

Select a Partner:Check below to see info!
Kalamazoo County Drain Commissioners Office

Our Mission is to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Kalamazoo County citizens, the protection of surface waters and the environment, and to promote the long-term environmental sustainability of Kalamazoo County by providing storm water management, flood control, soil erosion controls and education.
Fun Fact!
The City of Kalamazoo Wastewater Treatment Plant currently treats on average about 26 million gallons per day!
Kalamazoo Watershed - Public Responsibility & Stewardship
Learn how to Protect Your Stormwater
Water is constantly moving through the water cycle. It is important to remember that human activities affect the water cycle in various ways.:
1. The removal of ground water & surface water for potable (drinking water)water sources
2. Water is used for irrigation and industrial processes
3. Damming rivers
4. Household water usage
5. Creating impermeable (does not allow water to flow through) surfaces, likeroads and parking lots
6. Deforestation
Human Impact on the Water Cycle
Precipitation is rain, snow or sleet. About 10% of precipitation that falls runs over the ground to become stormwater
stormwater sewer systems are built to help manage stormwater in urbanized areas. In the Kalamazoo area municipalities have separate stormwater sewer systems, so those stormwater sewers flow directly to local surface water bodies
Surface water includes local lakes, rivers and streams and above ground water bodies.
*Click to Enlarge
Stormwater, or precipitation (rain, snow and sleet), falls on the ground, about 10% runs over the ground and collects in surface water, and about 25% infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Surface water is water held in lakes, rivers, streams and other above ground water bodies. Groundwater is water that is held in the ground between particles of sand and gravel. In Kalamazoo area, all our drinking water supply comes from groundwater. Drinking (potable) water is groundwater that has been pumped from the ground, treated at a local water treatment station, then delivered to our homes and businesses. That drinking (potable) water gets turned into wastewater when used by people or processes. Wastewater treatment plants are designed to remove contaminates before returning the treated water to the Kalamazoo River. Households, industry, and other human activities all have potential to become sources of contamination to the water cycle.
Mission Statement
Topic 1: Promote Public Responsibility and Stewardship of the Kalamazoo Watershed