UILU-WRC-74-0090 RESEARCH REPORT NO. 90 HISTORY OF DRAINAGE CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT IN THE VERMILION RIVER WATERSHED, WABASH BASIN 0/80 By RALPH C. HAY and JOHN B. STALL ILLINOIS STATE WATER SURVEY URBANA, ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ATURBANA-CHAMPAIGN WATER RESOURCES CENTER SEPTEMBER 1974 H "-'■'■ AL SURVEY WRC RESEARCH REPORT NO. 90 HISTORY OF DRAINAGE CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT IN THE VERMILION RIVER WATERSHED, WABASH BASIN by RALPH C. HAY and JOHN B. STALL Illinois State Water Survey Urbana, Illinois FINALREPORT Project No. A-068-ILL HISTORY OF DRAINAGE CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT IN THE VERMILION RIVER WATERSHED, WABASH BASIN The work upon which this publication is based was supported by funds provided by the U. S. Department of the Interior as author- ized under the Water Resources Research Act of 1964, P. L. 88-379 Agreement No. (14-31-0001-4013) UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS WATER RESOURCES CENTER 2535 Hydrosystems Laboratory Urbana, Illinois 61801 I September 1974 1 , CONTENTS Objectives 1 Background 1 Acknowledgments 3 Commentary by the senior author, Ralph C. Hay 5 Procedures 5 From swamps to rich cropland 15 Early conditions 15 Channel development 20 Drainage district organization 22 Channel location and design 24 Construction 27 Review of selected districts 28 Big Four drainage district 28 Beaver Lake and Saline Branch 31 Upper Salt Fork 34 Grant Township No. 1 36 Application of study to water resource problems 38 Suggestions for future studies 40 References 41 HISTORY OF DRAINAGE CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT IN THE VERMILION RIVER WATERSHED, WABASH BASIN by Ralph C. Hay and John B. Stall OBJECTIVES 1. To document stream conditions for the natural prairies of central Illinois, in what is now the Com Belt, as they existed about 150 years ago at the time this area was settled by pioneers. 2. To trace to a major degree and document the physical man-made changes in the Vermilion River, and changes in the water environment; to trace to a minor degree changes in the quality of life, in agricultural production and in economic conditions all as related to drainage channel improvements in east-central Illinois. 3. To trace over the past 150 years the social attitudes, needs, problems, methodologies, and accomplishments as a result of the development of channel improvements in the east-central Illinois prairies. 4. To relate the 1974 hydraulic conditions of the Vermilion River stream system to past drainage channel improvement developments to provide a frame of reference for future decision-making regarding stream channel- ization, the environment, and man's needs and welfare. BACKGROUND Today any water resource proposal is required to provide an environmental impact statement describing the damages and benefits that may result to the environment. Environmental costs and benefits are now considered crucial ele- ments in evaluating the project. This study has developed from interest in both present day environmental concerns and more than a century of drainage improvements . In recent years stream channel modifications intended to provide better drainage and flood protection have come under serious criticism especially by environmentally oriented groups. Some of this opposition has become ex- tremely critical. For example, an article in Reader's Digest by Miller (1970) focused public attention on and aroused opposition to projects involving "dredging" and "channelization of natural streams." More recently, James Modson's (1972) article in Audubon Magazine made a critical attack on chan- nelization. Opposition and criticism have been focused to a considerable extent on projects planned and executed by the Corps of Engineers and the Soil Conservation Service. Critical views have been expressed by Congress in House Report No. 93-530 (1973) issued by the 93rd Congress entitled "Stream Channelization: What Federally Financed Draglines and Bulldozers Do to Our Nation's Streams." [This report has been cited twice recently in editorials of the Champaign -Urban a Courier.] Criticism is also being felt by local drainage districts. Channel im- provement projects in east-central Illinois in the Saline Branch Drainage District in Champaign County and Scattering Fork Drainage District in Douglas County have been under verbal and legal attacks by environmentalists. Only the Scattering Fork project, now completed, has had federal technical and financial assistance from the Soil Conservation Service. The Saline Branch ditch-clearing project, still delayed by litigation, is being financed entirely from local resources. In these two cases, and in hundreds of others in provements consist of constructed channels which requi to serve their intended purpose. Recognition of these direct influence on initiation of this study. The wri need to develop better understanding of and appreciati the past to organize legal drainage districts and cons age channels. Figure 1 shows a modem dragline cleani nel, and figure 2 shows a dredge boat used in Illinois century. Illinois, drainage im- re periodic maintenance problems has had a ters believe there is on for the efforts of truct these many drain- ng out a drainage chan- at the turn of the % Figure 1. Modem dragline cleaning a drainage channel. (Courtesy of the Soil Conservation Service) Figure 2. A floating dredge boat at work on Camp Creek Special Drain- age District west of Seymour in Champaign County on June 20 ^ 1907. The dipper or shovel is submerged at the end of the vertical beam. A similar dredge was used during that same period for dredging Beaver Lake and Saline Branch. (Cour- tesy Champaign County Historical Society) Tliese hundreds of small units of government, the drainage districts, in Illinois contribute substantially to the great number of local government bodies, more than in any other state. In 1974, a period of land use changes, water resource planning, and environmental protection, drainage districts face an uncertain