Excerpt from Geology of the Kankakee River System in Kankakee County, Illinois Des Plaines River where those two rivers become the Illinois River. Of the square miles in the Kankakee River drainage basin, are in Illinois and are in Indiana. An index map of the basin is provided in figure 1. The change at the state line in the morphology of the river, from channelized to natural, is illustrated in figure 2. In work beginning in the late nineteenth century and essentially completed by 1918, almost all of the main channel of the Kankakee River in Indiana was channelized. Today that channel is a man-made ditch, extending straight for many miles between small bends. In Indiana, all of the natural meanders were removed. In Illinois, a very small dam exists at Momence and a larger dam exists at Kankakee, but most of the river remains a naturally meandering stream. For most of the twentieth century there has been a substantial difference in management practices in Illinois and in Indiana. In Indiana, the river system has been constructed and managed as an agricultural drainage project successfully draining the wetlands and converting them into very productive agricultural land. The intent of the management has been based on the eco nomics of agricultural production. In Illinois, especially in Kankakee County, the river has been used as a scenic, cultural, and recreational resource. The reach between the state line and Momence is a naturally meandering stream with a sandy bottom, traversing an area of timber and relatively undisturbed wetlands. The reach between the cities of Momence and Aroma Park is also a natural stream, traversing an area of alternating bedrock and sandy bottom. Between Aroma Park and the city of Kankakee, a deep-water area called Six Mile Pool (actually miles long) was formed by the construction of a dam at Kankakee. The deeper water has long been utilized for recreational boating, and fine homes have been built in the surrounding area. All of the river in Kankakee County is noted for high water quality, excellent sport fishing, and scenic beauty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.