Sediment Management Alternatives for the Fox Chain of Lakes along the Fox River in Illinois

105 Pages·2002·3.16 MB·English

Contract Report 2002-04
Sediment Management Alternatives for the Fox Chain
of Lakes along the Fox River in Illinois
by
Nani G. Bhowmik and Misganaw Demissie
Prepared for the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
April 2002
Illinois State Water Survey
Watershed Science Section
Champaign, Illinois
A Division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Sediment Management Alternatives
for the Fox Chain of Lakes
along the Fox River in Illinois

Contract Report
Prepared by:

Illinois State Water Survey
Watershed Science Section
2204 Griffith Drive
Champaign, Illinois 61820-7495

Principal Investigators:

Nani G. Bhowmik, P.E., Ph.D
Principal Scientist
Watershed Science Section

and

Misganaw Demissie, P.E., Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Watershed Science Section

Contributors:

Compilation of Data: Susan Shaw
Lake Geometry and Bibliography: Susan Shaw
Stream Flow Analyses: Vern Knapp and Mike Myers
Surface Area Changes and Future Activites: John Palmieri
Historical Perspectives: Ingrid Enriquez

Report Prepared for the:
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Office of Realty and Environmental Planning

Conservation 2000 Ecosystem Project

April 2002

Sediment Management Alternatives
for the Fox Chain of Lakes
along the Fox River in Illinois

by
Nani G. Bhowmik and Misganaw Demissie

Abstract

The Fox Chain of Lakes is a series of interconnected glacial lakes that are essentially
located along the main stem of the Fox River. Originating in Wisconsin, the Fox River flows
through northern Illinois before becoming a major tributary of the Illinois River. About 75
percent of the Fox River above the lowest section of the Fox Chain of Lakes lies in Wisconsin.
The drainage area above the lowest point of the chain is about 1,184 square miles. The Fox
Chain of Lakes has a surface area of more than 6,000 acres.

Over the years, significant land-use changes have occurred on this watershed. These
changes and the geographical location of the Fox River have resulted in extensive sediment
deposition within these lakes. This is especially true for those lakes in the direct path of the Fox
River. For example, Grass Lake and Nippersink Lake have lost most of their capacities to
sediment deposition. The average depth of Grass Lake in 1975 was 2.7 feet, and the sediment is
extremely soft. Within the present research activity, the original research conducted in 1974-
1975 by the authors is being examined along with additional data collected by others within the
last 25 years. These initial analyses indicated that both in-lake and off-lake sediment
management techniques must be implemented to increase water depths within the lakes and
decrease sediment loads. Among the in-lake management alternatives that should be considered
are dredging and disposing of sediment outside the lake, discharging hydraulically dredged
sediment into geotubes or some other type of containment facility within the lake, and creating
artificial islands within the lake with dredged sediments. The watershed-based sediment
management alternatives could include implementation of best management practices on the
watershed, flow and sediment retention basins, side channel sediment traps, sediment
management within the stream channel, and the implementation of a systemwide sediment
management alternative.

Keywords: Fox Chain of Lakes, Fox River, Illinois, Sediment, Sedimentation, Sediment
Management, Artificial Island

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Contents

Page

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1
Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................1
Project Scope.......................................................................................................................1

Background and Analyses of Data..................................................................................................3
Historical Assessments........................................................................................................3
Social History................................................................................................................3
Natural History..............................................................................................................5
Environmental Stresses.................................................................................................5
Legislative and Political History...................................................................................6

Physical and Hydrological Settings................................................................................................9
Land Use.............................................................................................................................9
Morphology.........................................................................................................................9
Precipitation......................................................................................................................10
Annual Streamflow Variability.........................................................................................14

Data Analysis................................................................................................................................17
Depth-Area and Depth-Storage Relationships..................................................................17
Lake Cross-Sectional Changes..........................................................................................18
Grass Lake...................................................................................................................19
Lake Marie..................................................................................................................20
Channel Lake and Lake Catherine..............................................................................20
Bluff Lake...................................................................................................................20
Petite Lake...................................................................................................................20
Fox Lake......................................................................................................................22
Nippersink Lake..........................................................................................................22
Pistakee Lake..............................................................................................................22
Wind Effects......................................................................................................................22
Recreational Boating Effects.............................................................................................24
Interflow............................................................................................................................25

