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Water Survey

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  • Illinois soils are slightly cooler in mid-August

    Aug 18, 2021 1:00 pm

    Soil temperatures have decreased in mid-August as cooler weather moved into the state.

  • Illinois soils are warmer and wetter in mid-October

    Oct 18, 2021 1:15 pm

    A wet October has caused soil moisture to rise across the state.

  • ""

    Illinois soils are warmer, drier in mid-July

    Jul 15, 2019 2:15 pm

    Soils in mid-July are continuing to warm across the state, surpassing average temperatures from last year, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program manager at the University of Illinois’ Illinois State Water Survey.

  • Illinois Soils Cooler, Drier in Mid-August

    Aug 17, 2017 3:45 pm

    Soil temperatures at depths of 4 inches under sod averaged 75.8 degrees in Illinois during the first half of August, 1.2 degrees below the long-term average and 4.0 degrees lower than the same period in 2016

  • soils in cornfield

    Illinois soils have cooled in mid-August

    Aug 17, 2023 9:15 am

    A change in weather has cooled soils across Illinois in mid-August, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey.

  • Illinois Soils Warm Over the First Half of March

    Mar 18, 2016 10:30 pm

    Soil temperatures increased through the first half of March, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

  • Illinois soil temperatures are cooler than normal in mid-April

    Apr 20, 2023 2:00 pm

    Cooler weather in mid-April has caused Illinois soil temperatures to fall.

  • Illinois soil temperatures are cool in mid-September

    Sep 16, 2022 9:45 am

    Soil temperatures fell during the first two weeks of September as cooler weather moved into the state. 

  • Illinois Soil Temperatures were Warm in Mid-April

    Apr 16, 2015 3:00 pm

    Soil temperatures were slightly above the long-term average in the middle of April, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program Manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

  • Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel to retire in December

    Nov 14, 2018 2:00 pm

    Jim Angel, Illinois State Climatologist, has announced that he will retire in December 2018 after 34 years at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS). In his current position, Angel has served as the primary source of science-based weather and climate information and services for the state of Illinois since 1997.

  • Illinois State Water Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey drill new deep sandstone monitoring well in Kendall County

    Mar 22, 2016 10:15 pm

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed drilling of a new deep sandstone monitoring well in December 2015. The monitoring well is located in Kendall County, southeast of the town of Newark, IL. The 1,180 feet deep borehole has two nested wells, one which is open to the St. Peter Sandstone and one that is open to the deeper Ironton-Galesville Sandstone. The wells will monitor changing groundwater levels in these aquifers, which are an important source of groundwater for municipal and industrial needs.

  • Illinois State Water Survey and U of I Extension Team up to Reduce Flood Risk

    Sep 15, 2010 1:00 am

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and the University of Illinois (U of I) Extension are teaming up to help Illinois communities better understand and reduce their flood risk.

  • Illinois State Water Survey to Inventory Private Wells in McLean and Tazewell Counties – Well Owners Asked to Help

    May 1, 2010 1:15 am

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) is set to conduct an inventory of private wells in the rural areas surrounding Armington, Congerville, Danvers, Deer Creek, Goodfield, Hopedale, Mackinaw, McLean, Minier, Morton, and Stanford to determine water levels, pump settings, and well depths for all local wells.

  • Illinois State Water Survey to Study Nippersink Creek

    Mar 15, 2016 10:30 pm

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) announced today that new hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of Nippersink Creek will be performed in partnership with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources-Office of Water Resources (IDNR-OWR) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The study will help local communities to identify areas of high flood risk along Nippersink Creek for flood mitigation planning.

  • brown grass on lawn

    Illinois team contributes to vital weekly drought assessment

    Aug 28, 2020 12:00 pm

    Determing which areas of the U.S. and of Illinois are experiencing drought is a critical function of the U.S. Drought Monitor. A team of Illinois scientists led by Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford provides input on the state drought determination every week. 

     

     

  • Illinois was Cold and Dry in November

    Dec 1, 2014 3:45 pm

    November was much colder and drier than average. The statewide average temperature was 34.3 degrees, which is 8.2 degrees below average, and the fourth coldest November on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

  • Illinois was warmer and wetter than normal in August and in the summer

    Sep 4, 2018 1:30 pm

    The statewide average temperature for Illinois in August was 74.9 degrees, 1.3 degrees above normal. The statewide average rainfall was 5.25 inches, 1.66 inches above normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois. 

  • brown marmorated stinkbug

    Improved pest degree day calculators are available for the 2021 growing season

    Feb 4, 2021 10:45 am

    Two updated pest degree day calculators from the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) are now available for commodity and specialty crop growers in Illinois, featuring seven-day weather forecasts, graphs, and insect emergence maps to track accumulated degree days and light for the most notorious pests.

  • Increased risk of drought conditions in Illinois

    May 23, 2023 8:00 am

    Weather conditions have been dry in the past four to six weeks in parts of northeastern, western, and central Illinois. Forecasts for the next 7 to 10 days show very dry weather and above normal temperatures, which will likely worsen already dry conditions in the state and potentially cause rapid-onset drought conditions in some areas.

