Intensive Survey of the Edwards River and Pope Creek, 1991

摘要

The Edwards River and Pope Creek watersheds are located in west central Illinoisand drain portions of Henry, Knox and Mercer Counties. Combined the Edwards River and Pope Creek drain approximately 650 square miles before discharging into the Mississippi River at rever mile 431.2 and 428, respectively. Watershed land use is principally agricultural. This survey included fish and macroinvertebrate community evaluation, water and sediment chemistry analyses, physical habitat assessment, Biological Stream Characterization and aquatic life use support assessment in order to identify the nature, extent and distribution of Illinois stream resources. Excluding the uppermost reaches of the Edwards River, overall stream resource quality was good. The degradation observed was generally attributed to non-point sources.