Waukegan River Fish May 2005

National Monitoring for Instream Habitat and Urban Fisheries in the Waukegan River

Principal Investigators: William P. White, Don Roseboom

Project Staff: Denise Devotta, Joy Miller, Tom Hill, Rob Hilsabeck, John Beardsley, Jon Rodsater, Long Duong

Sponsor: City of Waukegan, United States and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Project Period: September 1991 - July 2006

Scott Tomkins (IEPA), Bob Rung (IDNR), Tom Hill (ISWS), John Beardsley (ISWS), Long Duong (ISWS), and Don Roseboom (ISWS) conduct fish survey in the Waukegan River (left to right).

The Waukegan River project was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of stream restoration techniques. The watershed is heavily urbanized and has been for many years, therefore, there is little control over stormwater discharge (quantity or quality) resulting in flashy runoff rates and heavy stormwater pollutant loads. Sediment was initially deemed to be the main pollutant. Water quality concerns also included cross-connections between sanitary and storm sewers, hydraulic undermining of the sanitary and stormsewers, potential sanitary sewer overflows during wet weather, severe streambank erosion, channel incision and artificial lining. In addition to physical channel instability, the urban fisheries and stream habitat were highly degraded; particularly at the onset of this project when the system exhibited impairments due to lack of water depth in pools, limited cobble substrates, and limited stream aeration.

Illinois State Water Survey Entomologist Tom Hill collects macroinvertebrates with a Hess sampler in the Waukegan River.

Findings:

The project demonstrated that biotechnical streambank stabilization techniques can be more cost-effective than traditional armoring approaches alone and that these techniques work well in conjunction with an array of innovative techniques (i.e., Lunker Structures, A-Jacks, riffle/pools, etc.) in reducing erosion and providing additional water quality and in-stream habitat benefits. Overall, the project clearly showed that naturalization of stream channel morphology and enhancement of habitat does improve biological diversity, at least temporarily, but sustaining biological diversity is not necessarily achievable by those efforts alone. Often more comprehensive conservation applications are required to address other systemic problems relating more specifically to water quality impairments and hydrologic discharge extremes. It is clear that in the case of the Waukegan River Watershed there is a need to innovatively update sewage and stormwater infrastructure and maintenance operations as well as adopt comprehensive plans and management ordinances which implement and enforce alternative conservation practices that infiltrate and purify stormwater.

Constructing riffle structure in 1996 at Washington Park on the South Branch of the Waukegan River.

Looking upstream in November 2004 at pool and riffles constructed in 1996 on the South Branch of the Waukegan River.

Project Documents/Publications:

White, W. P., J. D. Beardsley and S. Tomkins, 2011, Waukegan River: Illinois National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Program Project, Illinois State Water Survey Contract Report 2011-01, Champaign, Illinois.

White, W. P., J. D. Beardsley and S. Tomkins, 2010, Waukegan River: Illinois National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Program Project, Article produced for the NCSU Water Quality Group Newsletter “NWQEP” Project Spotlight., Illinois State Water Survey, Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illlinois.

White, W. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, and S. Tomkins, 2006, Remake, Waukegan River National Monitoring Program. DVD and VHS video productions prepared by the Illinois State Water Survey for the Illinois EPA/USEPA Region 5, Springfield, Illinois..

White, W. P., T. E. Hill, J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, and L. T. Duong, 2003, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool/Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Peoria, Illinois.

