Station list     Available data
ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN


05531500       SALT CREEK AT WESTERN SPRINGS, IL

 

LOCATION.-- Lat 41°49'33", long 87°54'01" (NAD of 1983), in NE1/4SE1/4 sec.31, T.39 N., R.12 E., Cook County, Hydrologic Unit 07120004, on left pier at upstream side of bridge on Wolf Road, in Cook County Forest Preserve, 0.5 mi north of Western Springs, and at mile 8.8.

 

DRAINAGE AREA.-- 115 mi2.

 

PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE

 

DISCHARGE: October 1945 to current year.

 

STAGE: Water years 1994 to current year.

SURFACE-WATER QUALITY

 

CHEMICAL: Water years 1978-91 and 1999 to current year.

 

DISSOLVED OXYGEN: Water years 2001-2003.
PH: Water years 2001-2003.

 

SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Water years 2001-2003.

 

TURBIDITY: Water years 2001-2003.

 

WATER TEMPERATURE: Water years 2001-2003.

 

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

BIOLOGICAL

 

ALGAE: Water years 1989-90, 1999, and 2002-05.

 

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water years 1999 and 2002-05.

 

FISH: Water years 1999-2000 and 2002-05.

 

HABITAT: Water years 1999-2000 and 2002-05.

 

REVISED RECORDS.-- WSP 1915: Drainage area. WRD IL-87-2: Drainage area. WRD IL-97-2: July 21 - Sept. 26, 1996.

 

GAGE.-- Water-stage recorder, phone telemeter, and crest-stage gage. Datum of gage is 624.93 ft above NGVD of 1929 (624.64 ft NAVD 1988). Prior to July 26, 1946, nonrecording gage at same site and datum.

 

REMARKS.-- Occasional regulation by sewage treatment plants upstream from station. Since May 28, 1996, some flow temporarily diverted for flood control to Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Reservoir 12.3 miles upstream from gage.

 

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE: Maximum discharge, 3,540 ft3/s, Aug. 17, 1987, gage height, 10.54 ft; minimum, no flow, May 27, 1998, due to bridge construction.

 

REMARKS FOR CURRENT YEAR.-- Fish community samples were collected as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment program (NAWQA) in the upper Illinois River Basin. Collections were made with multiple passes with a barge electroshocker and supplementary seine hauls and kicks. Fishes were identified by C. A. Taylor, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. Reach A begins 187 ft. upstream of a Cook County Forest Preserve trail bridge, and continues upstream for 984 ft.



FISH
Order
Family Number
Scientific name Common name
individuals

  Reach A
8/21/2002
 

Cypriniformes
Catostomidae
Catostomus commersonii white sucker 1
Cyprinidae
Cyprinella spiloptera spotfin shiner 51
Notropis dorsalis bigmouth shiner 6
Notropis stramineus sand shiner 25
Pimephales notatus bluntnose minnow 135
Pimephales promelas fathead minnow 2
Semotilus atromaculatus creek chub 4
Cyprinodontiformes
Fundulidae
Fundulus notatus blackstripe topminnow 3
Perciformes
Centrarchidae
Lepomis cyanellus green sunfish 6
Lepomis humilis orangespotted sunfish 3
Lepomis macrochirus bluegill 21
Micropterus dolomieu smallmouth bass 1
Micropterus salmoides largemouth bass 3
Siluriformes
Ictaluridae
Ameiurus natalis yellow bullhead 46


Table of Contents

Introduction

Station Descriptions

Surface-Water Data

Ground-Water Data

Meteorological Data

Biological Data