and hazardous future. Hopefully this study may help de- velop perspective for those who plan the future of local drainage districts and their many channels. Acknowledgments This study has been produced largely by Ralph C. Hay. A Professor of Agricultural Engineering Emeritus at the University of Illinois with long experience in land drainage, Mr. Hay was employed one-fifth time at the Illinois State Water Survey as Engineer for the one-year duration of this project. The project was carried out at the Illinois State Water Survey under the general supervision of Dr. William C. Ackermann, Chief. It was based on an idea of John B. Stall, Head of the Hydrology Section, who directed the proj- ect. Norman G. Dickey, student technical assistant, worked part-time on the project. Drafting was done by John Brother, William Motherway, and Linda Riggin of the Graphic Arts Section. Mrs. J. Loreena Ivens and Mrs. Patricia A. Motherway edited the final report. Photographs in the report not otherwise credited were taken by Ralph C. Hay. The Technical Advisory Committee to the project included Benjamin A. Jones, Jr., Associate Director, Agricultural Experiment Station, and Professor of Agricultural Engineering; and Robert M. Sutton, Director, Illinois State His- torical Survey, and Chairman, History Department, University of Illinois. Figure 3. George W. Pickets ^ Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois until 1944 y writer and teacher of drainage technology and accomplishments. No study of drainage matters in Illinois would be adequate without a special acknowledgment of the extensive early work of Professor George W. Pickels (figure 3), Civil Engineering Department of the University of Illi- nois. He was an outstanding teacher of drainage and flood control and au- thor of a text Drainage and Flood Control Engineering published in 1925 and 1941 by McGraw Hill. Tlie text has been widely used and is still useful in 1974. Professor Pickels, with F. B. Leonard, Jr., wrote Engineering and Legal Aspects of Land Drainage in Illinois, printed in 1921 as Bulletin 42 of the Illinois State Geological Survey. It is a thorough and accurate description of many drainage district accomplishments, highly useful to this research study. Extensive historical and factual information was obtained by Professor Hay by interviewing many long-time residents of the Vermilion River watershed. Much help was obtained in this way from: Anna Irle Pierce, Leverett : William H. Irle, Thomasboro; George Arends , Melvin; C. D. Thompson, Melvin; Eldred Cornelius, Penfield; Clyde I. Day, Gibson City; Dale Cronkhite, Danville; Ralph D. Wilson, Champaign; Frank Meier, Thomasboro; and Ben F. Muirheid, Champaign. Commentary by the Senior Author, Ralph C. Hay My family history involves some of the problems and hardships found in swampy Com Belt land prior to drainage districts. Shortly after the Civil War my grandparents, John and Lura Hay, as a young couple, migrated from Clinton, Indiana, to north central Iowa. My father, Charles Franklin, was bom in 1875 in Pocahontas County. This area was level and swampy. According to Iowa State engineers, a century ago as much as one-third of that coimty stood under water in rainy seasons. This poor drainage, crop failures, mosquitoes, cold winters, and too many roving Indians, according to family notes, caused them to leave Iowa in despair. About 1880 they started by covered wagon for Texas, but high water in streams stopped them about 50 miles south of Kansas City. My grandfather then bought a farm in Miami County, Kansas, on one of the highest ridges. I can remember this poor rocky tract, suitable only for pasture, but certainly well drained. With drainage, the land my grandfather left in Iowa has become rich black productive soil, some of the best in the Com Belt. My early interest in drainage was casual as it developed in college studies. I liked Pickels' text. Drainage and Flood Control Engineering, which we used at Kansas State. Then a trip across central Illinois on US 36 in 1931 proved to be exciting. Quickly I came to appreciate the importance of the many drainage channels in this rich agricultural region. I joined the University of Illinois staff a year later, and have maintained some con- tact with agricultural drainage for over 40 years. I have taught it in Agri- cultural Engineering courses and studied it in field work, especially as re- lated to Soil Conservation districts. My more specific appreciation of the importance and magnitude of the problems of drainage districts has developed in recent years. I have been a consultant for commissioners of three drainage districts to assist on specific problem situations. This study has become a challenge to learn more, and hopefully to contribute to improved drainage and better use of water resources in the future. PROCEDURES This study has been limited to one watershed, the Vermilion River of the Wabash. Four Illinois streams bear the name Vermilion. Pickels (1921) termed this river the "Big Vermilion," a name still used locally. This 1250-square- mile, or 800,000-acre, watershed lies almost entirely within Ford, Champaign, and Vermilion Counties as shown on the map in figure 4. This particular area I CHAMPA I SCALE OF MILES 5 10 15 I I I ~i -L_^ Figure 4. Vermilion River watershed in Champaign, Ford, and Vermilion Counties in east-central Illinois. has been chosen because of its proximity to the University of Illinois campus which allowed us to meet the limitations of budget and manpower. A further constraint on this research has been to study only open channels in agricultural areas which make up a high percentage of the watershed. Tile drainage has been considered only as a part of the drainage districts outlets; however, it is recognized that the channels almost always serve as outlets for tile drainage systems both on individual farms and smaller subdistricts . At least 15 districts have no ditches, and large tiles serve as the only outlets. Several districts in Champaign County also maintain shallow surface channels parallel to the outlet tile. No attempt has