Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Much of the floodplain south of Pool 16 on the Mississippi River and on the La Grange and Alton pools on the Illinois River has been isolated by levees. The distribution of levees as proportion of total floodplain area is about:
In total, more than 1.1 million acres, mostly agricultural land, are protected from moderate floods by levees. Logging has caused significant habitat degradation throughout the river floodplains and northern parts of the basin. Logging was necessary to supply fuel-wood for steamboats and railroads, firewood for heat and cooking, and lumber to build cities. In most floodplain areas deforested land was rapidly converted to agriculture. The impact is particularly dramatic below the Kaskaskia River where the densely forested floodplain was almost completely cleared (Fig. 6). Deforestation and agricultural conversion throughout the basin increased sediment delivery to the mainstem rivers. |
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