Station list     Available data
ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN


05586100       ILLINOIS RIVER AT VALLEY CITY, IL



LOCATION.-- Lat 39°42'12", long 90°38'43", 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.

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 1994-2000.
SURFACE-WATER QUALITY
 

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

SEDIMENT: Water years 1980-99.
 

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.
BIOLOGICAL: Algae, water years 1980-81; Benthic macroinvertebrates, September 1997, September 1998; fish, August 1998.

GAGE.-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water-stage recorder, satellite telemeter and rain gage. Datum of gage is 418.00 ft above sea level (levels by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers).

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.

EXTREMES FOR CURRENT YEAR.--
SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS: Maximum daily, 820 mg/L, July 6; minimum daily, 16 mg/L, Dec. 2-4.
SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT LOADS: Maximum daily, 93,400 tons, July 6; minimum daily, 249 tons, Dec. 4.
SEDIMENT DISCHARGE, SUSPENDED (TONS/DAY), WATER YEAR OCTOBER 1999 TO SEPTEMBER 2000
MEAN MEAN MEAN
MEAN CONCEN- SEDIMENT MEAN CONCEN- SEDIMENT MEAN CONCEN- SEDIMENT
DISCHARGE TRATION DISCHARGE DISCHARGE TRATION DISCHARGE DISCHARGE TRATION DISCHARGE
DAY (CFS) (MG/L) (TONS/DAY) (CFS) (MG/L) (TONS/DAY) (CFS) (MG/L) (TONS/DAY)
 
OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER
1 13200 89 3120 5350 50 721 7340 17 338
2 10700 161 4600 4380 50 596 7170 16 314
3 9700 145 3810 5760 50 775 6800 16 286
4 9610 127 3290 5840 49 771 5910 16 249
5 9890 112 2980 5440 48 711 7000 26 520
 
6 9900 101 2690 5490 49 727 10200 53 1480
7 9870 91 2420 5480 52 771 11900 82 2640
8 8880 82 1960 5110 56 771 10900 68 1990
9 5110 73 1010 5390 58 846 9570 63 1630
10 5490 64 945 5440 55 809 9380 93 2390
 
11 6180 55 920 5150 52 727 10300 247 6900
12 7220 103 2080 5750 49 767 9700 243 6350
13 7200 124 2410 5470 47 690 7840 208 4430
14 8080 100 2180 5070 44 605 6510 83 1470
15 7520 80 1640 5270 42 596 6980 75 1420
 
16 4980 67 900 5690 65 997 6540 74 1310
17 4760 61 787 5840 93 1480 6720 78 1410
18 5210 56 792 6840 75 1380 7040 82 1560
19 5530 52 769 5890 49 789 7600 86 1780
20 5360 47 684 5230 37 519 6330 89 1520
 
21 5630 43 658 6420 34 593 4950 88 1180
22 4730 40 504 5960 23 375 5500 86 1290
23 4910 37 489 5720 17 260 5840 85 1340
24 5380 35 514 5400 18 262 5610 83 1260
25 5760 34 528 6370 22 380 e5400 82 1200
 
26 5280 32 462 5630 28 424 e5370 81 1170
27 5800 30 476 6030 31 506 5350 79 1140
28 5350 28 408 6480 26 451 5390 77 1120
29 5960 26 424 7350 21 418 5610 75 1130
30 5720 28 429 6270 18 304 5950 72 1160
 
31 5780 39 606 --- --- --- 6240 70 1170
 
TOTAL 214690 --- 45485 171510 --- 20021 222940 --- 53147
 
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
1 6300 69 1170 e4800 91 1180 18000 255 12300
2 7010 77 1460 e4500 83 1010 17400 245 11500
3 6070 66 1090 e4500 74 898 17300 235 11000
4 5750 60 934 e4700 66 834 16900 225 10300
5 6280 72 1230 e5000 59 792 16500 216 9620
 
6 6670 65 1170 e4700 53 671 15800 208 8860
7 5890 50 798 e4700 48 605 14800 190 7570
8 6150 64 1070 e4800 106 1370 12400 149 4970
9 6480 75 1310 e4800 154 2000 9450 116 2970
10 6370 66 1140 e4800 149 1930 8990 116 2820
 
11 5510 71 1050 5640 143 2180 10800 156 4630
12 6860 119 2240 6830 138 2540 12200 185 6110
13 7940 151 3240 6440 132 2300 9640 177 4580
14 8700 131 3080 6150 127 2120 7570 168 3420
15 7610 108 2210 7100 122 2340 6980 149 2800
 
16 5300 112 1590 5620 118 1790 7180 157 3070
17 6240 137 2320 6590 113 2030 9770 156 4140
18 5860 109 1720 7550 109 2220 11500 135 4170
19 5610 92 1390 7110 105 2020 8710 116 2720
20 4850 95 1240 7780 101 2120 8580 100 2320
 
21 5500 93 1380 7850 97 2050 9920 87 2340
22 6230 68 1140 7380 92 1830 10500 78 2230
23 4990 69 916 7410 87 1750 11000 71 2100
24 5210 83 1170 7750 83 1740 11000 64 1900
25 4630 79 981 9620 120 3250 9910 62 1660
 
