Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

The Illinois River Watershed, once abundant in waterfowl, commercial fisheries, and mussels, has experienced declining numbers due to a variety of sources including sediment and nutrients entering the river.  The Illinois River, a shipping route for over 60 million tons of commodities annually, is crucial to Illinois and the nation both economically and environmentally.  CREP goals were developed to reduce sedimentation, runoff, dredging, and restore native vegetation to the environmentally sensitive land along the river.

In Piatt County the Sangamon River is the main water way that CREP is seeking to protect. The River supplies water to Lake Decatur and then on to the Illinois River. 

The goals of Illinois CREP are to:

1.     Reduce the amount of silt and sedimentation entering the mainstream of the Illinois River by 20 percent.

2.     Reduce the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen in the Illinois River by 10 percent.

3.     Increase by 15 percent the populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, nongame grassland birds and State and Federally listed threatened or endangered species such as bald eagles, egrets and herons.

4.     Increase the native fish and mussel stocks by 10 percent in the lower reaches of the Illinois River (Peoria, La Grange and Alton reaches)