been made to chart the history and development of tile drainage practices. The only major constructed urban drainage channel of the watershed is the Boneyard ditch in Urban a -Champaign. It is now the subject of extensive studies. Hence is has also been eliminated from study under this project. Research of the first few months was directed toward becoming acquainted with the watershed itself and with the organization of the significant govern- ment bodies dealing with land drainage in the three counties. This entailed study of numerous maps and publications. The watershed lies within an area covered by 24 topographic maps of the U. S. Geological Survey. A set of these maps, marked to identify drainage channels, has been used to locate drainage districts and watershed boundaries in the office and in field trips. The identification of 105 drainage districts has been accomplished through use of the two-volume inventory issued by the Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development (1971) . This publication contains maps of counties and numerous districts and a numbering system which has been used with minor alterations in this study. Maps of Champaign, Ford, and Vermilion Counties in figures 5, 6, and 7 show the drainage districts which are listed in tables 1, 2, and 3. This inventory has proved to be extremely helpful in this study, and can be a valuable guide in similar area studies within Illinois. The only other complete listing and description of drainage districts was made 50 years earlier by Pickels and Leonard (1921] . This remarkably thorough publication has been especially useful in developing understanding of both the geography and history of the channels and the legal problems and requirements in forming the districts. When it was prepared in 1920 there were 63 organized drainage districts containing 317,860 acres in the watershed as compared with 105 districts totaling 398,266 acres in 1971, slightly less than 50 percent of the watershed. [This 1971 total includes district overlaps and is consequently slightly high. ] Other valuable sources were the 1934 reports on Illinois drainage districts by the Federal Land Bank of St. Louis, These reports were prepared under the direction of W. R. Parkhill, F. H. Schreiner, and W. A. Kelly, Engineer Apprais- ers of the Land Bank, as a guide in evaluating farm loan applications in the period following the depression. Copies of single-volume reports for Ford and Vermilion County districts within the watershed and a three-volume report on all V-61 Figure 5. Drainage districts in Champaign County. (See table 1 for identification) Figure 6. Drainage districts in Ford County. (See table 2 for identification) Champaign County drainage districts have been obtained for study and are now in the State Water Survey library. The Champaign County study was made by Hubert Goodell, a consulting drain- age engineer. The Ford County report was prepared by Earl G. Johnson, Univer- sity of Illinois Extension Agricultural Engineer on leave, and the Vermilion County report was done by C. B. Schmeltzer and A. M. Danely, Assistant Engineer Appraisers of the Land Bank Engineer Appraiser Division. These Land Bank reports review district development and maintenance in Champaign and Ford Counties up to 1934. The Vermilion County report, however, covers only those districts with significant physical or financial problems. This plan seemed to be based on the assumption that districts in good condi- tion, which the appraisers classed A-1, needed no further scrutiny. Hence this report deals only with districts considered to have risks for loans. 10 Table 1. Drainage Districts in Vermilion River Watershed, Champaign County District Map number number District 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 1 Bailey Branch 2 Beaver Lake 3 Big Tile Ditch Co. 6 Buck Creek Mutual 8 Conkey Branch Special 11 Dillsburg Special 14 No. 10 Town of Ogden 15 No. 11 Town of Ogden 19 No. 1 Town of Sidney 20 No. 2 Town of Sidney 21 No. 1 Town of S. Homer 22 No. 3 Town of St. Joseph 23 No. 4 Town of St. Joseph 24 No. 5 Town of St. Joseph 25 No. 8 of St. Joseph Twp. 26 No. 1 of Stanton Twp. 30 Ehmen-Schmidt Mutual 33 Flatville Special 36 Hickory Grove 41 Kerr § Compromise 42 Killbury Mutual 47 Mutual of Harwood Twp. (Watson Claypool) 48 Mutual of Harwood Twp. (Clifton Shelton) 56 Raup 57 Salt Fork 58 Saline Branch 60 Schindler 61 Schneider 63 Silver Creek 64 Spoon River 65 South Fork 66 St. Joseph No. 6 67 Stanton Special 69 Triple Fork 71 Union of Stanton § Ogden Twps . 73 Union No. 1 of Ogden S Oakwood 76 Union No. 1 of Philo 5 Urbana 79 Union No. 2 of Somer 5 Stanton 80 Union No. 1 of S. Homer § Sidell 81 Union No. 2 of S. Homer § Sidney 82 Union of S. Homer § Sidney 83 Union No. 2 of St. Joseph 5 Ogden 84 Union No. 7 of St. Joseph § Ogden 86 Upper Salt Fork Inactive Area Date or active (^aares ) organized lA 1600 1892 A 35,276 1880 lA 1200 1901 lA 2315 1928 A 3260 1908 A 3088 1917 A 789 1900 lA 647 1901 A 2274 1898 lA 2185 1908 A 4125 1893 A 6293 1880 A 4619 1880 lA 410 1881 lA 865 1910 A 2070 1908 lA 1050 1928 A 7202 1909 lA * 1920 A 1835 1913 A 60 1924 lA 1420 1880 lA 490 1882 A 3078 1926 A 7151 1904 A 16,182 1906 lA 566 1906 lA 849 1925 A 5088 1909 A 21,302 1903 A 3137 1903 A 720 1881 A 3973 1908 A 4175 1929 A 2150 1900 A 13,000 1880 lA 2284 1907 A 9117 1901 lA 2110 1882 A 4380 1894 A 1120 1896 A 3931 1880 lA 840 1909 A 9668 1925 11 Table 1 (Concluded) District Map number number 45 87 46 88 47 90 48 91 49 92 50 93 51 95 52 96 District Urbana and Champaign Sanitary West Branch Willow Branch Wrisk Youman ' s Branch Mutual Harwood and Kerr Ludlow Special Somer Township No. 1 Note: *indicates no record Inactive Area Date or active (aares) organized A 5503 1934 A 1880 1906 A 1005 1902 A 1736 1904 lA 1679 1929 A 3958 1925 A 2540 1948 A 2300 1950 Table 2. Drainage Districts in Vermilion River Watershed, Ford County District Map Inactive Area Date number number District or active (acres) organized 1 1 Big Four A 41,226 1899 lA Subdi strict No. 9 of Big Four A 1900 2 Subdistrict No. 11 of Big Four A 