The DuPage River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 13, 2011

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

in the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Course

The river begins as two individual streams. The West Branch of the DuPage River, long, starts at Campanelli Park in Schaumburg within Cook County and continues southward through the entire county of DuPage, including the towns of Bartlett, Wayne, West Chicago, Wheaton, Warrenville, Winfield and Naperville (including through its riverwalk), as well as McDowell Grove. The East Branch of the DuPage River, long, begins in Bloomingdale and flows southward through Glendale Heights, Glen Ellyn, Lisle, Woodridge, parts of Naperville and parts of Bolingbrook. St. Joseph Creek, a tributary of the river's East Branch, runs through the small town of Belmont and onward into

Downers Grove Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 census, the population of the village was 50,248. It is a south-west ...

. The two branches meet at the southern end of Knoch Knolls Park, between Naperville and Bolingbrook. The combined DuPage River continues southward from that point, through Plainfield & Shorewood and then west of Joliet. Farther downstream, at Channahon, a dam on the river was originally constructed to raise the DuPage River water level to feed the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...

. From Channahon, the river finally meets the

Flooding

Like many local bodies of water, both branches of the DuPage River seriously overflowed after the "Flood of 1996", when approximately of rain fell on the area within a 24-hour period, on July 17–18 of that year. Other flooding was also very common, along Washington Street in Naperville and

Illinois Route 53 Illinois Route 53 (IL 53) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. IL 53 runs from Main Street west of historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in Gardner to IL 83 in Long Grove, a distance of . It mainly c ...

in Glen Ellyn, because those roads are close to their respective branches of the river, and along the river in Plainfield. The City of Naperville has torn down many of the affected homes and businesses, in the former case, and DuPage County, with

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

funding, tore down many of the affected homes in the latter case.

History

The first

written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

to address the name, the 1882 ''History of DuPage County, Illinois'', relates that: On the 1825 Henry S. Tanner map of Illinois and Missouri, Du Page River is listed as the "Du Page or Saukeyuck River".

References

External links

DuPage River Coalition, from The Conservation FoundationFlood-inundation Maps for the Dupage River from Plainfield to Shorewood, Illinois

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

West Branch Watershed MapEast Branch Watershed Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupage River Bodies of water of DuPage County, Illinois Rivers of Illinois Rivers of Cook County, Illinois Rivers of Will County, Illinois Tributaries of the Illinois River

Course

Flooding

History

See also

References

External links