I woke up this morning to a frozen Sangamon River. Well, nearly so at least. It was one of the first significant freezes of the year, which is pretty unusual, actually. It’s typically much more frozen this time of year and a lot higher.

I remember a few years back in January, the river was up at least 20 feet higher than it is now. Way up in the silver maples, mulberries, and white oak trees that populate Crooked Creek ravine.

That was the year we lost our old green Mohawk canoe with red seats that I’d had since my Florida days. Seems I left it too close to Crooked Creek.

Well, we were still in the process of learning of how to live with our river.

The rising water uprighted the upside down canoe, filled it with water, floated it back up into Crooked Creek and deposited it on the ground full of brown river water. Before I had a chance to dump it and pull it to higher ground, a hard freeze turned our Mohawk into a solid and quite immovable block of ice.  When the river rose yet again, the high water floated my Mohawk away downriver with it.  Never to be seen again.

Much of the river near our place is less than a foot deep now. But it’s clearly not too low to paddle.

A few of us set out downriver on an unusual Saturday morning recently  as the early January temperature topped 50.  But the ice formed along the banks reminded us that the water remains chillingly cold.  To get around a fallen tree blocking the river, we had to use the prow of our aluminum canoe to break up inch thick ice blocking a small side channel. Not something we do every day.

The rare combination of cold temperatures and low flow has made the Sangamon uniquely clear. We could plainly see the river bottom through the water down to three or feet. If you know the muddy Sangamon, you know how different that is.

We looked down into the water and saw huge schools of carp (up to several feet long!) swimming along beside us.  Hard to believe these impressive creatures are out there all the time.

And the river’s not the only thing that’s curiously different around here.

A couple months back, our lab Josh had taken me for our nightly walk down our long, dark driveway as he does every night.  Josh sniffs the ground intently identifying the night’s creatures while I stare at the moon and try to identify planets and constellations.

But on that night, off to the north, I noticed a distinct red glow in the sky through the trees. And it seemed to be moving, shimmering. Party lights? A fire? Plane crash? What?

After watching and listening, and hearing absolute silence, it dawned on me that for the first time in my life, I was witnessing the Aurora Borealis. I wondered how many people were sitting inside in front of TV’s or computers at that moment rather than out being walked by their lab. How many people missed this rarely beautiful and grand specter of Mother Nature? Thanks, Josh!

Carol and I walked down by the river after dark on the last full moon. We can only appreciate the power of the blue white brightness of a full moon until we completely escape artificial light. The glaringly bright moonlight creating eerie shadows from the leafless trees made it easy to imagine it bringing out the lunacy in all of us.

And then the next morning we were witness to a beautiful full moonset.

That morning, and indeed every morning, Carol and I take time together to wake up, enjoy the quiet and take in a few cups of fresh brewed French Roast, Columbian or Tanzanian.

That crystal clear winter morning saw the huge bright round moon setting through the tree tops just as sunrise lightened the morning sky. The river heads off west from here, placing the moon perfectly mirrored above the river with a shimmering trail of light pointing back to us.  Since living here, I can’t recall a more captivating morning picture.

Yes, unusual things been going on ‘round here.  

Does low water portend forthcoming drought? Or perhaps greater flooding later? Does a warmer than usual January provide evidence for a warming planet?  Are full moons affecting peoples’ voting in primary elections?

Well, I haven’t lived here that long. Maybe strange things happen all the time. Maybe in the scheme of things, the river isn’t that low and the weather isn’t unusually warm and there are plenty of magical nights and mornings.

And maybe unusual things portend nothing special at all.

Maybe a life of ups and downs is just life on a river.

Appeared as Notes from the River, Mahomet Citizen, January 25, 2012, by Scott P. Hays

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I read with interest the Mahomet Citizen’s Top 10 list for 2011. As the Sangamon River, I’m one of the oldest living members of this community, so I have my own perspective on what’s important. So here’s what I think are the Top 10 accomplishments of 2011.

 #10. Notes from the River. While he’d be FAR too humble to put himself on his own top 10 list, I’m glad to include my buddy Scott’s new Citizen column, “Notes from the River”.  Really, it’s a great column, you should try reading it sometime. And I’d also like to thank Amelia Benner at the Citizen for providing  Scott this opportunity. He needed that.

#9. USRC/Sierra Club paddle. I really enjoy meeting new friends.  And this past April, my friends at the USRC invited their friends at the Prairie Group of the Sierra Club for a wonderful outing. I did my best to impress all involved, but some of my fallen Silver Maples may have slowed things up a bit. Sorry, but it’s not my fault, they are a non-native species after all.

#8. Hazen Bridge Cleanups. The Hazen Bridge is one of my oldest surviving friends ,and I certainly appreciate the USRC taking care of my friend. Under Tim Garrow’s leadership, they cleaned it up, cleared brush and trees, and even spiffed up the bridge’s historical marker! Nice work!

