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, 1997-98, and 2002-03.

 

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water years 1997-98 and 2002.

 

FISH: Water year 1998 and 2003-04.

 

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 this 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.--Fish community samples were collected as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment program (NAWQA), in the lower Illinois River Basin. Collection methods followed Meador and others (1993). Collections were taken at night with a boat electroshocker. Fishes were identified in the field by C. A. Taylor, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. Representative specimens were preserved, identified, and vouchered at the Illinois Natural History Survey fish collection. The sampling reach begins at river mile 59, upstream of Big Blue Island, and continues downstream for 2460 feet.



FISH
Order
Family Number
Scientific name Common name
individuals

  Reach A
8/17/1998
 

Clupeiformes
Clupeidae
Alosa chrysochloris skipjack herring 2
Dorosoma cepedianum gizzard shad 24
Cypriniformes
Catostomidae
Ictiobus cyprinellus bigmouth buffalo 3
Cyprinidae
Cyprinella lutrensis red shiner 1
Cyprinus carpio common carp 14
Lepisosteiformes
Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteus platostomus shortnose gar 1
Osteoglossiformes
Hiodontidae
Hiodon alosoides goldeye 1
Perciformes
Centrarchidae
Lepomis macrochirus bluegill 4
Micropterus salmoides largemouth bass 1
Percichthyidae
Morone chrysops white bass 30
Percidae
Stizostedion vitreum walleye 5
Sciaenidae
Aplodinotus grunniens freshwater drum 8
Siluriformes
Ictaluridae
Ictalurus punctatus channel catfish 2
Noturus nocturnus freckled madtom 1
Pylodictis olivaris flathead catfish 3


Table of Contents

Introduction

Station Descriptions

Surface-Water Data

Ground-Water Data

Meteorological Data

Biological Data