1905 3 Subdistrict No. 12 of Big Four A 1902 4 Subdistrict No. 4 of Big Four A 2 7 Ford Special L lA 8080 1909 3 9 Little Lyman A 720 1903 4 10 No. 1 of Lyman Twp. A 5040 1895 11 Subdistrict No. 1 of Lyman Twp. lA 1900 12 Subd. No. 2 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1900 13 Subd. No. 3 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1900 14 Subd. No. 4 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1900 15 Subd. No. 5 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1900 16 Subd. No. 6 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. A 1900 17 Subd. No. 8 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1902 18 Subd. No. 9 of No. 1 Lyman Twp. lA 1903 5 22 Sugar Creek A 6560 1907 6 26 Wall Twp. A 8440 1892 27 Subdistrict No. 1 of Wall Twp. lA 1899 28 Subdistrict No. 3 of Wall Twp. lA 1899 29 Subdistrict No. 4 of Wall Twp. lA 1899 30 Subdistrict No. 5 of Wall Twp. lA 1899 7 33 Shelby-Clea: ry Mutual lA 1931 12 Table 3. Drainage Districts in Vermilion River Watershed, Vermilion County District Map Inactive Area Date number number District or active (aares) organized 1 1 Alvin A 3903 1908 2 2 Antioch lA 2165 1934 3 3 Bean Creek A 5226 1895 4 4 Beneficial lA 2600 1917 5 5 Bismark lA 2040 1959 6 6 Bridgeman lA 3190 7 7 Brougher A 1600 1921 8 8 Butler Branch lA 2800 1918 9 9 Center Creek A 1263 1921 10 11 No. 2 of Vance T\\rp. lA 330 11 12 No. 1 of Blont Tvvrp. lA * 12 13 No. 1 Town of Ross lA 1420 13 14 No. 2 Town of Ross lA 2272 1912 14 15 No. 1 of Grant Twp. A 6782 1881 15 16 Eight Mile A 5452 1911 16 19 Feather Creek Union No. Oakwood 5 Pilot T\vrps . 1 of A 1630 1906 17 20 Feather Creek No. 2 A 1605 1925 18 21 Grape Creek A 3216 1915 19 22 Green lA 526 1918 20 24 Hammel Mutual lA 437 1925 21 25 Henning lA 894 1912 22 26 Hoopeston A 6863 1910 23 29 Jamesburg Special lA 4207 1912 24 30 Johnson A 5038 1925 25 31 Jordan Special lA 8623 1906 26 34 No. 1 of Oakwood Twp. A 1520 1908 27 35 No. 4 of Oakwood T\tfp. lA * 28 36 No. 6 of Oakwood Twp. lA * 29 37 No. 7 of Oakwood T\Nrp. lA 980 1908 30 38 No. 8 of Oakwood Twp. lA 930 31 39 No. 9 of Oakwood T\tfp. lA 150 32 40 No. 12 of Oakwood Twp. lA 438 1919 33 41 Pleasant Hill A 1990 1918 34 42 Pleasant View lA 2018 1918 35 45 Ross Twp. Mutual lA 1215 1925 36 46 Rossville Union No. 1 Towns of lA * 1923 Ross 5 Grant 37 47 Sinking Hole A 2015 1913 38 48 Special of Vermilion § Champaign Counties lA 422 1895 39 49 Stoney Creek A 11,076 1906 40 52 Union No. 3 of Grant 5 Ross lA * 41 53 Union No. 1 of Newell 5 Ross lA 2587 1905 42 54 Union No. 2 of Oakwood 5 Pilot lA 1990 1909 43 55 Union No. 1 of Oakwood 5 Vance lA 740 44 60 Union No. 1 of Vance § Catlin lA 2164 1910 45 61 Union No. 1 of Vance § Sidell lA 8545 1880 46 63 Westville lA 363 1920 Note: * indicates no record 13 1 ^T 'Eigvaye 7. uva-i-nauge diatriats -in Ve-t^rtilvon CoitTLty. (See table 3 for identifiaation) 14 Recent plat books of the three counties have also been used, but channel lo- cations in these are not dependable. In addition inquiries were sent to offices of five consulting engineering firms and four law firms known to have worked with drainage districts in the area. Interviews were also held with county extension advisers in all three counties and staff of the U. S. Soil Conservation Service and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. A number of senior citizens of the area have been interviewed. A letter and questionnaire were sent to a commissioner in each of the 55 active districts. The 32 replies received have been helpful in preparing this report. A major effort in this study has been reviewing records of drainage dis- tricts in the courthouses of the three counties. Considerable time has been spent in reviewing the records in the office of the Champaign County Clerk, Dennis Bing, in the county courthouse in Urbana. This office holds 32 file drawers of records of Champaign County drainage districts filed alphabetically and a large case of maps and engineering plans also filed alphabetically. The Circuit Clerk's office in Champaign County has an up-to-date list of drainage commissioners and a brief docket showing recent action taken by drainage dis- tricts. Most of the historical material, however, is in the County Clerk's office. In the Vermilion County courthouse in Danville, the filing order is some- what reversed. A major part of the drainage district records is in the Circuit Clerk's office but the County Clerk keeps a current list of drainage commissioners. In Paxton, the Ford County drainage district commissioners are listed in the Circuit Clerk's office along with the docket which contains summarized action taken by the drainage districts over the past 20 years. Older records are in the County Clerk's office but in rather unsatisfactory condition for reviewing since it takes considerable effort to straighten out old brittle maps and the records are kept in no obvious order. The inventory of the Illinois Department of Business and Economic Devel- opment (1971), previously mentioned, lists for the three-county Vermilion River watershed a total of 105 drainage districts (not including subdistricts) organized since 1880, after passage of the Farm Drainage Act and the Levee District Act by the Illinois legislature in 1879. The inventory shows 35 active and 17 inactive drainage districts in Champaign County, 5 active and 2 inactive in Ford County, 15 active and 31 inactive in Vermilion County, making a total of 55 active and 50 inactive drainage districts. Figure 8 shows the date of organization of districts and some subdistricts in the watershed. It can be noted that most of the districts were organized from 1895 through 1930. The largest number, 10, were organized in 1900 and in 1925. 