Station list     Available data
ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN


05586100       ILLINOIS RIVER AT VALLEY CITY, IL

 

LOCATION.-- Lat 39°42'12", long 90°38'43" (NAD of 1927), in SE1/4NW1/4 sec.34, T.15 N., R.14 W., Scott County, Hydrologic Unit 07130011, on upstream side of Norfolk & Southern Corporation Railroad bridge at Flints Creek, 0.4 mi east of Valley City, 1.8 mi downstream from Mauvaise Terre Creek, and at mile 61.3. Auxiliary gage 10.0 miles upstream.
 

DRAINAGE AREA.-- 26,743 mi2, does not include diversion from Lake Michigan through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which has occurred since Jan. 17, 1900.
 

PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE
 

DISCHARGE: October 1938 to current year. Prior to October 1960, at site 0.2 mi upstream at same datum. Prior to October 1989, published as "at Meredosia." Records are considered equivalent.
 

STAGE: Water years 1994 to current year.

SURFACE-WATER QUALITY
 

CHEMICAL: Water years 1975-93 and 1996 to current year.
 

SEDIMENT: February 1980 to current year.
 

SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Water years 1975-81.
 

WATER TEMPERATURE: Water years 1975-81.
 

MISCELLANEOUS: Contaminants in streambed sediments, October 1996; contaminants in fish tissue, October 1996; sediment concentration and particle size, water years 1996-2003.

BIOLOGICAL
 

ALGAE: Water years 1980-81.
 

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water years 1997-98, and 2002.
 

FISH: Water year 1998, and 2003.
 

HABITAT: Water years 1997-98, and 2003.
 

GAGE.-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's water-stage recorder and satellite telemeter, crest-stage gage, and water-quality monitor. Datum of gage is 418.00 ft above NGVD of 1929 (levels by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). Prior to Nov. 25, 1992 and Oct. 1, 1994 to current; auxiliary gage (05585500) at site 10.0 mi upstream. Nov. 25, 1992 to Sept. 30, 1994; auxiliary gage operated at the Valley City site (05586100).
 

REMARKS.-- Occasional regulation at low flow by navigation dam at La Grange. Since Jan. 17, 1900, flow has included diversion from Lake Michigan through Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Suspended-sediment samples were collected by a local observer twice weekly with additional samples collected during high runoff periods. Since February 1994, samples used to compute sediment record have been collected at upstream side Rt. 106 bridge at Florence at mile 56.
 

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE: Maximum discharge, 123,000 ft3/s, May 26-28, 1943; maximum gage height, 28.61 ft, May 26, 1943; minimum daily discharge, 1,330 ft3/s, Sept. 2, 1984.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS: Maximum daily, 3,720 mg/L, Apr. 14, 1981; minimum daily, 14 mg/L, Dec. 26, 1984, July 21, 1993.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT LOADS: Maximum daily, 410,000 tons, June 4, 1980; minimum daily, 172 tons, Sept. 2, 1984.
 

REMARKS FOR CURRENT YEAR.-- Records fair except those for Oct. 1 to Apr. 2 and estimated daily discharges, which are poor.
Discharge, cubic feet per second, WATER YEAR OCTOBER 2002 TO SEPTEMBER 2003
DAILY MEAN VALUES
DAY OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
 
1 5400  5030  4830  7010  e5300  7360  11100  11100  19100  10500  31600  17400 
2 5940  5370  5370  8140  e6000  7640  10900  13300  17400  10100  30200  18400 
3 6040  5540  4740  8570  e5800  7880  10900  16400  17000  11400  29000  14600 
4 5840  5210  5690  7890  e5700  7330  10800  19800  17400  11000  28000  12400 
5 5660  5080  4080  7820  e7400  7090  13800  e24500  17400  10300  26800  10900 
 
6 6850  5560  5380  7640  e7000  7520  15700  e26900  17600  9630  25700  9790 
7 6420  5460  5640  7850  e6600  7860  17100  e28000  17800  8840  24400  9960 
8 8190  6300  4670  6620  e6300  7360  18900  e28900  16600  9450  22100  9920 
9 7700  6020  4620  5780  6100  6510  20300  e29900  15000  13500  18300  9540 
10 6860  4850  4760  6090  5860  6810  20700  e30800  14700  21700  15500  8140 
 
