advisory as the Great Lakes.
Fish in the river include
smallmouth bass,
walleye, and some
trout.
The water in the Flint River has high levels of
chlorides (thought to be the result of, in part,
road salt), making it highly corrosive to lead pipes.
Chlorides do not pose a direct threat to fish, wildlife, or humans, but cause problems in that they corrode
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
and other metals in piping and plumbing.
Flint water crisis
In April 2014, reacting to years of cost increases in water purchased from Detroit, the City of Flint voted to join a
new water project bringing
Lake Huron water directly to Flint by 2016. When the decision was announced, Detroit invoked a
termination clause in the contract cutting Flint off from Detroit water in one year. Flint and Detroit negotiated to maintain the connection to the Detroit system but ultimately the decision was made to switch its water source from Detroit back to water from the Flint River.
Almost immediately, residents began complaining about the water's taste and appearance, saying it was cloudy and emitted a foul odor.
[
The city issued a notice informing Flint residents of their water containing unlawful levels of trihalomethanes, a chlorine byproduct linked to cancer and other diseases.][ The Hurley Medical Center, in Flint, released a study in September 2015, which stated the proportion of infants and children with high concentrations of lead in their blood had nearly doubled since the city switched its water source.][ While tests showed that the water leaving Flint's treatment plant was lead-free, by the time that water reached household taps it could still contain elevated levels of lead. This happened because the Flint River water was more corrosive to lead pipes than the previously used water source, Lake Huron;] a study conducted by Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards, a leading authority on water quality, showed that the Flint River water corroded lead pipes at 19 times the rate of water piped from Detroit.
Cities and villages along the river
* Montrose, Michigan
* Flushing, Michigan
* Flint, Michigan
* Genesee, Michigan
* Columbiaville, Michigan
* Lapeer, Michigan
References
External links
Flint River assessment
Maps and graphs of Michigan water resources conditions
USGS Water Data
Flint River water data near Otisville
USGS Water Data
Flint River near Flint
Flint River Watershed Coalition
USGS water data
for the Flint River near its terminus
{{authority control
Rivers of Michigan
Rivers of Genesee County, Michigan
Rivers of Lapeer County, Michigan
Rivers of Saginaw County, Michigan
Tributaries of Lake Huron