Clinton River

Clinton River
The Clinton River in Macomb County
A map of the Clinton River and its watershed
Country	United States
State	Michigan
Counties	Oakland, Macomb
Basin features
River mouth	Lake St. Clair 42°35′24.76″N 82°49′17.17″W / 42.5902111°N 82.8214361°W / 42.5902111; -82.8214361Coordinates: 42°35′24.76″N 82°49′17.17″W / 42.5902111°N 82.8214361°W / 42.5902111; -82.8214361
Basin size	760 square miles (2,000 km2)
Physical characteristics
Length	83 miles (134 km)

The Clinton River is a river in southeastern Michigan in the United States.

The main branch of the river rises from wetlands in Springfield Township, Oakland County, northwest of Pontiac. A series of dams create a number of small lakes west of Pontiac, the last of which is Crystal Lake. The river is piped under downtown Pontiac, re-emerging to the east of downtown. The north branch and the middle branch rise in northern Macomb County and join the main branch in Charter Township of Clinton, which was named after the river. The main branch flows 83.0 miles (133.6 km) from its headwaters to Lake St. Clair in Harrison Township, Michigan.

The Clinton River watershed drains 760 square miles (2,000 km²), including most of Macomb County, a large portion of Oakland County and small portions of Lapeer County and St. Clair County. More than 1.4 million people in over 60 municipalities live in the watershed. For the most part, only the waters located downstream of the city of Mount Clemens are navigable by industrial water vessels.

Under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972, along with 42 other areas, the lower segment of the river was designated as an Area of Concern, based on the heavy presence of pollutant contamination. In 1995, the designation was expanded to include the entire watershed of the river and the lower nearshore of Lake St. Clair.