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The Grand River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It runs through the cities of Jackson, Eaton Rapids, Lansing, Grand Ledge, Portland, Ionia, Lowell, Grand Rapids, and Grand Haven. Native Americans who lived along the river before the arrival of the French and British called the river O-wash-ta-nong, meaning ''Far-away-water'', because of its length. ==Description== As the glacial ice receded from what is the central Lower Peninsula of Michigan around 11,000 years ago, the Maple River and lower Grand River served as a drainage channel for the meltwater. The channel ran east to west, emptying into proglacial Lake Chicago, the ancestor of Lake Michigan. Today the Grand River rises in Somerset Township in Hillsdale County and Liberty Township in Jackson County, and flows through Jackson, Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, Ionia, Kent, and Ottawa counties before emptying into Lake Michigan. Its watershed drains an area of , including 18 counties and 158 townships. Tributaries of the river include (beginning near river source and travelling downstream): Portage River, Red Cedar River, Looking Glass River, Maple River, Bellamy Creek, Flat River, Thornapple River, Rogue River, Coldbrook Creek, Plaster Creek, Bass River, and Crockery Creek. The Grand River carries an average 3,800 ft³/s (108 m³/s). It has several dams along its length but is a trout and salmon stream for much of its length. It is estimated that 22% of the pesticide usage in the Lake Michigan watershed occurs in the Grand River drainage, which accounts for only 13% of the lake's total watershed. Much of the basin is flat, and it contains many swamps and lakes. Every ten years the river is celebrated by an expedition along the entire length. The journey of discovery explores and documents the problems and opportunities of Michigan's Grand River and its watershed. Grand River Expedition 2010 (GRE2010) included a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, technicians, historians, educators, students, environmental professionals, boaters and anglers, civic and business leaders, local, state and federal government representatives, writers, visual media specialists and private individuals from the general public. GRE2010 began in Liberty Center south of Jackson on July 14, continued down the 225 navigable miles through Eaton Rapids, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and ended at Grand Haven on Lake Michigan on July 26.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/articles/gre2010.html )〕 Traditionally, some participants make the entire trip, camping along the way, while others paddle shorter stretches of the river. The watershed analysis and teaching team conducted studies and explains resulted as it moves downstream. The expedition offered presentations, displays and demonstrations to communities along the river in an attempt to interact with the river, its tributaries, and its people throughout the watershed. One of its stops was in Portland, at the riverside Verlen Kruger Memorial pavilion.〔(Verlen Kruger Memorial Project )〕 Kruger traveled over by paddle, was the 1990 and 2000 GRE Rivermaster, and counted the Grand as his favorite river. A 500-passenger dinner cruise ship modeled after a riverboat operates on the river in Lansing. Grand Rapids was built on the site of a large rapids on the river, although these have disappeared after the installation of a low-head dam, and later a fish ladder. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Grand River (Michigan)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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