CHAMPAIGN, Ill., 5/20/19: The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) announced today that new hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of the Wabash River and select tributaries is underway as part of a study to help local communities identify high flood-risk areas within the Lower Wabash and Middle Wabash-Busseron watersheds for flood mitigation planning in Illinois.

Water Survey activities will focus primarily on the 200-mile-long riparian corridor of the Wabash River, which forms the Illinois-Indiana state boundary.

Residents should be aware of the periodic presence of survey crews in the area. Surveys will be completed as stream conditions and weather allow.

The study is a result of three FEMA Discovery meetings with local community officials and emergency managers in the watersheds, hosted by the University of Illinois Extension at Paris, Robinson, and Mt. Carmel, Illinois, in July 2011. FEMA’s Coordinated Needs Management Strategy analyses also helped identify the Wabash River as a priority watershed for reanalysis.

ISWS is working collaboratively on the project with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources-Office of Water Resources, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Questions about the study can be directed to Glenn Heistand at the Illinois State Water Survey:  heistand@illinois.edu, 217-244-8856.