15 15 10 T — I — I — 1 — 1 — I — I I I 1 I — \ — r 111 ■ 1880 1885 J^J \ l_J L_L T^i — I — 1 — I — I — I — I — I — I I I I 1 I 1 r 1890 ■ ■ I ■ I I 1895 15 10 "T — I — I — I — I 1 — I — I — 1 — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I I I I I I I I I I r "T — I — r i lllllll.l. Il 1915 1920 1925 151 — I — I — I — I — r 10 n — I — I — I — I — I I I I I I I r ^ I I I I I I I L 1950 1955 1960 I I I I I I 1965 1970 Figure 8. Dates and numbers of drainage districts and subdistricts organized in the Vermilion River watershed. FROM SWAMPS TO RICH CROPLAND Early Conditions Most of the stream channels in the Vermilion River watershed under study have been man-made since the area was settled, and nearly all of this con- struction has been accomplished since 1880. Thus the natural conditions of land and water as related to the environment prior to that time are of interest, Like much of Illinois 150 years ago, this land was more than half grassland or prairie. Forested areas of any size were located along the three river chan- nels. North Fork, Middle Fork, and Salt Fork, and extended upstream along some of the tributary creeks. The early settlements were all in the wooded areas along the streams, a situation still existing after Illinois became a state in 1818. Most histories of that time are concerned primarily with these settled areas and the transportation between them. The prairies were of little inter- est to the early settlers except as formidable barriers to be crossed. The flatness of the land and ponding can still be seen in 1974 (figures 9 and 10). 16 Figure 9. Aerial view of 1974 standing water in fields in Champaign County. Figure 10. 1974 standing water in Champaign County — surface drainage is needed. 17 The Illinois prairies were described in early years with awe and even fear. Father Marquette is reported by Jones (1911) to have written: "The vast stretch of prairie present a picture as beautiful and awe inspiring as the first sight of the Great Lakes to the white man." According to the Paxton Record (1959), an early Ford County settler, Mrs. Jane Patton, wrote: "In summer was grass and flowers, tall grass was beautiful, higher than you, but watch for hidden ponds of water." After traveling across south-central Illi- nois in 1843 an English visitor observed, "This flat prairie is apt to be wet, --if not connected by some water course by which water may escape on the sub- sidence of the spring freshets. As a general rule the higher the prairie is, the better the soil." A Vermilion County history (Jones, 1911) describes the "raw prairie" with "miles and miles of swamps with a heavy wild grass, and there was no drainage at all. Streams had worn no channels for the water courses ." The 1974 permanent Grand Prairie exhibit in the State Historical Museum in Springfield illustrates the tall cordgrass, flowering plants, and animals originally found in this region. An 1824 map in the Old Capitol Building in Springfield shows this "Grand Prairie" extending through the central part of Champaign and Ford Counties which is the western edge of the Vermilion River watershed. In central Champaign County just to the east of this prairie the "Big Grove" woodland area of that time extended along the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork River. Some of the first settlements in the area were located along the lower end of the Vermilion River near the present site of Danville. Early settlements in Champaign County were along the Salt Fork at Homer, Sidney, and Urbana, as well as Sadorus on the Kaskaskia, and Middletown (now Mahomet) on the Sangamon (Cunningham, 1905). Life in early settlements of this region was hard, especially near the swamps which covered much of the area. Frequent use of the terms "slough," "swamp," "flood," "mud," and "lake" indicates the unfavorable conditions. Problems of human health of residents were frequently associated with the swampy land. This dislike for swamps in America dates back to the Virginia colony when the General Assembly passed an act June 7, 1699, to move the original colonial Capitol from swampy Jamestown to Middleplantation (Williams- burg) with the statement, "Middleplantation hath been found to be healthy and agreeable to the Constitutions of ye inhabitants of ye Majesty's Colony and Dominion having the natural advantage of serene and temperate aire, dry and champaign land" [as noted from a visit to Williamsburg in March 1974]. Early settlers in Illinois held this same desire for higher healthier land. Accounts of early settlers tell of epidemics in the area. Mrs. Patton (Paxton Record, 1959) told of "spotted fever" and "cerebral spinal fever" causing 14 deaths in her sparsely settled community near Paxton in 1857 and 1858. Lottie Jones (1911) wrote that in Middle Fork Township in Vermilion County homes along the creek "had severe sickness and fatalities without ex- ception." Malaria was prevalent in Champaign County as late as 1900, as re- lated by Mrs. Anna Pierce who has resided north of Urbana for over 90 years. There in her childhood days she and other family members were afflicted with malaria every summer and fall. 18 Other accounts also mention plagues of many flies and mosquitoes. "Milk sickness" was another dreaded disease of that period. This was caused by the consumption of the poisonous swamp plant, White Snake Root, by cows. It not only caused the death of valuable livestock, but also transmitted an alkaloid poison in the cow's milk. Thus children and adults died without warning. It is believed that Abraham Lincoln's mother, who died in Indiana, was a victim of milk sickness. The weed grew profusely in low swampy areas unsuitable for cultivation. After drainage and cultivation of the land, most of this weed was eliminated. According to Morgan (1969) workers on the Illinois Central Railroad in 1874 found Champaign "one vast pond with a green scum coated surface." They feared "Cholera, milk sickness, ague and fever." "Houses were surrounded by water which stood until covered with green slime" -- swarms of mosquites -- as reported in 1864 in the area about Thomasboro. There were continuous epi- demics of "ague" or "autumnal fever," a form of malaria. The usual medica- tion prescribed was "calomel." Tom Ames (1970) wrote that the area about Melvin and Sibley in Ford County was nearly all swampy. Flies and mosquitoes were so bad that men preferred to work in the fields by moonlight. Drainage served to reduce the