Sedimentation, Bank Erosion, and Sediment Budget...................................................................27

Suggested Sediment Management Alternatives............................................................................31
In-Situ Management..........................................................................................................36
Watershed-based Management.........................................................................................41
Suggested Future Activities..............................................................................................42

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Page

Summary.......................................................................................................................................43
In-Lake Sediment Management Alternatives....................................................................43
Off-Lake Sediment Management Alternatives.................................................................44

References.....................................................................................................................................45

Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography and Reference List for the Fox Chain of Lakes..............47

Appendix B: Depth-Area and Depth-Storage Relationships for Various Lakes in the
Chain [after Bhowmik (see Kothandaraman et al., 1977) and Kay et al. (2000)
for Channel Lake and Lake Catherine]................................................................................67

Appendix C: Lake Cross-Sectional Plots [after Bhowmik
(see Kothandaraman et al., 1977)].......................................................................................75

Appendix D: Lake Circulation Data Collected by Bhowmik
(see Kothandaraman et al., 1977).........................................................................................81

Appendix E: Sediment Management Alternatives for the Fox Chain of Lakes
Recommended by the Fox Waterway Authority (Personal Communication, 2001)............87

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List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Fox Chain of Lakes in Illinois along the Fox River...................................................4

Figure 2. Acreages of selected crops in the Fox River basin based on Illinois Agricultural
Statistical Data (after Keefer, 1998).........................................................................10

Figure 3. Land use variability close to the Fox Chain of Lakes..............................................11

Figure 4. Stream profile of the Fox River and major tributaries (from Knapp, 1988)............13

Figure 5. Annual precipitation at Aurora, 1901-1996 (after Angel and Armstrong, 1998)....14

Figure 6. Average annual streamflow for gaging stations in the Fox River basin
(after Knapp, Ramamurthy, and Nichols, 1998)......................................................15

Figure 7. Flow duration curves (discharge versus probability) [after Knapp,
Ramamurthy and Nichols (1998)]............................................................................15

Figure 8. Cross-sectional variations between 1962 and 1975 for range line 27-28 in
Grass Lake................................................................................................................19

Figure 9. Typical cross-sectional changes for Channel Lake and Lake Catherine
[after Bhowmik (see Kothandaraman et al., 1977)].................................................21

Figure 10. Typical cross-sectional profiles for the Fox Lake [after Bhowmik
(see Kothandaraman et al., 1977)]...........................................................................23

Figure 11. Sediment budget based on data reported by Schrader and Holmes (2000)..............28

Figure 12. Flow chart of the sediment budget for the Fox Chain of Lakes in tons per year
[as reported by Schrader and Holmes (2000)].........................................................29

Figure 13a. Geotubes in Grass Lake [after Bhowmik and Demissie (2001)].............................32

Figure 13b. Geotubes in Grass Lake [after Bhowmik and Demissie (2001)].............................32

Figure 14. Proposed geotube island within Grass Lake............................................................33

Figure 15. a) Actual photograph of geotube island showing progress as of 2000-2001
in Grass Lake and b) conceptual drawing of completed geotube island
in Grass Lake (photos from Peter Berrini, Cochran and Wilken, Personal
Communication, 1999).............................................................................................34

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Page

Figure 16. Proposed lake disposal sites for dredged materials
[after Kudrna and Associates (1988)]......................................................................35

Figure 17. Conceptual artificial island sites within Grass Lake
(kidney-shaped islands)............................................................................................37

Figure 18. Conceptual artificial island sites within Grass Lake
(teardrop-shaped islands).........................................................................................38

Figure 19. Conceptual artificial island sites within Grass Lake
(chevron-shaped islands)..........................................................................................39

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List of Tables

Page
Table 1. Precipitation Summary (inches), Aurora, Illinois....................................................13

Table 2. Average Depths (feet) of All Lakes Based on 1975 Data below an Elevation
of 736.5 ft-msl [after Bhowmik (see Kothandaraman et al., 1977)]........................18

Table 3. Wind Tide in Fox Lake with Southwest Wind.........................................................24

Table 4. Estimates of Sediment Deposition in the Fox Chain of Lakes.................................30

Table 5. Recommended Lake Sites for Dredged Sediment Disposal.
[after Kudrna and Associates (1988)]......................................................................36

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