Our program area, the Lower DuPage River watershed, covers 168 square miles and encompasses portions of 13 municipalities. The majority of the watershed is within Will County, although portions of the watershed are included in DuPage, Grundy, and Kendall Counties. There are 166 stream miles within the watershed. By incorporating natural drainage divides, the watershed’s 12 subwatersheds are show in the map below.
Existing Land Use in the Watershed
| Land Use | Acres | Percent in Watershed |
| Agricultural Land | 28,786 | 26.72% |
| Commercial and Services | 4,338 | 4.03% |
| Industrial, Warehouse, and Wholesale Trade | 5,596 | 5.19% |
| Institutional | 2,916 | 2.71% |
| Open Space | 8,771 | 8.14% |
| Residential | 34,951 | 32.44% |
| Transportation, Communication, and Utilities | 2,848 | 2.64% |
| Vacant, Wetlands, or Under Construction | 15,871 | 14.73% |
| Water | 3,652 | 3.39% |
2016 Stream Impairments and Specific Assessment Information – Illinois EPA assesses streams to determine whether they are meeting the designated uses, and to identify the causes and sources of the impairments. The table below shows information about streams in the Lower DuPage River Watershed that Illinois EPA assesses.
| 2016 Integrated Report – Appendix B-2: Specific Assessment Information for Streams | ||||||
| Name | AUID | Designated Use | Causes | Sources | ||
| Du Page River | IL_GB-01 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life, Fish Consumption | Other flow regime alterations; Phosphorus (Total); Changes in stream depth and velocity patterns; Mercury; Polychlorinated biphenyls | Dam or impoundment; Municipal point source discharges; Channelization; Source unknown | ||
| Fully Supporting: Aesthetic Quality | ||||||
| Du Page River | IL_GB-11 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life, Fish Consumption, Primary Contact | Alteration in stream-side or littoral vegetative covers; Arsenic; Chloride; Methoxychlor; Other flow regime alterations; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Sedimentation/Siltation; Phosphorus (Total); Aquatic plants (Macrophytes); Mercury; Fecal coliform | Loss of riparian habitat; Contaminated sediments; Municipal point source discharges; Urban runoff/Storm sewers; Impacts from hydrostructure flow regulation/modification; Site clearance (land development or redevelopment); Upstream impoundments (e.g., Pl-566 NRCS structures); Dam or impoundment; Atmospheric deposition – toxics; Source unknown | ||
| Fully Supporting: Aesthetic Quality | ||||||
| Du Page River | IL_GB-16 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life, Fish Consumption, Primary Contact | Other flow regime alterations; Oxygen, Dissolved; Phosphorus (Total); Mercury; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Fecal coliform | Impacts from hydrostructure flow regulation/modification; Municipal point source discharges; Site clearance (land development or redevelopment); Urban runoff/Storm sewers; Atmospheric deposition – toxics; Source unknown | ||
| Fully Supporting: Aesthetic Quality | ||||||
| Illinois & Michigan Canal | IL_GBA | Not Supporting: Fish Consumption | Mercury | Atmospheric deposition – toxics; Source unknown | ||
| Lily Cache Creek | IL_GBE-01 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Fully Supporting: Aquatic Life, Aesthetic Quality | ||||||
| Lily Cache Creek | IL_GBE-02 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life | Cause Unknown | N/A | ||
| Mink Creek | IL_GBEA | N/A | N/A | |||
| Rock Run | IL_GBAA-01 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life | Cause Unknown | N/A | ||
| Spring Brook | IL_GBKA | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life, Primary Contact | Alteration in stream-side or littoral vegetative covers; Chloride; Oxygen, Dissolved; Phsophorus (Total); Fecal coliform | Channelization; Agriculture; Urban runoff/Storm sewers; Source unknown | ||
| Spring Brook | IL_GBKA-01 | Not Supporting: Aquatic Life, Primary Contact | Alteration in stream-side or littoral vegetative covers; Phosphorus (Total); Loss of instream cover; Fecal coliform | Channelization; Municipal point source discharges; Source unknown | ||