26 5480 70 1030 13500 118 4290 9400 73 1850
27 e4800 50 644 14800 113 4560 9260 87 2170
28 e4600 41 507 17300 208 9780 8580 94 2170
29 e4400 39 458 18900 265 13500 10300 79 2190
30 e4500 52 636 --- --- --- 11000 65 1950
 
31 e4700 72 918 --- --- --- 10500 54 1540
 
TOTAL 182490 --- 41232 218620 --- 75700 351840 --- 141970
 
APRIL MAY JUNE
1 9520 57 1450 25600 320 22100 21000 328 19000
2 8290 87 1950 24700 302 20100 e22300 346 20800
3 7640 77 1600 23800 283 18100 24200 373 24400
4 6650 58 1040 e22000 259 15400 25200 389 26400
5 8900 57 1370 e21000 213 12100 25500 370 25500
 
6 7240 59 1140 19500 172 9010 25800 344 24000
7 6440 59 1030 16100 139 6030 25900 304 21300
8 7120 131 2570 13100 113 4000 25700 284 19600
9 8290 112 2520 12100 112 3660 25200 306 20800
10 6910 100 1860 13100 174 6240 24600 302 20100
 
11 6760 146 2640 15600 187 7900 24100 286 18600
12 8160 198 4400 16200 189 8270 23900 270 17400
13 9250 173 4330 16100 191 8280 23300 251 15800
14 7610 154 3140 16400 193 8590 23000 229 14200
15 6170 151 2510 17400 195 9200 23000 200 12400
 
16 6790 156 2880 17800 193 9280 23300 199 12500
17 7770 168 3540 17800 179 8630 24100 205 13300
18 10000 181 4940 18200 172 8460 24600 210 14000
19 11400 195 6020 17700 182 8680 25100 216 14700
20 12100 210 6910 17300 194 9050 25700 249 17300
 
21 12800 246 8550 17700 196 9350 27900 332 25100
22 18200 393 21300 18100 174 8500 29900 324 26200
23 e20000 610 32900 18300 170 8420 32300 310 27000
24 23300 723 44400 21100 217 12500 33600 297 26900
25 24200 600 39200 23000 270 16700 35700 344 33300
 
26 25600 500 34500 e21500 303 17600 38800 558 58600
27 26500 417 29800 22000 336 20400 39900 584 62800
28 26800 290 21000 22400 350 21100 40800 355 39100
29 26800 232 16800 e22600 342 20800 41900 316 35800
30 26400 280 19900 e21900 375 22200 42900 284 32800
 
31 --- --- --- e21200 356 20400 --- --- ---
 
TOTAL 393610 --- 326190 591300 --- 381050 849200 --- 739700
 
JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER
1 43000 193 22400 11300 118 3600 7180 37 725
2 42200 199 22700 11300 122 3710 6750 39 709
3 41300 211 23500 11800 148 4740 6360 57 972
4 40100 216 23400 13400 228 8280 6310 83 1410
5 41200 416 46800 14000 208 7860 6620 104 1860
 
6 42200 820 93400 12600 163 5530 7550 88 1790
7 42900 518 59900 11000 163 4850 7040 72 1370
8 42500 322 37000 12800 292 10100 6630 63 1130
9 41500 281 31500 13900 329 12300 7000 64 1200
10 40500 260 28400 15100 295 12100 7310 65 1290
 
11 41100 308 34300 15300 258 10600 7830 67 1410
12 41200 488 54300 12900 197 6880 7960 70 1530
13 40900 378 41800 11000 147 4370 10300 113 3190
14 40600 306 33600 8720 110 2580 12400 177 5940
15 40200 283 30700 6910 85 1580 13600 126 4620
 
16 40000 261 28200 6600 73 1310 14700 86 3380
17 39600 248 26600 8690 64 1490 14400 95 3680
18 38600 254 26500 8170 62 1360 13400 107 3880
19 37400 261 26400 8230 79 1760 12300 111 3690
20 36600 269 26600 8200 104 2310 11000 91 2710
 
21 35400 276 26300 8320 121 2710 10800 74 2170
22 33400 284 25600 6440 107 1850 11900 60 1930
23 31500 292 24700 6100 141 2330 10400 51 1430
24 29300 300 23700 8490 100 2280 10800 64 1890
25 26800 293 21200 9260 68 1700 12600 102 3490
 
26 22700 250 15400 8400 62 1400 13700 137 5080
27 18400 212 10500 7090 57 1100 14200 123 4720
28 15200 179 7340 7180 53 1030 13100 109 3860
29 13000 152 5340 6250 49 818 13000 96 3380
30 11400 129 3940 5970 45 718 12500 87 2960
 
31 11300 115 3500 6960 41 769 --- --- ---
 
TOTAL 1062000 --- 885520 302380 --- 124015 309640 --- 77396
 
YEAR 4870220 2911426
e Estimated


Table of Contents

Introduction

Station Descriptions

Surface-Water Data

Ground-Water Data

Meteorological Data

Biological Data