LOCATION.-- Lat 40°27'15", long 89°36'22" (NAD of 1927), in SE1/4SE1/4 sec.12, T.23 N., R.5 W., Tazewell County, Hydrologic Unit 07130004, on right downstream side of bridge on Towerline Road, 2.5 mi east of State Highway 29, 3.9 mi northeast of Green Valley, 5.8 mi south of Pekin, 10.2 mi north of U.S. Highway 136, and at mile 17.3.

DRAINAGE AREA.-- 1,073 mi². Area at site used prior to Oct. 1, 1988, 1,089 mi².

PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE

DISCHARGE: March 1921 to September 1956; June 1988 to current year.

STAGE: Water years 1994 to current year.

PARTIAL RECORD: Annual maximum, water years 1957-88.

SURFACE-WATER QUALITY

CHEMICAL: October 1997 to September 1998.

SEDIMENT: October 1994 to September 1997.

MISCELLANEOUS: Contaminants of streambed sediment, July 1997; contaminants of fish tissue, July 1997; streambank sediment size, October 1997; Streambed sediment size, October 1997; sediment concentration and particle size, water years 1996-98.

BIOLOGICAL

ALGAE: Water years 1996-97.

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water year 1996-97.

FISH: Water year 1997.

HABITAT: Water year 1996, 2003.

GAGE.-- Water-stage recorder, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers satellite telemeter and a crest-stage gage. Datum of gage is 477.10 ft above NGVD of 1929 (levels by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) (476.76 ft NAVD 1988). Prior to Jan. 17, 1933, chain gage at site 3.5 mi downstream on railroad bridge at datum 2.00 ft higher. Jan. 17, 1933, to May 13, 1940, chain gage, and May 14, 1940 to Sept. 30, 1952, wire-weight gage at site 3.6 mi downstream at datum 2.00 ft higher. Oct. 1, 1952 to Oct. 31, 1956, wire-weight gage, and Nov. 1, 1956 to Sept. 30, 1988, crest-stage gage at site 3.6 mi down stream at present datum.

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE: Maximum discharge, 51,000 ft³/s, Dec. 6, 1982, gage height, 16.13 ft, site then in use; maximum recorded gage height, 28.44 ft, Jan. 16, 2005, discharge, 16,400 ft³/s; minimum discharge observed, 17 ft³/s, Oct. 26, 27, 1940.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS: Maximum daily, 6,160 mg/L, May 27, 1996; minimum daily, 4 mg/L, May 11, 1997.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT LOADS: Maximum daily 99,800 tons, May 27, 1996; minimum daily, 0.83 tons, Dec. 21, 1996.

REMARKS FOR CURRENT YEAR.--Fish community samples were collected at eight stations during 1996, 1997, and 1998 as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment program (NAWQA), in the lower Illinois River Basin. Taxonomy is based on Robins and others (1991), except where modified for the family Moronidae (Johnson, 1984) and the order Cyprinidontiformes (Parenti, 1981). Common names were compared to the current Illinois fish species list posted by Illinois Natural History Survey. Collection methods followed Meador and others (1993). Collections were taken with a boat electroshocker and seine. 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 reach begins 2001 feet upstream of the Towerline Road bridge and continues upstream for 1099 feet.