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.

As Illinois experiences a third consecutive year of record-breaking rainfall stretching from Chicago to Cairo, researchers at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) have updated the publication that provides Illinois’ standards for expected extreme storms, known as Bulletin 75.

The Midwest is a particularly promising region for future wind energy development out to 2100 when accounting for climate change, according to a new study at the University of Illinois.

Hydroclimatologist Trent Ford, currently an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has been selected as the next Illinois State Climatologist, the authoritative source of weather and climate information and services for the state of Illinois. 

For every Illinois home sold, the Prairie Research Institute provides data needed for banks, title companies, insurance companies, and consumers to make informed decisions about home ownership. 

Illinois has an abundance of groundwater resources that supply millions of gallons of water per day to public, irrigation, and commercial/industrial systems. Groundwater resources are unevenly distributed throughout Illinois due to the state’s complex bedrock and glacial geology. This interactive map depicts the three major aquifer systems in Illinois and the public water supply (PWS) wells that extract groundwater from them. Users can select or query wells based on spatial location or attribute, and then can view reported withdrawals in an attribute table or in graph view. Users can also export data found in the attribute tables as a CSV file and can output maps in various formats for printing.

The Prairie Research Institute — is leading a drive to implement CO2 removal strategies, an essential step to a clean-energy future. 

A task force formed by the Illinois General Assembly to identify gaps in protection of the Mahomet Aquifer has issued its final recommendations. Illinois State Water Survey hydrologist George Roadcap served as a member of the task force, and other Prairie Research Institute scientists provided data and expertise to support the group’s yearlong effort.

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. 

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 researchers are part of a project to look for traces of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in sewer water in order to help monitor the spread of infection.  

Looking for that special house in the country?  Don't forget to have the well tested to ensure safe drinking water, advises Steve Wilson, groundwater hydrologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

Researchers at the University of Illinois are keeping an eye on areas of Illinois that are at high risk for flooding, not only county by county, but also building by building.

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.

Experts from the Illinois State Water Survey support the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in making informed watershed management decisions for a vast service area that includes 128 suburban communities in Cook County. 

Since the beginning of the year the Water Survey has hired more than a dozen new people, expanding its capabilities and capacity.

While there is no universally accepted definition of drought, contemporary definitions look at a percentage of precipitation over a protracted period of time, in most cases over the course of a year. Some say this approach leaves people and communities vulnerable to a different type of drought – flash droughts.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is tapping the expertise of the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) to finish a multi-year collaboration updating climate model projections for its Atlas 14, which serves as the benchmark for precipitation frequency values across the United States.

Spring and summer storms that create thunder and lightning on land also cause tsunami-like waves on the Great Lakes, bringing water surges onshore and jeopardizing docked boats and beach lovers, according to David Kristovich, head of the Climate and Atmospheric Science section with the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois.

Jenna Shelton recently joined the Prairie Research Institute as the new director of the Illinois State Water Survey. Shelton is a hydrobiogeochemist with 14 years of experience at the U.S. Geological Survey. She has a dynamic background of research and leadership, with expertise in strategic planning, machine learning, budgeting, the energy-water nexus, workforce development, stakeholder outreach, and international and Tribal Nation relations.

The PRI family recently lost one of our own, Dr. Misganaw (known to many as Mike) Demissie, who made a positive difference worldwide through his work and made a lasting impression on the legacy of the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS). Demissie passed away on April 20, 2023.

With new funding from NASA, a University of Illinois team of scientists will use NASA Earth science and localized social data to develop an innovative, multi-sector geospatial environmental justice toolkit for urban decision making in the Chicago region.

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. 

ISGS and ISWS began monitoring the intersections between industry and the state-protected nature preserves in 1998, letting science and groundwater testing lead the way. Then-graduate student Randy Locke embarked on what was intended to be a two-year groundwater monitoring project; that project is now in its 24th year and has expanded to 414 dedicated nature preserves across 62,270 acres in Illinois.

University of Illinois scientists are developing a way for households to monitor the quality of their drinking water, as part of a $5 million National Science Foundation-funded project led by Washington University in St. Louis.

The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) growing degree day (GDD) calculator is updated daily through local weather stations for users to calculate projections on crop development and maturity specifically for their location.

Research shows that small lakes even hundreds of miles away can cause lake-effect snows to intensify around the Great Lakes, a phenomenon that may occur more often with climate change, according to David Kristovich, head of the Center for Atmospheric Science at the Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.

The Center for Digital Agriculture and the Prairie Research Institute have partnered to offer seed funding for joint research projects.

Researchers at the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) have computed a sediment budget over 35 years to determine the amount of sediment coming into the river valley and the amount going out to the Mississippi River

The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) is collecting data within the Upper, Middle, and Lower Kaskaskia River watersheds as part of a multiple-phase hydrologic and hydraulic study to help local communities identify areas of high flood risk for flood mitigation planning. 

Due to projected growth of the population and economy, Illinois could require 20 to 50 percent more water in coming decades. Ensuring adequate and reliable supplies of clean water for all requires us to think ahead. We need to know how much water will be available, how much water we will need, what the options are for providing additional supplies, reducing demand, and what the impacts and costs will be.

Since 2006 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has tasked the Water Survey with leading regional water supply planning activities for 11 Illinois regions. Learn more about the team that carries out this important activity.

Favorable weather has helped push Illinois’ fall harvest progress well ahead of normal. As a result, producers may be considering early application of fall fertilizer following harvest. University of Illinois experts caution that fall nitrogen fertilizer application on soils warmer than 50 degrees can result in loss of effectiveness and potential environmental issues. 

A new database compiling information from a decade of Prairie Research Institute (PRI) studies on the unique geology and hydrology of Jo Daviess County is designed to help residents and officials understand the karst features of the land where they live and to better protect their water supply from surface contamination.

PRI scientists from the Illinois State Water Survey and Illinois State Geological Survey are part of a collaborative project to study “critical interfaces” in the environment.

A new hotline, website, and other resources will soon be available through the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) for private well and septic system owners and the water professionals that serve them. 

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.

Farmland vegetation and grasses can affect both the frequency and extent of flash droughts, say scientists at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), who hope to better understand the phenomenon and improve early warnings.

The Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) will receive more than $1 million in funding through 2021 to support its drinking water outreach programs for private well owners and small, rural communities.

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

Scientists at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) have begun a new project that will ultimately improve weather forecasting of severe storms and heatwaves in cities across the US.

After a downpour in early June, Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) hydrographer Ryan Meekma compared images from the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), which outlines low-lying areas in Illinois that could flood, with actual flooding at a gun range in Champaign, Illinois, to study the tool’s effectiveness.

College students in a summer internship program at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) are developing new skills in geographic information system (GIS) learning while tackling ways to map Illinois streamflow more accurately to inform soil conservation efforts. This on-the-job training will better prepare students for future studies and their careers.

Walt Kelly, Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) groundwater geochemist, answered questions about the findings of his recent study on radium levels in groundwater of the St. Peter Sandstone aquifer, with a study area in north-central Illinois. Radium levels are above the drinking water standard in many community water supply wells open to the aquifer.

Salt crystals on roads and parking lots shimmer in the muted sunlight of an Illinois winter day. Once washed away into rivers and streams, salt contaminates the local environment, according to groundwater geochemist Walt Kelly with the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute (PRI).

A new monitoring station installed recently in Coles County provides previously unavailable local, real-time weather, soil, and water data used by farmers, weather forecasters, industry, policymakers, and others.

Scientists investigating present and future water resources in Illinois find a wealth of data through the Illinois Water Inventory Program (IWIP), which collects data from users of high-capacity intakes and wells in Illinois.