Population and Acreage in the
Indiana Portion of the St. Joseph River Basin

    A river basin is comprised of a number of sub-watersheds.  The boundaries of watersheds are determined by the slope of the land surface, and the general fall("gradient") of the drainage-way, whether it be a river, creek or stream, or drainage ditch.  Glacial activity in the region influenced where the boundaries lie and how the natural drainage-ways will flow.

    The Indiana portion of the St. Joseph River Basin consists of all or portions of seven counties:  DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, St. Joseph and Steuben. 

    The chart below pictures the percentage of the River Basin contributed by each county.

wpe6.jpg (16993 bytes)

INDIANA COUNTY ACRES IN THE
RIVER BASIN
POPULATION (Total County--2000 Census)
DeKalb

5,888

 
Elkhart 280,695 182,791
Kosciusko 71,277 74,057
LaGrange 242,393 34,909
Noble 192,108 46,275
St. Joseph 145,322 265,559
Steuben 149,905 33,214

    Although the total population estimates for the Indiana counties within the St. Joseph River Basin is greater than 600,000, activities centering around water resources can swell the population to greater than 1 million people!

St. Joseph River Basin Commission
227 W. Jefferson Blvd.--#1120
South Bend, Indiana   46601-1830
PHONE:  574-287-1829   FAX:  574-287-1840

bd21325_.gif (1504 bytes)