Station list     Available data
ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN


05586100       ILLINOIS RIVER AT VALLEY CITY, IL

 

LOCATION.-- Lat 39°42'12", long 90°38'43" (NAD of 1927), in SE1/4NW1/4 sec.34, T.15 N., R.14 W., Scott County, Hydrologic Unit 07130011, on upstream side of Norfolk & Southern Corporation Railroad bridge at Flints Creek, 0.4 mi east of Valley City, 1.8 mi downstream from Mauvaise Terre Creek, and at mile 61.3. Auxiliary gage 10.0 miles upstream.

 

DRAINAGE AREA.-- 26,743 mi2, does not include diversion from Lake Michigan through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which has occurred since Jan. 17, 1900.

 

PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE

 

DISCHARGE: October 1938 to current year. Prior to October 1960, at site 0.2 mi upstream at same datum. Prior to October 1989, published as "at Meredosia." Records are considered equivalent.

 

STAGE: Water years 1994 to current year.

SURFACE-WATER QUALITY

 

CHEMICAL: Water years 1975-93 and 1996 to current year.

 

SEDIMENT: February 1980 to current year.

 

SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Water years 1975-81.

 

WATER TEMPERATURE: Water years 1975-81.

 

MISCELLANEOUS: Contaminants in streambed sediments, October 1996; contaminants in fish tissue, October 1996; sediment concentration and particle size, water years 1996-2003.

BIOLOGICAL

 

ALGAE: Water years 1980-81.

 

BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: Water years 1997-98, and 2002.

 

FISH: Water year 1998, and 2003.

 

HABITAT: Water years 1997-98, and 2003.

 

GAGE.-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's water-stage recorder and satellite telemeter, crest-stage gage, and water-quality monitor. Datum of gage is 418.00 ft above NGVD of 1929 (levels by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). Prior to Nov. 25, 1992 and Oct. 1, 1994 to current; auxiliary gage (05585500) at site 10.0 mi upstream. Nov. 25, 1992 to Sept. 30, 1994; auxiliary gage operated at the Valley City site (05586100).

 

REMARKS.-- Occasional regulation at low flow by navigation dam at La Grange. Since Jan. 17, 1900, flow has included diversion from Lake Michigan through Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Suspended-sediment samples were collected by a local observer twice weekly with additional samples collected during high runoff periods. Since February 1994, samples used to compute sediment record have been collected at upstream side Rt. 106 bridge at Florence at mile 56.

 

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD.--

SURFACE-WATER DISCHARGE AND STAGE: Maximum discharge, 123,000 ft3/s, May 26-28, 1943; maximum gage height, 28.61 ft, May 26, 1943; minimum daily discharge, 1,330 ft3/s, Sept. 2, 1984.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS: Maximum daily, 3,720 mg/L, Apr. 14, 1981; minimum daily, 14 mg/L, Dec. 26, 1984, July 21, 1993.

SUSPENDED-SEDIMENT LOADS: Maximum daily, 410,000 tons, June 4, 1980; minimum daily, 172 tons, Sept. 2, 1984.

 

REMARKS FOR CURRENT YEAR.-- Records fair except those for Oct. 1 to Apr. 2 and estimated daily discharges, which are poor.

Discharge, cubic feet per second, WATER YEAR OCTOBER 2002 TO SEPTEMBER 2003
DAILY MEAN VALUES
DAYOCTNOVDECJANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEP
 
15400 5030 4830 7010 e5300 7360 11100 11100 19100 10500 31600 17400 
25940 5370 5370 8140 e6000 7640 10900 13300 17400 10100 30200 18400 
36040 5540 4740 8570 e5800 7880 10900 16400 17000 11400 29000 14600 
45840 5210 5690 7890 e5700 7330 10800 19800 17400 11000 28000 12400 
55660 5080 4080 7820 e7400 7090 13800 e24500 17400 10300 26800 10900 
 
66850 5560 5380 7640 e7000 7520 15700 e26900 17600 9630 25700 9790 
76420 5460 5640 7850 e6600 7860 17100 e28000 17800 8840 24400 9960 
88190 6300 4670 6620 e6300 7360 18900 e28900 16600 9450 22100 9920 
97700 6020 4620 5780 6100 6510 20300 e29900 15000 13500 18300 9540 
106860 4850 4760 6090 5860 6810 20700 e30800 14700 21700 15500 8140 
 
