The Cache River basin is located in the extreme southern part of Illinois, just north of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, covering parts of Union, Johnson, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, and Pope Counties. The total drainage area of the watershed is 737 square miles, and was divided by the construction of the Post Creek Cutoff in 1915 into the Upper Cache and Lower Cache River watersheds. The Upper Cache River watershed drains 368 square miles and empties into the Ohio River at River Mile 957.8, and the Lower Cache watershed drains 358 square miles most of which empties into the Mississippi River at River Mile 13.2 through a diversion channel (Demissie, 1989).
The Cache originates near Cobden, IL, and runs for 110 miles, draining "nearly the entire tip of southern Illinois." Each section (upper and lower) is 55 miles long, with the Upper Cache dropping 15 feet per mile and carving canyons into the landscape, and the Lower Cache dropping only 1 foot per mile. The Natural flow has been altered substantially to control flooding by dredging, levees, dams, and channelization (The Cache River Basin, an Inventory of the Region's Resources).
Cache River: selected documents in chronological order
- Report of Board of Cache River Drainage Commissioners of Illinois, 1905. byPublication Date: 1905Provides a physical description of the Cache and engineering reports and estimates for "straightening and dredging" the river.
- Water Quality Assessment of Little Cache Creek-Dutchman Creek Watershed, Johnson, County, Illinois with Notes on the Biota
byPublication Date: 1976A report prepared for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service by the Illinois Natural History Survey in advance of a proposed channel modification for flood control.
Found that water quality downstream from Vienna, differed significantly from upstream areas. Recorded 7 Crustacea, 130 aquatic insects, 27 fishes, 24 amphibians, and 33 reptiles in the surveyed streams. - An Assessment of the Water Quality of the Cache River Basin Derived from a Biological Investigation
byPublication Date: 1979Report to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency based on macro-invertebrate sampling of 151 sites in 1976 and 1977, to evaluate the impact of 17 point sources, and additional sampling to evaluate agricultural non-point source pollution. The predominant stream classification for sampling sites was "unbalanced" (52% of sites); and 39% of sites were found to be "semi-polluted". - Cache River Basin Study: Progress Report and Project Design
byPublication Date: 1985ISWS Contract Report no. 422.
This report prepared for the Illinois Department of Conservation, outlining the study plan of the State Water Survey and State Geological Survey to gather information needed to address recommendations of the interagency task force formed in 1982 on the Cache River Basin. - Sediment Yield and Accumulation in the Lower Cache River
byPublication Date: 1989ISWS Miscellaneous Publication no. 108.
Reports on sediment yields at three stations on the Lower Cache River in Water Years 1985 through 1988, and reports high sediment yield from the Big Creek watershed, a significant amount of which is trapped by the wetlands and floodplain in the Lower Cache River upstream of Ullin, including Buttonland Swamp. - Cache River Basin: Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Sediment Transport
byPublication Date: 1990ISWS Contract Report nos. 484, 485, 486
Addresses issues related to agricultural drainage, erosion and sedimentation, natural wetlands, and aquatic and riparian habitat.
volume 1
volume 2
Appendices - Biologically Significant Illinois Streams : An Evaluation of the Streams of Illinois Based on Aquatic Biodiversity
byPublication Date: 1992The Cache River is covered on pp. 284-299 An intensive survey of the Cache River Basin, summer 1992 by
Publication Date: 1995Illinois Environmental Protection Agency IEPA/WPC/95-013
Covers water quality, non-point source pollution, fish, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and sediment chemistry.Cache River Basin: An Inventory of the Region's Resources
Publication Date: 1997- An intensive survey of the Cache River Basin, data summary : summer 1999
byPublication Date: 2002Illinois Environmental Protection Agency IEPA/BOW/02-021 Critical Trends Assessment Project Phase IIInventory of Resource Rich Areas in IllinoisAn Evaluation of Ecological Resources by
Publication Date: 1996See pp. 152-157 for a description of the Cache.- The Cache River Wetlands Joint Venture: a Watershed Scale Restoration Project byPublication Date: [2003]The Cache River Wetland has been designated as a RAMSAR “Wetland of International Importance” putting it
in the same ecological league as Okefenokee Swamp and the Everglades. The vision of the Joint Venture Partnership is to restore habitats and processes necessary to sustain the plants, animals and natural communities of the watershed — habitats and processes that are also important to the people who depend on the health of the Cache River basin for their livelihoods and quality of life. - Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling and Analyses for the Cache River for the Purposes of Evaluating Current Conditions and Alternative Restoration Measures C byPublication Date: 2008ISWS Contract Report 2008-01
One of the key goals of resource managers working in the area is to restore the Cache River’s natural hydrology to a level that can sustain a viable ecology throughout the river corridor. To evaluate the results of different restoration measures, the Cache River Joint Venture Partnership needed reliable hydrologic and hydraulic models. The Illinois State Water Survey developed calibrated hydrologic and hydraulic models and evaluated the hydrology under current conditions and under various restoration scenarios. Results then were compared to the reference/base condition. - Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling for Evaluating Alternatives for Managed Connection of the Upper and Lower Cache Rivers
byPublication Date: 2010ISWS Contract Report no. 2010 (06)
An essential component of the restoration effort for the Cache River has been the development of detailed hydrologic and hydraulic models to determine water levels associated with proposed restoration measures. These models assist the Cache River Wetlands Joint Venture Partnership (JVP) in the decision-making process of selecting and implementing restoration projects that improve the hydrologic conditions for the natural ecosystem. Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling also allow the JVP to satisfy all regulatory requirements and ensure that natural, agricultural, and social resources are not damaged by flooding induced by modifications to the river system.
Aerial photo from August 1938 showing a segment of the Cache River at the border of Johnson and Pulaski Counties, Illinois
From 1937-1947 Illinois Historical Aerial Photography, in the Illinois Geospatial Clearinghouse.
Aerial photograph from August 1938 showing the Post Creek Cutoff flowing into the Ohio River
From 1937-1947 Illinois Historical Aerial Photography, in the Illinois Geospatial Clearinghouse.
Big Inch Pipeline under Construction along the Cache River, 1942 or 1943
From Library of Congress
Post Creek Cutoff map,
from Demissie et. al (1990) Cache River Basin: Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Sediment Transport (see report list for link)
Additional resources
- Cache River and Cypress Creek Wetland - UNESCO Wetland of International ImportanceThe Cache River and Cypress Creek Wetland is one of three wetlands in Illinois designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a Wetland of International Importance. It was designated in 1994.
- Cache River at Forman, IL (USGS monitoring station)View gage height and discharge data, with real time monitoring data available.
- Post Creek Cutoff at Karnak, IL, site data in the Water Quality Portaldata from the National Water Quality Montioring Council.