The Tittabawassee River flows in a generally southeasterly direction through the

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The river begins at Secord Lake in Clement Township, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the East Branch and the Middle Branch. From there it flows through Gladwin, Midland and

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

counties where, as a major tributary of the

Saginaw River The Saginaw River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and S ...

, it flows into it at

. Its tributaries include the Chippewa,

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

Molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, and

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

rivers. Significant communities on or near the Tittabawassee River include Saginaw, Midland, and Sanford. At Edenville, the river was impounded by the hydroelectric

Edenville Dam Edenville Dam was an earthen embankment dam at the confluence of the Tittabawassee River and the Tobacco River in Mid Michigan, United States, forming Wixom Lake. The dam was about north of Edenville, mostly in the southeast corner of Toba ...

to create

Wixom Lake Wixom Lake was a reservoir in the U.S. state of Michigan from 1925 to 2020. It was named after Frank Wixom, who was instrumental in building the Edenville Dam. Unusual for its size, Wixom Lake boasts a lighthouse on Musselman Island. From 2019-2020 ...

. It was also impounded by a hydroelectric dam in Sanford to create

Sanford Lake Sanford Lake was a man-made reservoir located in Midland County, Michigan, but is no longer present since the failure of the dam in May 2020. It was formed by the damming of the Tittabawassee River near the town of Sanford, Michigan. It was bu ...

prior to the dam failures and resulting flooding on May 19, 2020. In Saginaw County, the river flows through Tittabawassee Township, which is named for the river and contains the unincorporated community of

Freeland Freeland may refer to: Places Canada *Freeland, Prince Edward Island United Kingdom *Freeland, Oxfordshire United States *Freeland, Maryland *Freeland, Michigan *Freeland, Ohio *Freeland, Pennsylvania *Freeland, Washington Other uses *Freel ...

. The main river is long and drains an area of .

Floods

On May 19, 2020, the Edenville Dam failed, followed by the Sanford Dam downstream being overtopped and a dike breaking at Poseyville, resulting in major flooding in Midland County. 10,000 people were evacuated including a seniors home and a few hospital patients. Two emergency shelters had to be relocated due to flooding and electrical power losses. Floodwater entered the Dow Chemical plant, forcing its shutdown and mixing with its containment ponds, leading to concern over pollution. The next day, water levels were predicted to reach 38 feet: four feet higher than the flood of 1986. National Guard units and a

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

team were brought in to assist. File:Tridge Undercarriage.jpg, The Tridge is a three-way footbridge at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers File:Sentinel-2_L1C_image_on_2020-05-23_(2)_01.jpg, May 2020 floods viewed from space.

References

External links

Map of real-time streamflow compared to historical streamflow for the day of the year
(Michigan)
Michigan State University Wildlife Toxicology Lab Tittabawassee River ProjectState of Michigan DEQ Midland/Tittabawassee River Dioxin Information Page
{{Authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Saginaw County, Michigan Rivers of Ogemaw County, Michigan Rivers of Gladwin County, Michigan Rivers of Midland County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Huron

Floods

See also

References

External links