mosquitoes, before the true cause of ague and malaria was known. Many areas too swampy to cultivate were grazed by cattle and other live- stock in favorable seasons. A Thomasboro senior citizen remembers when many cattle were produced on the bluestem and sloughgrass (probably cordgrass) land now in the lower part of the present Beaver Lake Drainage District in Urbana Township. Figure 11 pictures big bluestem grass. The great prairies of Vermilion County were also used for grazing with only higher portions of fields being farmed. Cunningham (1905) related the cattle raising of B. F. Harris whose animals grazed many "uncultivated patches." He and many other prominent citizens of the Civil War period and later were livestock producers with large herds of cattle in both Champaign and Vermilion Counties, as de- scribed in Portrait and Biographiaal Album of Vermilion County, Illinois (1889). Transportation was extremely difficult at the time of the early settle- ments. An 1867 map of Vermilion County, which was well settled by that date, shows no through roads. A typical road extended out a few miles from toi\m past several farmsteads only to come to a dead end at one of them. Mrs. Pierce's memory of the Champaign County roads of the 1880s and 1890s is "liquid mud," for few roads were even graveled and water stood in low spots. She remembers a funeral in 1907 when four horses were required to take the hearse from Leverett through the mud to an Urbana cemetery. Frank Meier, now a drainage commissioner for Beaver Lake, remembers his family accounts of crossing swamps on horse back in "water up to the stirrups" in this same area. In Mrs. Patton's (Paxton Record, 1959) early years about 1857 near Paxton, the Middle Fork River could not be crossed for as long as 6 weeks in the spring as no bridge had been built. She remembered that one man dro\>med trying to cross this stream. Morgan (1969) re- lated that in 1870 Bernard Hannon required a full day to drive 16 miles south- west from Colfax Township to Champaign using four horses to pull a wagon. 19 Figure 11. Big hluestem, a native prairie grass whiah grew origindllij in much of the Illinois swamps. Even in the early days of automobiles, well drained and hard surfaced roads were rare. A 1916 Chicago Automobile Club Guide Book for Illinois de- scribes a route from Champaign to Chicago through Urbana on East Main Street 1,4 miles east to turn north across a bridge (probably the only good one) on Saline Branch toward Thomasboro and Rantoul . The road to Danville also shows a route through Sidney, Homer, Fairmount, and Catlin thus avoiding crossing the Salt Fork River. Dependable bridges were few and far between even up into the early part of the twentieth century. At that time drainage commissioners were responsible for highway bridges across their ditches. Figure 12 is a view of an early bridge over the Saline Branch main channel. In its natural state, east-central Illinois was a wide flat to gently rolling swampy expanse covered with tall grass, bluestem and sloughgrass. The few natural stream channels were found in the narrow shallow woodland valleys of the rivers, including the Vermilion of the Wabash. These channels extended into the larger tributary creeks but they became sloughs and swamps farther upstream. There was little natural surface drainage. Use of drain tile was limited in the early days since hand digging and laying of tile to a ditch or brook somewhere could rarely be done in this area. Too often there were no ditches or brooks of any depth within several miles. A large part of the area could not be farmed until ditches were dug. Hence, much of this swampy land covered with rich black clay loam soil was considered worthless by the early settlers. 20 --Aa.'.>. \^^ Figure 12. One-lane iron bridge built in 1897 over Saline Branch main ditch or channel. The first farms and villages away from the wooded areas along the streams were on the moraines or ridges. Attempts at farming the lower lands resulted in failures. They could not make a living or live in the swamps. The low valuation of this land is indicated by late dates of purchase of this land from the government even at such low prices as one dollar per acre. The Ger- man immigrants who came to Champaign County after the Civil War found only flat swampy land available at low prices. They were pitied and ridiculed when they moved on the land of the present Flatville and Royal communities. A local resident's father, Alex Wilson, was offered a section (640 acres) of swampy land near the present site of Broadlands in an even trade for his riding horse and saddle, but he refused. He knew the flat swamp the land- owner offered was worthless. This section of land which he could have had for his horse and saddle might sell for as much as one million dollars at 1974 prices. Channel Development Channel improvements and modifications in Illinois have been primarily for drainage and flood control. Tlie exceptions are the large navigation chan- nels such as the Chicago Sanitary Canal first opened in 1848 to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois River (Cunningham, 1905). The Mississippi, Illi- nois, and Ohio River channels have been improved and maintained for shipping. The old Illinois and Mississippi Canal connecting the two rivers from Hennepin on the Illinois to the Quad City area on the Mississippi was dug for navigation, but was soon abandoned when railroads were opened. The coming of the railroads 21 also ended a proposal to construct a canal from Danville to a canal along the Wabash River. In the watershed of this study, the Vermilion River, practically all chan- nel construction, modification, and improvement have had "drainage and sanita- tion" as the primary purpose. With the exception of channels in municipalities, this drainage has been for agricultural land. The Boneyard ditch in Champaign- Urbana is the major all-urban channel. However all three major tributaries (the North Fork, Middle Fork, and Salt Fork) also provide outlets for both storm and sanitary drainage for the villages, towns, and cities