Beardsley John, Jon Rodsater, Long Duong, Tom Hill, 2002, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool/Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Peoria, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 2001, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 2000, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1999, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., T. E. Hill, J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, and L. T. Duong, 1998, Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool/Riffle Creation-National Watershed Monitoring Project, Illinois State Water Survey Contract Report 629, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1997, Waukegan River National Monitoring Program: Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1997, Waukegan River National Monitoring Program. DVD and VHS video productions prepared by the Illinois State Water Survey for the Illinois EPA/USEPA Region 5, Springfield, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., R. Newbury, J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1996, Pool and Riffle Restoration on the Waukegan River, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1996, Waukegan River National Monitoring Program: Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

Roseboom, D. P., J. D. Beardsley, J. A. Rodsater, L. T. Duong, 1995, Waukegan River National Monitoring Strategy: Biological and Physical Monitoring of Waukegan River Restoration Efforts in Biotechnical Bank Protection and Pool Riffle Creation: Annual Data Report, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

John Lesnak (IEPA, foreground) and Scott Tomkins (IEPA) collect habitat data near a riffle structure on the South Branch of the Waukegan River. Don Roseboom, John Beardsley, and Long Duong (all ISWS, background) observe IEPA procedures for collecting habitat data.

Related Publications:

Bonnie Brook Riverine & Riparian Restoration Section 506 Great Lakes Fishery & Ecosystem Restoration: Appendix G Correspondence, 404b1, FONSI, 2012, United States Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District.

Waukegan River, Illinois Section 5169e0 WRDA 1996 Great Lakes Tributary Modeling SWMM Model Report, 2011, United States Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District.

Illinois Coastal Management Program Issue Paper, 2011, Waukegan Harbor, Waukegan Lakefront, and Waukegan River Watershed, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Springfield, Illinois

Adam Michael, Leonard Dane, Kelly Deem, Kathy Paap, 2009, Water Quality and Flow Monitoring in the Waukegan River, 2008-2009, Section 319 DRAFT Final Report, Lake County Health Department Environmental Health Services, Waukegan, Illinois.

State of Illinois Section 319 - Biannual Report, 2008, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Illinois.

Waukegan River, Illinois Section 516(e) WRDA 1996 Great Lakes Tributary Modeling Scoping Report, 2008, United States Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District.

Waukegan River Watershed Plan, 2007, Kabbes Engineering, Inc, Geosyntec Consultants, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Illinois.

An Intensive Survey of the Waukegan River Basin, 1994-1995, 1999, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Illinois.

Newbury, Robert Dr., Marc Gaboury, Dr. Chester Watson, Donald P. Roseboom, Thomas Hill, John D. Beardsley, Jon A. Rodsater, Long T. Duong, Field Manual of Urban Stream Restoration, First Edition 1998, Second Edition 2001, Conservation Technology Information Center, West Lafayette, Indiana, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Illinois.

Tomkins Scott, Don Roseboom, 1998, Restoration of the Waukegan River Through Biotechnical Means in Proceedings of National Conference of Retrofit Opportunities for Water Resource Protection in Urban Environments, Chicago, Illinois, EPA/625/R-99/002, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, EPA National Library Network.

Mollahan Richard J., 1997, Restoration of the Waukegan River in Proceedings: National Watershed Water Quality Project Symposium, EPA/625/R-97/008, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC.

Cardona M. E., J. Stillman, R. A. Sinclair, 1995, Waukegan River Stormwater Quality Simulation: Application of AUTO_QI Modeling, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois

Roseboom Don, 1994, Waukegan River Restoration Project in A Compendium of Abstracts: American Water Resources Association's Symposium on the Future Quality of the Great Lakes, Chicago, Illinois

Roseboom Donald, 1994, Waukegan River Restoration in Urban Parks in Land and Water magazine, Sept/Oct 1994, Vol 38, No. 5, page 33, Illinois State Water Survey, Peoria, Illinois.

Waukegan River Fish May 2005

Apr 2, 2020, 14:40 PM by Jon Rodsater, SWAR

Joy Telford (ISWS) measures a white sucker before releasing it back into the North Branch of the Waukegan River. This fish was caught during the May, 2005 fish survey at station N1 in Washington Park. Numerous white suckers have been observed in the Waukegan River around the first of April. It was speculated that they were migrating upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn. Fish surveys were generally conducted in late April or May and lower numbers of white suckers were recorded during later fish surveys.