Water Flows
into Lake Macatawa

The Macatawa River, formerly the Black River, with its two branches is by far the most prominent tributary of Lake Macatawa, providing almost 90 percent of the total water volume that enters the Lake. Pine Creek, flowing into Pine Creek Bay, is the second largest tributary.

In addition to surface water – water flowing through tributaries – groundwater finds its way into Lake Macatawa. Groundwater is any water flowing below the surface of the land, generally along the top of or below clay deposits. Because the land of the Macatawa Watershed is composed of layers of sand and clay above impermeable bedrock the Watershed’s groundwater system is very complex, and has not yet been mapped completely.