ABSTRACT
The land and water surfaces of Michigan are largely the result of the sculpturing, erosion, and deposition of materials during the Pleistocene epoch. Water, an absolute essential for human life, is abundant in Michigan both on the surface and as groundwater contained in the glacial mantle and the sedimentary bedrock of the state. Michigan has three main sources of freshwater: precipitation, of which there is a fair amount; the Great Lakes, which border much of the state; and the water found in the loose materials that form the land surface of the state and in the underground rock formations. Michigan is fortunate in that most parts of the state have sufficient supplies of water that can be reached by digging wells into the surface layers of glacial material or down into the rock layers that act as aquifers—water bearers. Michiganians have made good use of many of the areas of relatively infertile, sandy soil by employing technology.
