Central South Branch of Kishwaukee River has high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus

GENOA – High chemical levels found in a section of the Kishwaukee River in DeKalb County could be hurting the health of animals, officials said Thursday as they continue work on a plan aimed at protecting its watershed.

The Kishwaukee River Watershed Central South Branch steering committee is about halfway done creating a plan for the Central South Branch of the Kishwaukee River, officials said at a planning meeting Thursday in Genoa seeking to solicit opinions from the public – especially those who own land near the South Branch of the Kishwaukee River, Deer Creek or Bull Run Creek.

The Kishwaukee River watershed is an area of land that drains streams and other waters into the river. The Central South Branch’s watershed sits predominately northwest of Sycamore, encompassing Genoa, Kingston and Kirkland, and includes the two creeks in addition to the branch of the Kish.

The county continues to grow, so we need to have some background information. As you know, it’s always important to have a good plan in place before something starts to develop, and we can’t control after that ... [what] happened. That’s why we started to do watershed planning way back in 2014.”

—  Dean Johnson, executive director of DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District and the county watershed coordinator

A survey of the branch found more nitrogen and phosphorus than is preferred for healthy ecological habitats, said Cecily Cunz of Baxter and Woodman, an engineering firm working on the project.

“We are over our targets for both phosphorus and nitrogen by quite a bit,” Cunz said.

The Central South Branch of the Kishwaukee River has an average of 0.141 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of water, according to data provided by Baxter and Woodman, which is almost double the target set by the U.S. Geological Survey of less than 0.0725 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of water.

The target set for nitrogen in the watershed is less than 2.461 milligrams per liter of water, and Baxter and Woodman reported an average of 3.973 milligrams of nitrogen per the same amount of water.

Cunz said solids suspended in the water, such as soil and sediment, also were measured but not found to be above the target of 19 milligrams per liter.

“We don’t need to remove sediment, but we will as we implement practices that address nitrogen and phosphorus. ... A lot of the stream bank restorations, agriculture recommendations and wetland recommendations will all remove all three of those pollutants,” Cunz said. “So those are the reduction target goals that we are looking to hit when starting implementing practices.”

Dean Johnson, executive director of DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District and the county watershed coordinator, began the workshop by telling the crowd that the watershed plan for the Central South Branch of the Kishwaukee River will be the third plan developed for a watershed by the district in the past 10 years.

In 2014, the district started creating a plan for the East Branch of the South Branch of the Kishwaukee River watershed, before following up with a plan addressing other areas of the South Branch of the Kishwaukee River watershed, Johnson said.

“Having a plan in place helps determine how stormwater will function in the future, and then it helps with any kind of things we’re looking at when it comes to future development, and all those types of things within the county,” Johnson said.

Derek Hiland, the DeKalb County community development director, attended the meeting Thursday. He said since his arrival in DeKalb County eight years ago, it’s been very clear to him that the county has taken a vested interest in watershed planning efforts.

“It started long before I was hired at the county, and it continues today with the third watershed plan, which is why we’re here today: to have this discussion and share with our stakeholders at least the efforts thus far, as far as what our consultants are finding in the watershed,” Hiland said Thursday.

Hiland said he thinks the county will continue to create plans for all of the remaining watersheds in DeKalb County, and he stressed the civic duty of taking care of the watershed.

“Since we’re all part of multiple watersheds that drain north, mostly to the Rock River, eventually those waters need to be examined, and we need to take better care of our resources that exist today,” Hiland said.

Johnson said the creation of watershed plans are future-focused, and he understands that DeKalb County could face a variety of changes and challenges over the next few decades.

“The county continues to grow, so we need to have some background information,” he said. “As you know, it’s always important to have a good plan in place before something starts to develop, and we can’t control after that ... [what] happened. That’s why we started to do watershed planning way back in 2014.”