LOCATION.-- Lat 41°20'17", long 88°51'10" (NAD of 1927), in SW1/4SW1/4 sec.11, T.33 N., R.3 E., LaSalle County, Hydrologic Unit 07130001, downstream of the railroad bridge, 0.25 miles, and downstream 0.5 miles of the Route 23 bridge in Ottawa and the confluence with the Fox River.

DRAINAGE AREA.-- 10,949 mi².

PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE

DISCHARGE: March 11, 1903 to December 31, 1903.

PARTIAL RECORD: Miscellaneous discharge measurements, water years 1903-1904.

SURFACE-WATER QUALITY

CHEMICAL: Water years 1997 to 2004.

MISCELLANEOUS: Contaminants in streambed sediments, August 1998; contaminants in fish tissue, August, 1998.

BIOLOGICAL

ALGAE: Water years 1997-99 and 2002-04.

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water years 1998-99, 2002-04.

FISH: Water years 1998-99, 2002-04.

HABITAT: Water years 1998-2000, 2003.

GAGE.-- Prior to November 1, 1903, vertical staff at west end of first pier from the north abutment of the railroad bridge at same datum. November 1, 1903 to February 21, 1904, chain gage read twice daily. Datum of gage is 579.48 ft above NGVD of 1929 (579.30 ft NAVD 1988).

REMARKS.-- Discharges for surface-water quality data for water years 1997 to current are computed by adding discharges of Illinois River at Marseilles (05543500) and Fox River at Dayton, IL (05552500).

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE: Maximum discharge, 46,900 ft³/s, Apr. 15, 1903, gage height, -119.08 ft (460.40 ft above NGVD of 1929); minimum discharge, 6,740 ft³/s, Sept. 8, 1903.

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. 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 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. Reach A begins at the red buoy near river mile 239, marking the top of Hitt Island, and continues downstream for 3281 feet, which is 492 feet downstream of the Ottawa navigation light number 238.5.