of the area. The early attempts to construct drainage channels through the swamps of the area under study were crude, slow, and ineffective. Michael Sullivant, from whom a township in Ford County takes its name, bought 65,000 acres in east-central Illinois (Morgan, 1969). Much of it was so swampy he set out to drain it with a gigantic ditching plow (Ames, 1970) that required 68 oxen driven by 8 men to pull it. They could open 3 to 3.5 miles of shallow ditch in a day . Teams of horses pulling slip scrapers and men with shovels opened many shallow ditches. These efforts were at best partially effective, as few ex- tended far downstream and most were too shallow for tile outlets. Too often they added to drainage problems on lower land. Disputes, disagreements, law suits, and outright hostilities arose between neighbors over drainage rights, damages, costs, and benefits. Thus drainage was often blocked or delayed by objectors . The two drainage district laws enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1879 both gave power to a majority of landowners owning at least one-third of the land, or to at least one-third of the landowners holding a majority of the land, to force drainage ditch construction by means of a legal dis- trict. Pickels and Leonard's (1921) discussion of legal problems is an ex- cellent review of the steps in district organization and operation required in the formative years. After organizing and naming drainage commissioners, a district could de- termine benefits, assess taxes, and use the funds collected to construct drainage ditches as planned across lands and thus provide outlets for those lands within the district. This work by drainage districts has developed through the past century so that with few exceptions, constructed and improved channels within the watershed under study are "district ditches." Costs for their construction and maintenance have been paid by "benefitted" landowners within the districts. The only financial aid which might be termed public support has been from assessments paid by highway departments and munici- palities within the districts. In an exception the Upper Salt Fork received a grant of $25,000 from the state for channel construction. Some Works Progress Administration relief laborers cleared brush, trees, and log jams from a few ditches in Champaign and Vermilion Counties in the depression years of the mid 1930s providing an estimated $60,000 in benefits. Reports also indicate that similar clearing was done on the Big Four ditch in Ford County by Civilian 22 Conservation Corps crews from a USDA Drainage Camp stationed at Gilman during the same period. Some Champaign County districts obtained similar assistance from another camp at Tuscola. Thus the millions of dollars invested in the drainage channels of these drainage districts and subdistricts has been paid almost entirely from local funds. Drainage District Organization Tliis ditching for drainage may conveniently be divided into three periods. The first period extends from earliest settlements and cultivation of the land to 1880. The second period extends from 1880 to about 1955. The third period is just now emerging in the 1970s. During the first period there was considerable individual and mutual ditch- ing by landowners, but little organized effort involving larger drains. Some mutual drainage channels were constructed but ditching methods were slow and primitive and the channels constructed were shallow and usually inadequate even by minimum drainage standards. Work was often blocked by landowners in down- stream locations who feared damage or were unwilling to share costs. Consider- able tile under-drainage was also started in this period. Period two covers organization of drainage districts and construction of the hundreds of miles of drainage ditches still in use in 1974. Figure 8 shows the dates of organization of drainage districts. Most districts constructed ditches within a year or two after their legal organization. In this period of rapid and extensive construction, numerous tile drains were also installed on farms, and larger tiles were used by many drainage dis- tricts as lateral outlets. Some small districts used tile only, with no open ditches, but these emptied into natural open channels most of which had to be deepened, widened, and straightened. The extensive tile systems installed by landowners brought greater demands for deepening and enlarging channels to provide adequate tile outlets. The tile systems have served to remove much of the evidence of the swamps and sloughs that existed originally in the low land areas . Period two was initiated by the two acts passed by the Illinois legisla- ture in 1879, the Levee District Act and the Farm Drainage Act. They provided for the organization of drainage districts, the appointment of commissioners, surveys and designs for drains, assessment of taxes based on estimated benefits, letting of contracts, construction tax collection, payment for damages, and maintenance. Township commissioners were empowered to approve of drainage dis- tricts under the Farm Drainage Act. Hence many drainage districts still bear the name of the township in which they were first organized. District organ- ization under the Levee Act was authorized by the County Courts. These dis- tricts were often named for creeks, swamps, or landowners within the districts. County engineers and highway superintendents performed some of the early sur- veys, but land surveyors and professional engineers were retained by other districts. Among these early surveyors and engineers were Godfrey Sperling, G. L. Fairclo, Ralph Wilson, Joel Dunn, Joseph O'Brien, Hubert E. Goodell, 23 Alfred M. Danely, Mack H. Kinch, R. E. Fisher, and Professor I. 0. Baker in Champaign County; R. 0. Hollister and Tracy Pitzen in Ford County; and John F. Fisher and Dale Cronkhite in Vermilion County. The names W. J. Day from Bement, and Troy Timm from Tuscola also appear as engineers on plans. Attorneys were also retained by most districts, especially under the Levee Act. Some legal firms have continued