  • Increased Water Demand Threatens Deep Bedrock Aquifer Water Supplies in Northeastern Illinois

    Oct 12, 2015 2:30 pm

    Deep sandstone aquifers that feed water supplies to parts of Northeastern Illinois are at risk of becoming partially or completely depleted in the next 35 years, a new study at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) suggests.

  • Increase in Soil Moisture due to Recent Rains

    May 19, 2014 4:00 pm

    Recent rains across Illinois have led to increases in soil moisture levels, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program Manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

  • Thunderstorm over a field

    Increasing opportunities through hazard mitigation

    Jul 27, 2021 4:00 pm

    The ISWS Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program's (CHAMP) more than 25 professional staff with expertise in engineering, GIS, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, hazard mitigation planning, and community engagement help communities build unique and comprehensive Natural Hazard Mitigation Plans (NHMP) to assess local hazards, identify high-risk areas, and take action in preventing losses from natural disasters. 

  • Irrigation equipment over a wheat field

    Integrating surface water and groundwater modeling

    Jul 27, 2021 4:45 pm

    Water Survey researchers are exploring ways to simulate the interactions between groundwater and surface water by combining existing modeling technology, including investigating how groundwater elevations change in response to storm events and subsequent river rises.

  • drilling equipment in field

    ISGS, ISWS install new wells for national groundwater monitoring

    Nov 6, 2018 12:30 pm

    Scientists and staff from the Illinois State Geological Survey and the Illinois State Water Survey  ollaborated with county and local governments in Kane County to install groundwater-monitoring wells in northeast Illinois as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Ground Water Monitoring Network. 

  • the water testing laboratory at the Water Survey

    ISWS analysis can provide answers to water questions

    Jul 14, 2020 12:00 pm

    When Illinoisans have questions about their home water supply, the Water Survey’s Public Service Lab can provide answers. The Water Survey’s chemists customize each water analysis depending on where the water came from, how it will be used, and the symptoms of the problem. 

  • ISWS Climate Models Predict Extreme Heat Waves in Mid-and Late-21st Century

    Jul 13, 2010 1:15 am

    Heat waves that we have experienced recently will likely pale in comparison to what’s ahead in 50 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, according to Xin-Zhong Liang, Ph.D., Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois and assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

  • ISWS Engineer is Elected Chair of the ASFPM

    May 31, 2011 12:45 am

    Sally McConkey, Water Resources Engineer at the Illinois State Water Survey, has been elected Chair of the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). She began her one-year term on May 19.

  • ISWS Engineer is Selected to Serve on New FEMA Council

    Jul 17, 2014 3:45 pm

    Sally McConkey, Water Resources Engineer at the Illinois State Water Survey, has been selected as a member of the newly created Technical Mapping Advisory Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as directed by Congress.

  • CHAMP team members

    ISWS flood mapping program wins FEMA award for outstanding efforts

    May 8, 2017 4:00 pm

    PT stakeholders from across the country selected the ISWS Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program (CHAMP) for the honorable mention award from the 1st Annual Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Cooperative Technical Partners Recognition Program.

  • bean field irrigator

    ISWS groundwater expert to participate in community forum on irrigation

    Aug 22, 2017 3:45 pm

    George Roadcap, a scientist at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and an expert on groundwater and the Mahomet Aquifer, will participate in a community conversation on irrigation sponsored by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Champaign Public Library.

  • physical model in which vertical rods extend from a map to show groundwater level changes in the Joliet, Illinois, area

    ISWS innovates in analysis and visualization of groundwater data

    Sep 18, 2020 10:15 am

    Water Survey staff have developed innovative ways to analyze and visualize groundwater data, from painstakingly soldered flow models using electricity, to digital flow models like the widely used Prickett-Lonnquist Aquifer Simulation Model (PLASM), to more recent interactive maps and a new approach to developing potentiometric surfaces using MODFLOW.

  • ISWS investigates the potential for stormwater credit trading in Cook County

    Feb 9, 2018 1:30 pm

    In 2017, The Metropolitan Planning Council, The Nature Conservancy, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in Cook County collaborated on a feasibility study to consider stormwater credit trading as an alternative to creating on-site facilities for site development or redevelopment. As part of this study, the collaborators contracted a team of engineers and hydrologists at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), joined by U of I Department of Landscape Architecture staff, to assess the land area that has the potential for off-site stormwater management facilities in suburban Cook County

  • ISWS is Pioneer in Tracking Tornadoes by Radar

    Apr 9, 2012 8:00 pm

    The Illinois State Water Survey played a key role in developing tornado-tracking technology used today to issue warnings of impending severe storms.  While testing radar equipment to measure rainfall rates in 1953, ISWS meteorologists were the first to photograph and document a hook echo, a classic sign of tornado development.

  • Illinois State Water Survey celebrates 125 years of water and weather research

    ISWS kicks off 125th anniversary year

    Mar 10, 2020 8:00 am

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) held the first of five statewide events commemorating 125 Years of Water and Weather on Feb. 4 in Champaign.

