Fox River Watershed Investigation, Stratton Dam to the Illinois River: Water Quality Issues and Data Report to the Fox River Study Group, Inc
Abstract
Fox River Watershed Investigation, Stratton Dam to the Illinois River: Water Quality Issues and Data Report to the Fox River Study Group, Inc. McConkey, Sally, Alena Bartosova, Lian-Shin Lin, Karla Andrew, Michael Machesky, Chris Jennings, 2004 Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, IL, ISWS CR 2004-06 Full Text Available
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in their Illinois Water Quality Report 2000 (IEPA, 2000) listed parts of the Fox River in McHenry and Kane Counties and part of Little Indian Creek as impaired. In the 2002 IEPA report (IEPA, 2002), the entire length of the Fox River in Illinois is listed as impaired, as well as Nippersink, Poplar, Blackberry, and Somonauk Creeks, and part of Little Indian Creek. The IEPA has included the Fox River and these tributaries on their list of impaired waters commonly called the 303(d) list (IEPA, 2003). The IEPA uses a detailed, stepwise method to develop this list, 303(d) and their rational and methodology are described in Illinois 2002 Section 303(d) List (IEPA, 2003).
Concerns about the surface water quality in the watershed led to the formation of the Fox River Study Group, Inc. (FRSG) in 2001. Initially the FRSG developed a plan to collect additional water chemistry data to augment the ambient monitoring by the IEPA and used in IEPA’s use assessment of water quality. With encouragement from the IEPA, the FRSG expanded its initiative to a watershed plan that centers on development of models of the watershed to help investigate water quality issues and develop feasible watershed management plans. Models provide linkages between observed constituents in the water and their sources. Well-calibrated models can be used to evaluate potential management scenarios to assess their probable impact, thus serving as tools to evaluate alternative actions. At the request of the FRSG, the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) proposed a multiphase plan of study with the ultimate objective of developing watershed computer models and a long-term monitoring and modeling plan. Phase I of the project, reported herein, was to assemble and evaluate available data in preparation for model development. Phase II will focus on customizing models of watershed to address identified water quality issues. Subsequent phases will involve intensive data collection for model calibration and validation, and implementation of long-term monitoring and model updates. The current study is limited to the Fox River watershed below Stratton Dam to the confluence with the Illinois River. Ultimately the study area must be expanded to include the upper portion of the watershed, including Wisconsin, in a collaborative watershed plan between agencies in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Fundamental to all phases of the project is information dissemination and communication with stakeholders.
This report presents the results of phase I of the project, which was funded by the IEPA. The report is only one of the products of phase I. The Fox River Watershed Investigation Web site (http://ilrdss.sws.uiuc.edu/fox), accessed through the Illinois Rivers Decision Support System Web site, was developed and serves as a portal to other products, including a database of publications reporting water quality data for the Fox River watershed; a project bibliography; geographically referenced geographic information system (GIS) datasets and metadata with online mapping tools; a water chemistry database, FoxDB, with an interface for viewing and loading data; and an electronic version of the full report.
Suggested Citation
Alena Bartosova, Sally McConkey, Lian-Shin Lin, Karla M. Andrew, Michael Machesky, and Chris Jennings. "Fox River Watershed Investigation, Stratton Dam to the Illinois River: Water Quality Issues and Data Report to the Fox River Study Group, Inc" 2004