Saline River (Illinois)

The Saline River is a small river located in southeastern Illinois, USA. It is a tributary of the Ohio River. It draws its name from numerous salt springs from which salt was commercially extracted early in the 1800s.

The Saline River is 75.5 miles long, and drains 1,128,300 acres. In 1995, stream quality was rated as "Fair" to "Good". Causes of pollution include inorganics, nutrients, siltation, organic enrichment (low dissolved oxygen) and other habitat alterations attributed to agricultural runoff, hydrologic/habitat modification and resource extraction.

Tributaries and Lakes

The major tributaries include the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork of the Saline River.

The Saline watershed includes the Lake of Egypt.

Cities and Counties

The following cities and towns are drained by the Saline River:
*Eldorado
*Equality
*Goreville
*Harrisburg
*McLeansboro
*New Burnside
*Norris City

The watershed includes all or part of the following Counties:

*Franklin County
*Hardin County
*Johnson County
*Saline County
*White County
*Hamilton County
*Williamson County
*Gallatin County
*Pope County

ee also

*List of Illinois rivers
*Watersheds of Illinois

External links

* [http://www.prairierivers.org/ Prairie Rivers Network]
* [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=05140204 Surfing the Saline River with USEPA]
* [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=03382100 Real Time USGS Stream Flow]
* [http://dnr.state.il.us/LANDS/education/CLASSRM/aquatic/CL_A.PDF Illinois Department of Natural Resources Fact Sheet]