GSA Connects 2023 Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Paper No. 96-9
Presentation Time: 8:00 AM-5:30 PM

HUMAN IMPACTS OF LARGE CHANNEL MOVEMENT IN EFFINGHAM COUNTY, EAST-CENTRAL ILLINOIS, USA – A PRELIMINARY STUDY


WATTS, Lex1, BURNS, Diane2 and VIERTEL, David C.2, (1)Charleston, IL 61920; Department of Geology/Geography, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL 61920-3099, (2)Department of Geology/Geography, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL 61920-3099

The Little Wabash River, a tributary to the Wabash River, originates in Coles County and is around 240-mile (390 kilometers) long. The meanders of the Little Wabash River found in Effingham County have been researched for everything from acreage changes to agricultural usage of the surrounding land (e.g., Rhoads et. al, 2009), but there was little investigation into how much of the land was impacted in human terms. This includes changes to tax parcel sizes/levies as well as usage of the land – agricultural, forested or similar. Using USGS and USDA maps as well as parcel documentation from the Effingham County Supervisor of Assessments, this project extends the previous work on identifying meanders by investigating the human impacts resulting from a large channel migration in Effingham, Illinois.