Water resources data for the 1996 water year for Michigan consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage and contents of lakes and reservoirs; and ground water levels. This report contains discharge records for 144 streamflow-gaging stations; stage only records for 1 stream-gaging stations and 19 lake-gaging stations; stage and contents for 4 lakes and reservoirs; water-quality records for 15 streamflow-gaging stations and 1 lake-gaging station; water-level records for 35 ground-water wells. Also included are 29 crest-stage partial-record stations and 2 low-flow partial-record stations. Additional water data were collected at various sites not involved in the systematic data-collection program. Miscellaneous data were collected at 28 measuring sites and 3 water-quality sampling sites. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating State, local, and Federal agencies in Michigan.