  • ISWS offers a flood assessment for critical facilities

    May 19, 2017 4:00 pm

    When a flood inundates a community, critical facilities such as hospitals and fire stations can lose electricity and equipment used to serve and protect citizens. A flood vulnerability assessment is now available for managers of critical facilities to identify their facility's susceptibility to flooding.

  • ISWS partnership helps prevent water shortage in Northeastern Illinois

    Oct 15, 2019 10:00 am

    Facing an imminent water shortage and drilling deeper into its aquifers to meet demands, planning committees and legislators from Joliet and surrounding communities are partnering the ISWS to prevent a water crisis.

  • ISWS Partners on Project to Help Communities Prepare for Climate Extremes

    Sep 1, 2016 5:00 pm

    Climatologists from the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) are partnering with the American Planning Association in a two-year project to assist five Illinois pilot communities in preparing for more frequent climate extremes using current weather and climate data.

  • ISWS Provides Resources for Irrigation Reporting

    May 5, 2015 2:00 pm

    Starting this growing season, farm irrigators who use high capacity wells or intakes are required to report their water use.  The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has created a website to assist irrigators with this mandatory reporting process, according to Steve Wilson, ISWS groundwater hydrologist.

  • ISWS researcher contributes to award-winning Chicago Regional Climate Action Planning Partnership

    Oct 22, 2021 2:00 pm

    Illinois State Water Survey climate researcher Ashish Sharma contributed his expertise on climate change and its impacts on urban communities and associated solutions to the recently released Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region. Last week the collaborative group behind the plan, which includes non-profits, universities, Argonne National Laboratory and municipalities, received a 2021 Climate Leadership Award from the Climate Registry and Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

  • ISWS Scientist Honored for Contribution to Meteorological Sciences

    Feb 7, 2011 12:30 am

    The American Meteorological Society at its Annual Conference in Seattle during January 24–27, 2011 awarded the distinction of Honorary Member to Stanley A. Changnon, a scientist at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  • ISWS Scientists Contributed to Reports Associated with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

    Jun 28, 2017 8:00 pm

    Two Illinois State Water Survey atmospheric scientists, Stanley Changnon and Kenneth Kunkel, contributed to reports issued to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.

  • ISWS Scientists Contribute to Scientific Documents Noted in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

    Dec 11, 2007 7:30 pm

    The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on December 10 in Oslo, Norway. The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) is proud to announce that two of its atmospheric research scientists, Kenneth Kunkel and Stanley Changnon, have participated in the activities of the IPCC.

  • ISWS Staff Will Measure Private Wells in McHenry County

    May 17, 2011 12:00 am

    The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) will contact well owners in McHenry County in May and throughout the summer for permission to measure water levels in wells as part of a multi-year investigation to support future policies for managing water resources in the county.

  • ISWS Study Findings Reflect Impairment of the Fox River in Northern Illinois

    Sep 28, 2009 11:00 am

    When the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) designated the entire Fox River in McHenry and Kane Counties as impaired, the Fox River Study Group (www.foxriverstudygroup.org) formed collaborations to preserve and enhance the river’s overall health.  The organization funded the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to conduct a multi-year, four-phase study that examines the Fox River watershed below Stratton Dam.

  • ISWS team wins 2019 NGWA Outstanding Groundwater Supply Project Award

    Sep 16, 2019 7:00 am

    The Groundwater science team at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has received the National Ground Water Association Outstanding Groundwater Supply Project Award for 2019 for their project Assessing At-Risk Groundwater Supply in the Southwest Suburbs of Chicago. 

  • water pipe

    ISWS-Waterly partnership digitizes groundwater data

    Jun 15, 2022 2:00 pm

    Leveraging Waterly software will allow the ISWS groundwater science team to acquire almost real-time water pumping data that will amplify the team’s ability to forecast aquifer changes and gain a better understanding of current and future water risks across Illinois.

  • ISWS watershed science team tackles new projects

    Jan 19, 2021 10:15 am

    Ongoing projects in watershed science continue to contribute to long-term databases, while new projects tackle some of today’s tough challenges.

  • ISWS Website for Water Supply Operators Offers New Social Media Features

    Jun 6, 2011 12:45 am

    Operators of water systems that serve small communities face many challenges:  overcoming compliance issues with few resources and a lack of money to train staff.  That’s where the Illinois State Water Survey’s www.smallwatersupply.org website can help.

  • ISWS wins honorable mention in FEMA's CTP Recognition Program

    Dec 18, 2017 2:45 pm

    As a Cooperating Technical Partner (CTP), the Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program of ISWS assesses local flood hazards, identifies high-risk areas, and engages community partners to inform, educate, and empower others to take action in preventing losses from natural hazards.

  • Road salt

    ISWS wins Salt Symposium Chloride Reduction Leadership award

    Aug 30, 2023 10:00 am

    Starting in the late 1990s, the ISWS began assessing groundwater quality data in the Chicago region to determine how chloride concentrations might be increasing with time due to road deicing applications. It turns out almost all water resources in the region are being impacted. Because of these efforts and increased awareness, various counties and municipalities in the region now practice sensible salting, including pre-application of brines and training of operators.