May 8, 2017 | Blog Post
Two weeks ago, we posted a story about a mysterious discharge on the Middle Fork brought to our attention by some canoers. Following that story, some hikers reached out to PRN to corroborate the report. They were hiking in the area that day and noticed the same tributary flowing extremely fast and milky white. They followed the tributary upstream to a junction where two smaller tributaries meet to form the one that flows into the Middle Fork. The tributary to the east flowed fast and full of sediment while the tributary to the west was just a trickle.
A Mysterious Discharge on the Middle Fork
April 27, 2017 | Blog Post
University and middle school students were canoeing on the Middle Fork this week on an educational field trip when they noticed something that seemed out of place. One of the small tributaries to the Middle Fork was flowing faster than any of the canoers had seen before, and it was flowing thick with milky white sediment. Upstream of this tributary, the water was perfectly clear, but downstream, the entire Middle Fork was cloudy and opaque.
RiverWatch trainees get their feet wet learning to identify aquatic bugs
March 19, 2017 | Blog Post
Last Saturday, RiverWatch trainer Matt Young and five brave river citizens (including myself), wearing questionably waterproof boots, waded into the chilly March waters of the Saline Branch in Urbana’s Crystal Lake Park. Another six participants without waterproof gear watched from the riverbank. We were participating in a RiverWatch training session, becoming citizen scientists ready to observe and report on the water quality of Illinois’ rivers.
Over one hundred new reports released on Illinois’ coal ash: What have we learned?
We are finally seeing the results of many years of rulemaking on the problem of coal ash. Following the 2008 TVA Kingston disaster that spilled a billion gallons of coal ash, destroying property and the environment, the US EPA began drafting rules governing the disposal of coal ash. Coal ash is a waste product produced […]
WIIN passes, and the future of coal ash is unclear.
Regulation of Illinois’ coal ash may now fall solely in Illinois EPA’s hands. This weekend, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) passed the U.S. House and Senate, and is now awaiting a signature. This bill provides investments into water infrastructure across the country, including funding to address the Flint water crisis, but […]
