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Regional Response
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Beaver Creek Watershed Planning Process

Local Lead: Mike Foutch, Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District, 815-544-2677 (Ext. 3)
County: Boone and a small portion of Winnebago
Stream segment: Entire
Municipal stakeholders: Belvidere, Caledonia, Capron, Poplar Grove, Timberlane
Impairments: No impairment identified
Potential Causes of Impairment: Not applicable
Potential Sources of Impairment: Not applicable   

The Beaver Creek Watershed is currently without any water quality impairments identified by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), but is vulnerable to a worsening condition with expected land use change. The overall object of the Beaver Creek Watershed plan is to recommend best management practices (BMPs) that will proactively conserve land and water resources to prevent degradation. We expect that the chief pollutants to address are nutrients and sedimentation. As urbanization increases, pathogens will likely cause impairments if  they are not controlled. Plan recommendations will be site-specific and have costs, pollutant load reductions, identified lead or responsible parties, and other implementation details associated with them.

BMPs are divided into urban and rural. The project will identify sites currently in agricultural use that will likely remain in production and those that most likely will be converted to urban uses by the planning-horizon year (2030). The former will be targeted for agricultural BMPs. It is not expected that the plan will focus on urban BMP retrofits. The plan should also consider farmland protection when doing so will meet stakeholder objectives and support other planning efforts. The project will attempt to meet all elements of the B-MAG framework (see main project page), but because of limited time and funding, the land use and water quality elements will be addressed first. It is the intent of CMAP staff to conduct a planning process that leads to the incorporation of the Beaver Creek Watershed plan into the Illinois Water Quality Management Plan after due diligence by IEPA.

See the Subwatershed Reports (Upper and Lower Beaver Creek) for background. For additional details on this project, contact Tim Loftus (312-386-8666), Jesse Elam (312-386-8688), or the local lead.

Final Plan (September 2008)

Watershed Group Meeting Materials