11 7180  4620  4580  6460  5790  7530  20900  e32000  15300  28400  13700  7500 
12 6680  5030  4860  7140  5420  8290  20700  32500  16500  30400  12700  6240 
13 5710  5230  4530  6200  6620  8810  20500  35100  19000  32900  12500  4650 
14 6090  4550  5660  5230  7480  9390  19500  37700  21900  34200  12600  4730 
15 5730  4630  6330  5680  9650  10100  17700  39400  21500  34400  11900  5610 
 
16 5800  4590  5880  5790  9160  10800  15100  40500  21000  34100  10400  5560 
17 5570  5320  6040  e6000  8020  11000  15300  41200  20300  33800  9610  5340 
18 6370  5820  8290  e5400  7900  10500  17100  41600  20000  36000  8510  4120 
19 5920  5090  8230  e5600  7800  12100  17300  41400  19800  38200  8480  4620 
20 5490  4370  7680  e5800  9040  15800  14700  40900  19700  38100  8270  6820 
 
21 5310  4700  8300  e6000  9750  15400  11300  39600  19600  37100  7510  7080 
22 5480  4470  8970  e5700  9760  12700  10800  38200  19000  36400  7050  6580 
23 5590  5190  9250  e5100  9240  12200  11300  36900  17900  36300  7360  5000 
24 5650  4810  9200  e5200  8300  12400  12200  35600  15100  36200  6830  5100 
25 5610  4690  9650  e5300  7770  11800  13300  34000  12600  36200  7180  4940 
 
26 4860  4990  9160  e5200  7480  11700  15700  32500  13500  36100  7350  4710 
27 5030  5130  7960  e5100  7160  12300  14000  30700  13700  35600  6760  4700 
28 5280  5040  7320  e4700  7120  11900  11700  28900  13100  35400  6650  5260 
29 5470  4910  6260  e5000  ---  11000  10600  e26000  12500  34900  5200  5060 
30 5620  3800  6740  e5200  ---  11500  11000  e23200  11700  33900  5880  5410 
 
31 5160  ---  6230  e4700  ---  11600  ---  20500  ---  32800  6760  --- 

TOTAL 184500 151400 200900 189910 205520 312180 450900 958000 513700 847820 434800 230080
MEAN 5952 5047 6481 6126 7340 10070 15030 30900 17120 27350 14030 7669
MAX 8190 6300 9650 8570 9760 15800 20900 41600 21900 38200 31600 18400
MIN 4860 3800 4080 4700 5300 6510 10600 11100 11700 8840 5200 4120
e Estimated
STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1939 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN 12710 14290 17570 19430 24580 33480 37120 36780 30320 21580 13780 11310
MAX 54840 48900 78130 59540 67060 94940 93800 78160 87690 60820 50850 62870
(WY) 1994 1986 1983 1993 1974 1985 1979 1970 1974 1993 1981 1993
MIN 4258 5047 5923 4808 4144 10070 10010 11170 6207 6649 5709 5164
(WY) 1965 2003 1963 1963 1963 2003 1956 1988 1988 1988 1941 1976

SUMMARY STATISTICS FOR 2002 CALENDAR YEAR FOR 2003 WATER YEAR WATER YEARS 1939 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL 9228110  4679710         
ANNUAL MEAN 25280  12820          22730         
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN 46810          1993
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN 8977          1940
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN 106000      May 20 41600              May 18 123000          May 27 1943
LOWEST DAILY MEAN 3800      Nov 30 3800              Nov 30 1330          Sep 2 1984
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM 4750      Nov 20 4750              Nov 20 2290          Oct 8 1964
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW 41800      A     May 17 123000      B C
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE 11.55 D     Jul 18 28.61 B May 26 1943
INSTANTANEOUS LOW FLOW 3340              E
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS 57000  31100          47700         
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS 13400  8300          16000         
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS 5260  5030          6490         

A - Gage height, 11.29

B - At Meredosia.

C - May 26-28, 1943

D - Discharge, 36,600 ft3/s.

E - Nov. 30 and Dec. 5.


Table of Contents

Introduction

Station Descriptions

Surface-Water Data

Ground-Water Data

Meteorological Data

Biological Data