- Quality groundwater is generally available from drift aquifers across most of Michigan.
- Drift is defined as material that was deposited by glaciers thousands of years ago. It includes various combinations of sands, gravels and clays.
- The thickest drift in Michigan is found in the northwest region of the Lower Peninsula. With some drift over 800 feet thick, it is not economical to use the bedrock aquifers. In the southern half of the state, drift is generally less than 400 feet thick.
- Drift that consists mostly of clay generally will not produce sufficient quantities of groundwater. Clay-rich drift is found in the Saginaw Lowlands and the coastal counties of southeastern Michigan, the tip of the Lower Peninsula and the eastern and western ends of the Upper Peninsula.
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- The most productive drift aquifers in the state occur in the coarse-textured drift of the Lower Peninsula, in the eight-county southwestern region, and throughout the central and west-central highlands.
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