University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Big Rivers area assessment

Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Office of Scientific Research and Analysis; Illinois Department of Natural Resources. State Geological Survey Division

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/13862

Description

Title
Big Rivers area assessment
Author(s)
  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Office of Scientific Research and Analysis
  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources. State Geological Survey Division
Issue Date
1998
Keyword(s)
  • Natural resources surveys --Illinois --Illinois River Watershed
  • Natural resources surveys --Mississippi River Watershed
  • Natural resources conservation areas --Illinois
  • Natural resources surveys --Illinois
  • Illinois River Watershed (Ill.)
  • Mississippi River Watershed
Geographic Coverage
Illinois
Abstract
"The Big Rivers assessment covers an area of 1,133,176 acres near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. As well as including segments of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, the area also includes a section of Macoupin Creek -a large tributary of the Illinois River. Counties encompassed by the assessment include most of Calhoun, Jersey, and Macoupin counties, as well as portions of Pike, Scott, Green, Madison, and Montgomery counties. This area encompasses portions of three major Illinois drainage basins identified by the Illinois Environmental Protection Board: the Mississippi Central, Lower Illinois River, and Mississippi South Central basins. Three of the sub basins in this assessment area (Mississippi River [middle], Mississippi River [lower], and Illinois River) were designated as ""Resource Rich Areas"" because they contain significant natural community diversity. The Big Rivers Ecosystem Partnership was subsequently formed around this core area of high quality ecological resources. This assessment is comprised of five 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 of the region. Volume 4 contains three parts Part I, Socio-Economic Profile, discusses the demographics, infrastructure, and economy of the area, focusing on the five counties with the greatest amount of land in the area --Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, and Madison counties; Part II, Environmental Quality, discusses air and water quality, and hazardous and toxic waste generation and management in the area; and Part III, Archaeological Resources, identifies and assesses the archaeological sites, ranging from the Paleo-Indian (10,000 B.C.) through the Postwar Industrial (A.D 1946), known in the assessment watershed. Volume 5, Early Accounts of the Ecology of the Big Rivers Area, describes the ecology' of the area as recorded by historical writings of explorers, 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/2142/13862
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

Critical Trends Assessment Program PRIMARY
Detailed assessments of 32 major watersheds in Illinois, conducted through the Critical Trends Assessment Program administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Includes contributions from each of the State Scientific Surveys which are now part of the Prairie Research Institute.