Muskegon Lake is a 4,150 acre drowned river mouth situated between the Muskegon River and Lake Michigan. The lake is part of the Muskegon River watershed. Its immediate watershed drains approximately 130 square miles and includes the sub-watersheds listed below. The river enters the east end of the lake through a large wetland that is one of four major freshwater estuaries on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Muskegon Lake is connected to Lake Michigan at the west end of the lake through a navigational channel that provides Great Lakes shipping access to our deep water port.
Muskegon Lake also has a long and rich history from when Native Americans first appeared in the area over 2000 years ago to when white settlers and trappers arrived and up through the logging and industrial eras of more recent times. Much of that history has provided the backdrop to the Muskegon Lake we see today. The logging, agricultural, landfill, and industrial practices of the past and the rapid urbanization we have currently experienced have impacted the lake in many ways. Those impacts degraded the natural features and functions of Muskegon Lake profoundly. Indeed, the loss and degradation of those beneficial uses led to Muskegon Lake being designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) by an International Joint Commission of Great Lakes States and Canadian Provinces in the mid-1990s.
The MLWP and its many Federal, State and local partners have worked hard since then to bring this valuable resource “Back from the Brink”.
