Champaign, March 1, 2004: Today in Circuit Court, Judge Jones set a hearing date of March 17, 2004, to determine whether the Upper Salt Fork Drainage District’s petition to dredge and clear almost twenty miles of the river should be approved. That date leaves only two weeks for interested parties and objectors to review yet another amended petition that was filed by the Drainage District at the court hearing today.

In a Friend of the Court brief filed Friday, Prairie Rivers Network argued that re-dredging the entire Upper Salt Fork River is a costly, environmentally harmful, and unnecessary approach to solving localized drainage problems and that alternatives need to be considered that provide drainage while also protecting recreation, wildlife, and the environment. {Continue Reading »}

Champaign, December 31, 2003: Yesterday, in Champaign County circuit court, Judge Michael Jones denied Prairie Rivers Network’s request to intervene as objectors to the Upper Salt Fork Drainage Districtâs plan to clear-cut trees and dredge the river as far north as Rantoul. Emphasizing the importance of the environmental issues in this case, however, the Judge invited Prairie Rivers to participate as a “friend of the court”. Judge Jones noted the valuable information that had already been provided to the court by Prairie Rivers.

Yesterdayâs court decision means that Prairie Rivers, as a public interest group, cannot legally object to the first phase of the $588,000 project being proposed by the drainage district, but will still be able to provide important input in the court’s decision making process. {Continue Reading »}

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. {Continue Reading »}

River group cites current drainage district practices as contrary to public interest

Champaign, October 8, 2003: A new survey conducted by experts from the Illinois Natural History Survey has found that protecting water quality is of paramount concern to Illinois citizens.

The survey of Illinois residents found that more than 80% believe that economic prosperity depends on a healthy environment and that high water quality is needed for strong economic growth. In addition, 66% of the public felt that more protection needed to be given to wildlife habitat along streams and rivers in Illinois. {Continue Reading »}

Champaign, September 4, 2003: On Wednesday morning, September 3rd, just 48 hours after an enormous rain of 5-7 inches fell over the Upper Salt Fork River watershed, direct observation revealed that from county road 2700 N down to 1950 N (7 1/2 miles) water had receded enough to allow tiles to run unimpeded.

Thus the upper Salt Fork passed the “2-day” test and drained nearly 70% of the watershed quickly enough to avert crop damage and casts doubt on plans to deepen the upper reach of the river. {Continue Reading »}

Recommendations for Curbing Agricultural Runoff Recognize that America’s Oceans Start Here

Champaign, June 4: After conducting the first national review of US ocean policies in more than 30 years, the Pew Ocean Commission released its findings today, outlining a new national agenda for restoring the nation’s oceans. The Commission, which was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and chaired by former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, spent three years traveling the country to learn about challenges facing the country’s oceans and formulating recommendations for addressing them.

While overfishing of the nation’s fish stocks was identified as the most obvious impact on the marine environment, the Commission found that the greatest pollution threat to coastal marine life if the runoff from excess nitrogen from fertilized farm fields, animal feed lots, and urban areas, including those found far, far away from the coasts. Excess amounts of these nutrients cause massive algal blooms that deplete oxygen in the ocean and cause huge hypoxic zones, or “Dead Zones”, such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico which was the size of the State of Massachusetts in the summer of 2002, and where little or no marine life can survive. {Continue Reading »}