Swan Lake Hillside Sedimentation Project

Swan Lake is a 2,500 acre backwater of the Illinois River, located five miles upstream from the Mississippi River, in Calhoun County, Illinois. It is a natural fishery, a stop for migratory waterfowl and an important wetland habitat of the Illinois River Basin. Unfortunately, previous sediment rates indicated that 30% of the lake's area could be lost over the next 50 years. The primary sources of this sediment are the Illinois River and runoff from the 23,000 acre watershed in Calhoun County. It has been determined that the annual sediment load, that was being deposited into Swan Lake from the 23,000 acre watershed in Calhoun County, was 117,000 tons.

The Swan Lake Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project is a major component of the Corps of Engineers' Upper Mississippi River System - Environmental Management Program (EMP). Through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), between the United States Department of the Army and the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) an upland land treatment project was scheduled for completion in 2001. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides money for the cost share and administrative costs. The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides the technical assistance and the Calhoun County Soil and Water Conservation District is the sponsoring group, for the hillside sediment project.

The goal of the project is to reduce the sediment load by 33% annually over the life of the project. The reduction is being accomplished by changing farming practices in the watershed and construction of projects that reduce or trap sediment. These practices include but are not limited to ponds, grassed waterways, critical area seeding, terraces, water and sediment control basins and constructed wetlands. There are about 170 landowners in the watershed and 95 of the landowners are participating. At the end of September 30, 1998 the reduction of sediment reaching the lake has accounted for approximately 85% of the goal.