117180 4620 4580 6460 5790 7530 20900 e32000 15300 28400 13700 7500 
126680 5030 4860 7140 5420 8290 20700 32500 16500 30400 12700 6240 
135710 5230 4530 6200 6620 8810 20500 35100 19000 32900 12500 4650 
146090 4550 5660 5230 7480 9390 19500 37700 21900 34200 12600 4730 
155730 4630 6330 5680 9650 10100 17700 39400 21500 34400 11900 5610 
 
165800 4590 5880 5790 9160 10800 15100 40500 21000 34100 10400 5560 
175570 5320 6040 e6000 8020 11000 15300 41200 20300 33800 9610 5340 
186370 5820 8290 e5400 7900 10500 17100 41600 20000 36000 8510 4120 
195920 5090 8230 e5600 7800 12100 17300 41400 19800 38200 8480 4620 
205490 4370 7680 e5800 9040 15800 14700 40900 19700 38100 8270 6820 
 
215310 4700 8300 e6000 9750 15400 11300 39600 19600 37100 7510 7080 
225480 4470 8970 e5700 9760 12700 10800 38200 19000 36400 7050 6580 
235590 5190 9250 e5100 9240 12200 11300 36900 17900 36300 7360 5000 
245650 4810 9200 e5200 8300 12400 12200 35600 15100 36200 6830 5100 
255610 4690 9650 e5300 7770 11800 13300 34000 12600 36200 7180 4940 
 
264860 4990 9160 e5200 7480 11700 15700 32500 13500 36100 7350 4710 
275030 5130 7960 e5100 7160 12300 14000 30700 13700 35600 6760 4700 
285280 5040 7320 e4700 7120 11900 11700 28900 13100 35400 6650 5260 
295470 4910 6260 e5000 --- 11000 10600 e26000 12500 34900 5200 5060 
305620 3800 6740 e5200 --- 11500 11000 e23200 11700 33900 5880 5410 
 
315160 --- 6230 e4700 --- 11600 --- 20500 --- 32800 6760 --- 

TOTAL184500151400200900189910205520312180450900958000513700847820434800230080
MEAN595250476481612673401007015030309001712027350140307669
MAX8190630096508570976015800209004160021900382003160018400
MIN486038004080470053006510106001110011700884052004120

e Estimated

STATISTICS OF MONTHLY MEAN DATA FOR WATER YEARS 1939 - 2003, BY WATER YEAR (WY)
MEAN127101429017570194302458033480371203678030320215801378011310
MAX548404890078130595406706094940938007816087690608205085062870
(WY)199419861983199319741985197919701974199319811993
MIN425850475923480841441007010010111706207664957095164
(WY)196520031963196319632003195619881988198819411976

SUMMARY STATISTICSFOR 2002 CALENDAR YEARFOR 2003 WATER YEARWATER YEARS 1939 - 2003
ANNUAL TOTAL9228110 4679710         
ANNUAL MEAN25280 12820         22730         
HIGHEST ANNUAL MEAN46810         1993
LOWEST ANNUAL MEAN8977         1940
HIGHEST DAILY MEAN106000     May 2041600             May 18123000         May 27 1943
LOWEST DAILY MEAN3800     Nov 303800             Nov 301330         Sep 2 1984
ANNUAL SEVEN-DAY MINIMUM4750     Nov 204750             Nov 202290         Oct 8 1964
MAXIMUM PEAK FLOW41800      A    May 17123000      BC
MAXIMUM PEAK STAGE11.55 D    Jul 1828.61 BMay 26 1943
INSTANTANEOUS LOW FLOW3340             E
10 PERCENT EXCEEDS57000 31100         47700         
50 PERCENT EXCEEDS13400 8300         16000         
90 PERCENT EXCEEDS5260 5030         6490         

A - Gage height, 11.29

B - At Meredosia.

C - May 26-28, 1943

D - Discharge, 36,600 ft3/s.

E - Nov. 30 and Dec. 5.



Table of Contents

Introduction

Station Descriptions

Surface-Water Data

Ground-Water Data

Meteorological Data

Biological Data