Kaskaskia River, Illinois - Managing water levels to create benefits for people and nature
USACE’s St. Louis District has found that slight variations in water level management in reservoirs along the Kaskaskia River in Illinois can generate major benefits for water quality, fish, waterfowl, and outdoor recreation.
Carlyle Reservoir - A dense carpet of vegetation covers pool areas exposed during a managed drawdown of Carlyle Reservoir on the Kaskaskia River. Wetland vegetation in pool areas has been documented to lessen erosion, improve water quality, and provide habitat and forage for fish and wildlife (USACE photo).
Blue-winged Teal - Waterfowl were one of the chief beneficiaries of water level management on the Kaskaskia. Duck hunters and birders reported that the response to environmental pool management was positive and significant. Sedges and other aquatic plants produced immense amounts of seed and ducks flocked to the region to forage (photo by Dennis Money).
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Story
The Kaskaskia River is Illinois’s second-longest and one of the state’s major tributaries to the Mississippi. It begins near Champaign and flows south and west to the Mississippi, joining the river downstream of St. Louis.
The landscape is largely agricultural, but the Kaskaskia watershed still has some of the most intact forests remaining in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Nature Conservancy have protected thousands of acres of natural lands along the river corridor.
Many U.S. communities boast that an American president is part of their heritage. Vandalia, a small town in the upper reaches of the Kaskaskia watershed, was Illinois’s second capital and where Abraham Lincoln in 1834 assumed his first statewide elected office. In 1837, Lincoln made his first public anti-slavery speech at the Illinois statehouse in Vandalia, which still stands. Read More
Partners
- USACE St. Louis District
- Kaskaskia Watershed Association
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources
- Waterfowl hunting groups
- The Nature Conservancy
Resources
How Environmental Pool Management Works - YouTube
Publications