to serve these drainage districts through several generations. These include J. L. Ray, D. C. Dobbins, D. V. Dobbins, and H. I. Green in Champaign County; Milton Cloud, Franc Thompson, and D. E. Martensen in Ford County; and Jackson Hutton, Ernest Hutton, and George Rearick in Vermilion County. Certain attorneys have become drainage specialists and have represented districts in court cases before the State Supreme Court. Others have participated in writing Illinois drainage laws. The third and emerging period of drainage began with the new drainage district law or Drainage Code which became effective January 1, 1956 (Hannah, 1969). This law replaced the Levee and Farm Drainage Acts. It placed author- ity with the Circuit Court, provided management of funds by the County Trea- surer, and required annual reports by each district to be filed with the courts and the State Comptroller. The new law has standardized district operations and procedures. In most cases it has simplified the work of district commis- sioners, especially for levying taxes annually for maintenance. Since most drains were constructed earlier, maintenance more than con- struction has characterized this recent period. When applied to strictly agricultural use of land, this has been reasonably satisfactory. However, changes in priorities of an urban society and advanced agricultural technol-, ogy have brought new problems to drainage districts. Rapid changes in land use from rural to urban residential, industrial, and business now characterize the third period. The adequacy of farm drainage laws and district operation is being severely tested. Flooding tolerated on crop land and pasture can be highly damaging even in a few hours in a residential area. Runoff rates and drainage coefficients used in design for agriculture have become inadequate and even obsolete for more intensive land uses. Today environmental concern for wildlife, fish and bird life, forests, and open areas must also be considered with every major ditch construction project. In a report of environmental study for Ford County in 1972, Scruggs and Hammond of East Peoria have also suggested that the drainage districts may function as monitors for pollution control by "spotting and correcting violations." All these concerns add complications and challenges heretofore unknown . Even in agricultural uses, pressure has developed for even better land drainage than exists in 1974 as a requirement in the highly technical, in- creasingly efficient agriculture of the Com Belt. Modem agriculture tech- nology now requires better surface and under-drainage. Corrugated plastic drain tubing is used to replace clay and concrete. High speed trenchers with laser beam controls are used to insure proper grades, and land forming is practiced. These improvements contribute to increased agricultural production which is essential for adequate domestic and world food demands. Thus this 24 new period may be termed one of recognition that society as a whole benefits from land drainage. And so, it becomes a question as to how and to what de- gree general revenue funds (county, state, and federal) should be made avail- able for drainage. Channel Location and Design In the Vermilion River watershed, the larger drainage district channels (such as Saline Branch, Beaver Lake, and Upper Salt Fork in Champaign County; Big Four and Wall Township in Ford County; and Jordan Special and Hoopeston in Vermilion County) were constructed by straightening and enlarging the shal- low meandering natural channels. Tlie Upper Salt Fork in Champaign County be- fore improvement was described in the 1934 Federal Land Bank report as follows: "Salt Fork Creek was originally a stream, shallow in depth, tortuous in course, and sluggish in velocity. Its banks were little below the adjoining lands and rainfall of any consequence caused it to be flooded.... As the tributary watersheds became better drained and developed the flooded conditions became worse." Since the district was organized in 1925 and the channel improved, it now has one of the largest channels of the watershed, rivaled only by the Big Four ditch in Ford County. Many of the smaller ditches were located and constructed through the low- est sections of flat swampy areas where there is little evidence of definite valleys. Natural channels and pools in loops and bends outside the straightened channels have probably been filled through years of cultivation, thus erasing traces of their previous existence. However, the almost complete absence of valleys with definite escarpments or even obvious depressions tends to sug- gest that few streams existed in the natural state. This is especially true of the lateral ditches and smaller district ditches. This condition is also apparent to one driving on roads across such districts as Beaver Lake and Spoon River in Champaign County and Lyman Township in Ford County. Here ditches are crossed with little warning except for the presence of bridges and leveled spoil banks. A study of topographic maps readily differentiates the constructed drain- age channels from natural streams as the latter are tortuous and meandering. The constructed channels have obviously been realigned to follow straight lines and long smooth curves. Right angle bends are found only in the smaller chan- nels, and these are usually made to follow a road, to pass under a bridge, or at a confluence of two streams. Numerous channels follow a straight line for lengths up to 0.5 mile, and a few are nearly straight for as far as 2 miles. A good example of the results of straightening is found on the Saline Branch ditch in Champaign County. The natural stream length prior to straightening in 1908 was 19 miles from just north of Urbana to the outlet into Salt Fork River near St. Joseph; after straightening the length was reduced to 14 miles. Figure 13 shows new and old channel locations in the western part of this district. This straightening and improving of the alignment has substantially in- creased discharge capacity due not only to larger, deeper channels and smoother K O 05 CO «