Kankakee River area assessment

Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Office of Scientific Research and Analysis

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/13884 Copy

Description

Title

Kankakee River area assessment

Author(s)

Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Office of Scientific Research and Analysis

Contributor(s)

Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Geological Survey Division

Issue Date

1998

Keyword(s)

• Natural resources surveys --Illinois
• Natural resources conservation areas --Kankakee River (Ill.)
• Natural resources surveys --Kankakee River Watershed (Ind. and Ill.)
• Kankakee River Watershed (Ind. and Ill.)
• Ecosystem management --Kankakee River Watershed (Ind. and Ill.)
• Sustainable development --Kankakee River Watershed (Ind. and Ill.)

Geographic Coverage

Illinois

Abstract

"The Kankakee River Area Assessment covers an area ofapproximately 2,019 mile2 (1,292,230 acres) spanning parts offive counties in eastern Illinois, including most of Kankakee and Iroquois counties and parts ofWill, Ford, and Vermilion counties. The Kankakee River originates three miles southwest of South Bend, Indiana, enters Illinois six miles east ofMomence, and flows 62 miles before its confluence with the Des Plaines River to form the Illinois River. The Iroquois River, originating in Jasper County, Indiana, is the largest tributary ofthe Kankakee River. Once the Iroquois enters Illinois it flows 55 milesuntil itjoinstheKankakeeRiverjustbelowAromaPark. Theboundary ofthis assessment report encompasses 25 subbasins within the Illinois portion ofthe Kankakee and Iroquois River drainage basins. Over 90% ofthis area occurs in the ""Grand Prairie"" division ofthe state. Two ofthe 25 subbasins in this area, the Kankakee River (upper) and Kankakee River (lower), totaling 231,005 acres, have been designated as a ""Resource Rich Area"" because they contain significant natural community diversity. The Kankakee Ecosystem Partnership was subsequently formed around this core area of high quality ecological resources. This assessment is comprised offive volumes. In Volume 1, Geology discusses the geology, soils, and minerals in the assessment area. Volume 2, Water Resources, discusses the surface and groundwater resources and Volume 3, Living Resources, describes the natural vegetation communities and the fauna ofthe region. Volume 4 contains three parts: Part I, Socio-Economic Profile, discusses the demographics, infrastructure, and economy ofthe area, focusing on the two counties with the greatest amount ofland in the area --Kankakee and Iroquois counties; Part II, Environmental Quality, discusses air and water quality, and hazardous and toxic waste generation and management in the area; and Part III, ArchaeologicalResources, identifies and assesses the archaeological sites, ranging from the Paleoindian Prehistoric (B.C. 10,000) to the Postwar (AD. 1946), known in the assessment watershed. Volume 5, Early Accounts of the Ecology ofthe Kankakee Area, describes the ecology ofthe area as recorded by historical writings ofexplorers, pioneers, early visitors and early historians."

Publisher

Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources

Series/Report Name or Number

Critical Trends Assessment Program

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/13884

Copyright and License Information

These documents are a product of the Illinois state scientific surveys and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and has been selected and made available by the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They are intended solely for noncommercial research and educational use, and proper attribution is requested.

Owning Collections