One of the uses of the Flint River is dilution of waste-water. Population and industrial growth in the Flint area hah placed new demands on the stream and emphasized the need for an analysis of the surface water resources of the basin. This report describes selected streamflow characteristics of the Flint River and its tributaries, and presents draft-storage relations for the river basin. Flow characteristics for 17 sites show that the 7-day 2-year low flow ranges from 0 to 0.17 cfs (cubic feet per second) per square mile. Draft-storage relations for the basin show that existing storage, if fully utilized, could, on an average, provide a minimum discharge at Montrose of 160 cfs in 19 out of 20 years. The discharge, in conjunction with water diverted from Lake Huron to the Flint River through the Detroit and Flint water systems (about 60 cfs in 1971), indicates that low flows would seldom be less than about 200 cfs at Montrose. Diversions from the basin for irrigation may reduce low flows by about 12 cfs. Ground-water sources offer small potential for development of large supplies of water for streamflow augmentation, although wells in the glacial deposits may provide a supplemental source of water at some locations.
