DHE AUDUBON: BULLETIN 3 
THE DAM ILLLINOIS PLAN 
A Synopsis of the Major Proposed ‘Improvements’ to 
the Water Resources of South Central Illinois 
by JOHN CARL MARLIN 
Director, Committee on the Embarras River 
Decisions made within the next five years will determine the fate of most 
rivers in the Southern half of Illinois. Plans to dam and channelize rivers 
are being developed and promoted at an alarming rate. Unless action is 
taken soon, no major Illinois stream will remain free flowing. 
This article briefly describes the big projects planned for some streams. 
The Army Corps of Engineers (COE), aided by local politicians and vested 
interests, pose the major threat to our rivers. 
The Illinois Division of Waterways (DOW) works closely with the 
Corps and has plans for the few rivers which the Corps has missed. 
The Soil Conservation Service, (SCS), with dozens of small watershed 
projects including dams and channelizations, is concerned mainly with 
small streams. 
SCS would come under much less pressure from conservationists if 
it would concentrate on its primary mission of keeping soil on the land. 
Until Illinois soil is stabilized, dams and drainage ditches will continue to 
suffer from rapid sedimentation. 
ILLINOIS RIVER: Early explorers commented on the great beauty of 
the Illinois River. Today this river is highly polluted, sports several dams, 
and has been channelized to a depth of nine feet to accommodate barges. 
The barge interests, which pay little or nothing toward the construction 
and maintenance of waterways, are not satisfied with the present waterway. 
Consequently the COE is seeking $226 million from Congress to provide 
new locks on the Illinois waterway and $128 million for a modification of 
the Calumet-Sag canal. The Corps has also requested $375,000 to study 
the possibility of channelizing the Illinois to a depth of 12 feet. 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER: The Corps is studying the possibility of deepen- 
ing the present nine-foot barge channel to 12 feet. This project will 
severely affect the ecology of the upper Mississippi valley. 
WABASH RIVER: The Wabash River is generally free flowing. A 
group of promoters called the Wabash Valley Association (WVA) is about 
to change that. The WVA proposes that a 12-foot barge channel be created 
up the Wabash River. A complimentary proposal calls for a branch canal 
through Vermillion, Iroquois, Kankakee, and Will counties to the Illinois 
Waterway at Joliet. The first link is to connect Mt. Carmel, Ill., with the 
Ohio River. The COE seeks $100,000 to study this proposal. 
SANGAMON RIVER: The future of the ill-fated Oakley Dam project 
which continues to threaten Allerton Park, is uncertain. The whole matter 
has been taken to court. The $68 million (Illinois share—$14.5 million) 
project is opposed by conservationists and farmers above and below the 
dam site. Yet state politicians and Decatur businessmen continue to support 
it. The project includes a 98-mile recreational greenbelt, which is hailed 
