Champaign, November 17, 2003: In a petition filed before the Court on Friday, Prairie Rivers Network, a Champaign-based river conservation organization, asked to be given standing to represent the public’s interest in the environmental values of the Salt Fork River in a pending drainage district case that could have significant ramifications for the river.

At issue is a plan by the Upper Salt Fork Drainage District (USFDD) to clear trees from and dredge more than eighteen miles of the Salt Fork River. A petition before the Circuit Court, filed by the USFDD and asking for authority to assess landowners in the drainage district more than half a million dollars to pay for the proposed project, contains many assertions, but little documentation to support the need for such extensive work. Of specific concern to Prairie Rivers, the petition does not demonstrate how the proposed work will meet legal requirements of the drainage code to protect environmental values such as trees and fish and wildlife habitat.

“The petition filed by the Upper Salt Fork Drainage District claims that aquatic life in the stream should not be endangered in any way by the work they propose, but they provide no evidence supporting that claim”, said Jean Flemma, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network. “We seek standing to ensure that the impacts to the environment, including fish and wildlife habitat are adequately considered.”

In addition to providing drainage for farmers, the Salt Fork River provides water for downstream users, scenic beauty to nearby homeowners, enjoyable and important wildlife habitat, and an essential spawning ground for fish that later populate fishing grounds downstream. These uses are real and legitimate, and the public has the right to expect that its multiple uses will be respected and accommodated by drainage decision-makers.

Channelization, dredging, and removal of streamside vegetation may have many negative impacts on those uses by destroying wildlife habitat and food sources for fish, birds, reptiles, and other animals, and increasing water temperatures which is harmful to aquatic species.

Streamside habitat alteration, including the channelization work performed by drainage districts, is also the third leading cause of Clean Water Act impairments in Illinois, totaling over 2700 miles of rivers and streams, according to Illinois EPA.

Most maintenance is done by drainage districts with little public accountability and using maintenance practices that have changed little since the 1870′s. New research has suggested these practices may no longer be necessary to provide the full economic benefit to agricultural producers.

Prairie Rivers supports the need to provide adequate drainage, but advocates the use of specific problem-targeted maintenance techniques. Unfortunately the petition before the court does not detail specific problems and does not propose problem-specific solutions.

“Decades ago our grandfathers improved drainage by excavating. Now the task of maintaining that drainage calls for the use of new techniques such as localized bank protection, minor meander adjustment, spot removal of obstructions, all done with understanding of water flow realities and the willingness to accommodate multiple uses,” said Charles Goodall, farmer, drainage district commissioner, and Board member of Prairie Rivers Network.

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