Illinois State Library

Document Identification

Title

• Sedimentation survey of the Morton Arboretum Lakes, DuPage County, Illinois

Description

• The Illinois State Water Survey conducted a sedimentation and hydrographic survey of three small lakes at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, during the summer of 1998. The survey was undertaken in support of an Illinois Clean Lakes Program diagnostic/feasibility study of the lakes. The lakes are owned and maintained by The Morton Arboretum and serve primarily as landscape accents on the grounds. The lakes surveyed were: Meadow Lake, constructed in 1960; Sterling Pond, constructed in 1963; and Lake Marmo, constructed in 1922. Lake sedimentation occurs when sediment-laden water enters the reduced flow velocity regime of a lake. As the water velocity is reduced, suspended sediment is deposited in patterns related to the size and fall velocity of each particle. The soil particles are partially sorted by size along the longitudinal axis of the lake during this process. Larger, heavier sand and coarse silt particles are deposited in the upper end of the lake; finer silts and clay particles tend to be carried further into the lake. A sedimentation survey is a measure of the rate of volume and/or depth loss of the reservoir. The sedimentation survey provides detailed information on distribution patterns of sediment within the lake as well as temporal changes in overall sedimentation rates. Sedimentation has reduced the capacity of Meadow Lake by 10 percent, Sterling Pond by 51 percent, and Lake Marmo by 29 percent. The sediment accumulation rates in the lakes averaged 0.10 acre-feet per year for Meadow Lake, 0.29 acre-feet per year for Sterling Pond, and 0.10 acre-feet per year for Lake Marmo.

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1. Sedimentation survey of the Morton Arboretum Lakes, DuPage County, Illinois (20060929190608_ISWSCR-638.pdf).
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