The winning essay from Prairie Rivers Network’s “Our Upper Mississippi River: Connection, Inspiration, Transformation” essay contest!

Rebecca Gearhart

By Rebecca Gearhart

The gentle way that the Mississippi River flowed past my childhood home did not change much during the 1970s and 80s when I lived there, and its presence was a source of stability when everything else seemed to move too fast. The river figures prominently in my earliest memories, and “foofoo,” the name I called it, was one of the first words in the unique vocabulary that I spoke. Having the river in my life was a privilege that I can honestly say my younger sister and I were aware of while growing up. This is because our parents consciously positioned our activities indoors and outdoors so that we could not only see the river, but watch it. My mother’s favorite place in the house was the bay window in our living room, where she perched each morning while she sipped her coffee. My father’s morning spot was the hot tub he built on our deck over-looking the river, in which he read the daily paper—even in the winter. {Continue Reading »}

Banner Marsh HREP, Illinois (Credit: Jerry Milam)

With spring’s longer and warmer days, many of us are getting out to enjoy Illinois’ multitude of  diverse rivers and streams.  These winding  waterways are often the closest, perhaps the only, bit of natural landscape that many Illinois residents have for recreation and rejuvenation.

A few of us might still be stuck inside, scrambling to finish our tax returns. This year, whether you are writing a check to, or waiting for a check from, Uncle Sam, you may wonder how your tax dollars are being spent, and if they are being spent wisely, when it comes to protecting Illinois’ rivers. {Continue Reading »}

Elliot goes to Washington

Earlier this month, Prairie Rivers Network Habitat Conservation Specialist, Elliot Brinkman, traveled to Washington, D.C. to help educate legislators about the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program.

This program provides federal grant funds for projects that benefit wildlife and their habitats and gives priority to species of greatest conservation concern. It is also the primary funding source for states to implement their Wildlife Action Plans. In Illinois, these funds have been used for a number of successful restoration and research projects, many of which assessed and improved the quality of habitats in and along streams and rivers. {Continue Reading »}

Whether you have visited the Upper Mississippi River once, or lived next to it all your life,

we invite you to enter an essay contest: “Our Upper Mississippi River: Connection, Inspiration, Transformation.”

Share your experiences with, and connection to, this natural wonder. How has the river inspired you? How has the Upper Mississippi River changed your life? How do you protect this river you love?

Flowing for over 500 miles from its west-central Ohio headwaters to its confluence with the Ohio River in southern Illinois, the Wabash River is the largest un-dammed river east of the Rocky Mountains. For those living along the Wabash, planning to protect and enhance the river’s future has become a necessary priority. 

Earlier this summer, the Office of Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon conducted a survey of residents in the Wabash River watershed as an initial step in gathering public input that will help direct future watershed planning efforts. Almost 250 people responded from all 18 counties that lie within the watershed’s boundaries. {Continue Reading »}

Here is a guest commentary by Dr. Stacy James, Water Resources Scientist with Prairie Rivers Network. The article was originally published on May 1, 2011, and is reproduced here by permission of The News-Gazette, Inc.

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Tales of eroding streambanks and increased flooding have become all too familiar across Illinois.  People are literally losing their land and livelihoods to water.  As the spring rains fall and streams surge, we should turn our attention to solutions that work with nature instead of fighting the same old losing battle.   

Flooding and property damage are both an urban and a rural problem.  Finger pointing does little good and indeed we are all to blame.  But we can help each other by implementing affordable solutions on our own properties and supporting community initiatives.

In urban areas, impermeable surfaces such as roads and rooftops shed most of the snow and rain that falls.  Because of this impaired ability to soak water into the ground, almost half of urban stormwater drains into storm drains which then discharge into local streams.  As urban areas develop, streams become less able to handle all the water and widen with the increased flow.   

Fortunately, it is possible to design urban areas so that more water soaks into the ground where it falls.  Instead of traditional pavement, porous pavement can be used in many instances.  And instead of directing gutter downspouts onto driveways or drains, roof water can be diverted into rain gardens and rain barrels.  Just planting more trees can reduce flooding by intercepting rain before it hits the ground.  Examples of these types of green infrastructure can be found dotted across the landscape and are becoming more and more popular.

In rural areas, there is far more exposed soil to absorb snow and rain.  However, most agricultural fields contain a network of underground pipes that drain the land so that crops can grow.  Like urban storm sewers, these pipes or tiles discharge into nearby ditches and streams, and the flow out of the pipes can be substantial after storms.  Despite this engineering, some fields rarely produce a good crop because of flooding.  Such fields are therefore better suited to serve as floodwater storage and infiltration areas.

A state program called Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) actually pays farmers to return flooded areas to nature along the Kaskaskia River and its tributaries.  The program targets wetlands and sensitive land that is prone to erosion or located in the 100-year floodplain.  CREP focuses on these areas because getting them out of agricultural production can produce disproportionate benefits for natural resources.  Fields that frequently flood or require significant chemical inputs to be productive are ideal for CREP. 

The Kaskaskia River originates in Champaign County and flows south until it joins the Mississippi River south of St. Louis.  The Kaskaskia is Illinois’ second largest river system and drains approximately 10% of the state.  Many people hope this program will reduce the flooding and streambank erosion problems that plague the river along its over 300-mile course.

Restoring the land to trees and grasses has a number of benefits.  Land located along rivers can store floodwater and infiltrate it into the ground so that downstream flooding is less.  Pesticides, fertilizers, oils, and other pollution that gets washed into rivers during storms can get filtered out by wetlands that receive floodwater.  Wildlife and fish quickly respond to habitat restoration projects. 

CREP is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, with the help of county Soil & Water Conservation Districts.  CREP Coordinators have been hired to promote the program and work with applicants.  Applications are being accepted now and should be submitted as soon as possible given the popularity of the program and limited budget. 

Instead of prolonging our antiquated ethic that water is a nuisance that must be piped away, we should find innovative ways to use stormwater to our benefit.  Water is a valuable resource that can be harvested for economic gain.  Nature protection in strategic areas represents a smart investment that benefits ourselves and future generations.  Such stewardship will not only reduce flooding but will also recharge drinking water supplies such as the Mahomet Aquifer.  In these difficult times of limited resources and seemingly limitless needs, initiatives like CREP and green infrastructure provide a tremendous opportunity for positive change.