Lower Sangamon River area assessment

The Sangamon River basin drains 5,419 square miles and forms the largest watershed of any of the tributaries of the Illinois River. The mainstem of the Sangamon flows more than 240 miles. The assessment area encompasses more than 2,927,900 acres and includes the lower Sangamon River watershed (which includes parts of McLean, Piatt, DeWitt, Macon, Shelby, Christian, Sangamon, Montgomery, Macoupin, Morgan, Menard, Logan, Tazewell, Mason, and Cass counties) and some Illinois River tributaries. Major tributaries to the Sangamon, such as South Fork Sangamon River and Salt Creek, are included. Five natural divisions are encompassed -Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie and Springfield sections), Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River Bottomlands, Illinois , River and Mississippi River Sand Areas, Western Forest-prairie, and Southern Till Plain. Parts or all of four sub-basins on the northwestern edge of the area are designated Resource Rich Areas because they contain signific'ant natural community diversity. This assessment is comprised of four volumes. In Volume I, Geology discusses the geology, soils, and minerals in the assessment area. Volume 2, Water Resources, discusses the surface and groundwater resources and Volume 3, Living Resources, describes the natural vegetation communities and the fauna of the region. Volume 4 contains three parts: Part I, Socio-Economic Profile, discusses the demographics, infrastructure, and economy of the area; Part II, Environmental Quality, discusses air and water quality, and hazardous and toxic waste generation and management in the area; and Part III, Archaeological Resources, identifies and assesses the archaeological sites known in the area.published or submitted for publicatio