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QUADRANGLE: Oakford, 7.5' series

LOCATION: Lat 40 07' 25'' long 89 59' 05'', in NW1/4SE1/4 sec.3 T.19 N., R.8 W., Mason County, Hydrologic Unit 07130008, on right bank at downstream side of bridge on State Highway 97, 300 ft. upstream from a railroad bridge, 0.8 mile downstream f rom Crane Creek, 1.8 miles northwest of Oakford and at mile 25.7.

ESTABLISHMENT AND HISTORY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed a chain gage on the bridge at site 2.4 miles upstream on Oct. 26, 1909. This gage was used until Jan. - 1, 1934. Staff gage was installed at present site Oct. 1, 1939, and used until M ay 14, 1940. Recording gage installed May 15, 1940, by Barron and Bidwell. Wire-weight gage installed on downstream handrail July 12, 1971. Electric-tape gage installed Aug. 2, 1974. Division of Waterways installed a telemark in 1974. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island installed a Data Collection Platform (DCP) Apr. 1985. Sediment sampling began Oct. 1994.

DRAINAGE AREA: 5,093 sq. mi.

GAGE: Digital water-stage recorder and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers DCP in a reinforced concrete structure on right bank at downstream side of highway bridge pier.

Intakes are 3'' galvanized steel pipe. The gage is equipped with lift valves, and a bucket and rope are furnished for supplying water to the flush tank for flushing of intakes.

GAGE DATUM: Datum of gage is 452.88 ft. above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD) (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bench mark). Prior to Jan. 1, 1934, nonrecording gage at site 2.4 mi upstream at datum 458.66 ft. above NGVD. Oct. 1, 1939, to May 14, 1940, nonrecording gage at present site at the present NGVD.

CHANNEL AND CONTROL: Mostly sand and mud which is subject to scour and fill. The channel is dredged and levied from the mouth of Salt Creek, 8 miles above the gage, to the mouth of the Sangamon (24.3 miles below the gage). The channel is straight above and below the gage. Low stages are controlled by shifting sand dunes and remains of an old sheet piling control located about 200 ft. downstream from the railroad bridge. Medium stages are channel controlled with debris sometimes collecting on the railroad bridge 100 ft. downstream. High stages are channel controlled with an overbank flow on the right side at the gage subjec t to the effects of vegetation. Extreme high flow will overflow the left bank and flow through the overflow channel about one quarter mile south of the gage. This overflow channel has heavy vegetation during the summer.

DISCHARGE MEASUREMENTS: Low-stage measurements can be waded in the vicinity of the gage. Medium and high stages can be measured from the highway bridge at the gage. High-stage measurements must include flow through overflow section south of the main channel (bridge about 1/2 mile south of gage) . The downstream side of the highway bridge is marked for measurements.

FLOODS: Flood of May 20, 1943, reached a stage of 25.63 ft, with a maximum discharge of 123,000 cfs.

WINTER FLOW: Stage-discharge relation is affected by ice.

REGULATION AND DIVERSION: None.