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Berrien Springs Dam, Michigan
Berrien Springs Dam is the top of the St. Joseph River run — 4 anadromous species stack below it out of Lake Michigan.
Open in BirdTrout41.945, -86.328333 · Berrien County · NID MI00538. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
Berrien Springs Dam is the anadromous ceiling for the St. Joseph River — the top of the run out of Lake Michigan. Fish moving up from the lake stop here, which is 24.3 miles of river below this structure.
| Species | In the river | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Chinook salmon | Aug–Oct | Fish stage off the harbour through August and enter as the river cools; the run peaks in October. |
| Coho salmon | Sept–Nov | Overlaps the chinook run and holds later; peak October and November. |
| Steelhead | Oct–May | Two runs on one calendar — a fall push from October that winters in the river, and the spring run that peaks March through April. |
| Lake-run brown trout | Sept–Nov | Runs with the salmon and stays after them; peak October. |
Curated calendar guidance from state run-timing prose, not regulation and not an observation of this river on any day. MDNR run-timing guidance and Michigan Fishing Guide prose, curated.
Ceiling cited as: EGLE Michigan Dam Inventory, DamName 'Berrien Springs Dam', River 'Saint Joseph River'
The structure
- Owner
- American Electric Power Private
- Purpose
- Hydroelectric
- Completed
- 1908
- Type
- Gravity
- Height
- 36 ft
- Length
- 1425 ft
- Spillway
- Controlled, 270 ft wide
- Storage
- 6,400 acre-ft · 600 acre pool
- Drainage
- 4,081 sq mi
- Condition
- Satisfactory · High hazard potential
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
No designated coldwater reach within a mile and a half of this structure.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph River at Niles, MI | 8.7 mi | 64.4 °F | 4,070 cfs |
| Osborn Drain at Dewey Lake St Nr Glenwood, MI | 15.4 mi | 58.6 °F | 12 cfs |
| Dowagiac Creek at Dutch Settlement Rd Nr Dowagiac, | 16.9 mi | 59.4 °F | 43 cfs |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not.
Getting to it
- St. Joseph River Shamrock Park 0.7 mi · walk in
- St. Joseph River Jasper Dairy DNR Boat Launch 5.4 mi · walk in
- Jasper Dairy Road 5.6 mi · walk in · Saint Joseph River
- Dowagiac River Dodd Park 6.2 mi · walk in
- Singer Lake 6.7 mi · walk in
- Peavine Street 7.5 mi · canoe launch · Dowagiac River
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle LLC 8.5 mi · Niles · +1-269-683-3474