About Muskegon Lake

Muskegon Lake is a 4,150 acre "drowned river mouth" directly connected to Lake Michigan by a navigation channel.

Approximately 11,000 years ago, Muskegon River (and the lake) formed by fluctuating Lake Michigan water levels and wind erosion of coastal sand dunes. The watershed was a continuous system of wetlands, marshes, riparian forests and sand dunes, prior to the lumbering era of the 1800s.

During the 1900s, the lake was dominated by industrial growth related to foundries, metal finishing facilities, petrochemical production and shipping.

Muskegon Lake's sub-watershed is one of fourteen (14) Areas of Concern (AOC) in Michigan. In 1985, the lake and tributaries were designated as an AOC because of degraded ecological conditions that correspond to criteria known as Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs).

Even though significant water quality improvements resulted from the diversion of municipal and industrial wastewater from the lake to the Muskegon County Wastewater Management System in 1973, problems remain.

During the 1980s and into the 2000s, Muskegon Lake's shoreline began to reflect more commercial and recreational uses, and heavy industry began to relocate.

To this day, Muskegon Lake remains an AOC because of water quality, sediment and habitat problems associated with urban runoff, dredging and filling at the shoreline, the historical discharges of polluted wastewater into the AOC, localized groundwater contamination moving toward the lake and its tributaries, and the potential effects on Lake Michigan.