#7. It’s our River Day. Every year in September the Lieutenant Governor’s Office hosts “It’s Our River Day.” This was the first year that I officially participated (with a little help from my friends).  USRC members cleaned me up and worked to make me safer for paddlers. I really appreciated having my own special day and look forward to my special day 2012!

#6. River Steward of the Year Award. I’m sure he’d be FAR FAR too humble to actually list himself on his own top 10 list twice (and at number six yet). But Scott has done some great work to bring attention to me, to clean me up and just to enjoy spending time with me. And In September, he was awarded the Prairie Rivers Network River Steward of the Year Award for 2011. This is a statewide award, so I couldn’t be more proud of my buddy Scott and am glad to include him on my list yet again.

#5. New Village Board member.  And speaking of success of my friends, this spring USRC President Bruce Colravy was elected to the Mahomet Village Board. And while there are many other friends of the River at the Village, notably long-time USRC Member Sean Widener and Mahomet Plan Commissioner Earl Seamands, having another voice for the river on Village Board is definitely a move in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.

#4. New (old) Canoes. Thanks to the generosity of local residents Char and Dan Brady and to George Stevens, the USRC now has two more canoes for USRC paddlers. The best way to experience me is to float down my waters, and thanks to their generosity and the handiwork of USRC members Jon Hanson and Alan Weith for making some necessary repairs, more people can join the USRC and use these boats to come out here and enjoy my company!

#3. Baby Bluebirds. For over a year now, the USRC has been leading efforts to bring more native species to riparian corridors along the river and its tributaries. Several volunteers built and placed Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes in the Sangamon River Greenway.  This year I was proud to see 5 new baby bluebirds fledge from those nest boxes, proving that if you build it they will come!

#2. USRC makes presentation at First Annual Riverwatch Symposium.  My buddy Bruce also leads the URSC’s Riverwatch Monitoring program to monitor my health. And this year, he and Tim put together a poster and presented results from three years of Riverwatch monitoring along with results from this past year’s mussel survey on the river. The presentation showed people in the rest of the state just how healthy and strong (and good-looking) I am!

#1. Duck race 2011. Finally, I had a great time as the co-star (along with 300 rubber racing ducks) of the First Annual Sangamon River Duck Race. I give special thanks to my buddy Dan “Duck” Waldinger for spearheading the effort to make that race a reality. I’m looking forward to seeing even more ducks and more supporters out for the Duck Race during Riverfest 2012.

As 2011 ends and 2012 begins, I’d like to again say a heartfelt ‘thanks’ to everyone who is beginning to see me for what I am: A vital member of this community. I enjoy being a part of it and am basking in my newfound attention. In 2012, make your resolution to come out and visit me often!

Appeared as Notes from the River, Mahomet Citizen, January 11, 2012, by Scott Hays

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A true story.

Once upon a time, 250,000 years ago to be specific, at the dawn of the Pleistocene Epoch, there was a great river running through our fair Village. This river, originating off to the east in the area that was to become West Virginia, flowed westward through our area and on down from here to the Gulf of Mexico.

This river was named for the Champaign County Village that stands above the river’s deepest section: the Mahomet River. And at the dawn of the Pleistocene, the Mississippi was a mere tributary to the Mahomet River. Take THAT, Mississippi.

Fast forward 250,000 years. Chris Coulter at Area Disposal Service in Clinton thinks it would be a peachy idea to go into the Polychorinated Biphenyls (PCB) disposal business at a landfill they own near Clinton in DeWitt County. PCBs, which have been banned by the EPA since 1979, “have been demonstrated to cause cancer, and a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system.”

So they apply for a permit to dispose of PCB’s at the Clinton Landfill.

In the meantime 250,000 years ago, huge advancing glaciers from Canada were bearing down on the Mahomet River in what came to be known as the “Illinoisan Glaciation”. As they advanced, they pushed great quantities of ‘glacial till’ including rocks and gravel along with them. Eventually, the Illinoisan glaciers receded back to Canada, and in the process, completely buried the ill-fated Mahomet River. Thus began what is known among geologists as the “Sangamonian Interglacial Period”.  This was followed by still more advancing glaciers during the “Wisconsonian Glaciation” approximately 125,000 years ago that further buried the Mahomet River.

Fast forward 125,000 years. The Clinton Chemical Waste Landfill grows increasingly unpopular. A majority of the people of Clinton vote to oppose the landfill, but the DeWitt County board signed a binding ‘resolution of neutrality’ with the owners of the landfill and therefore take no position. It should be noted that DeWitt County receives $908,845 in fees from the landfill and if the landfill starts accepting PCB’s it would receive another $50,000 more.

Meanwhile, 17,000 years ago, the last of the Wisconsonian Glaciers, while on its way back home, paused in our area and deposited large amounts of glacial till along its south edge to create the Champaign Moraine. And as pooled water broke through the moraine and flowed southward, it created a new, more modest river right on top of the Mahomet River like a baby resting on its mother’s lap. Thus was born the Sangamon River, dooming the ill-fated Mahomet River to ancient underground history, never to be seen or heard from again.  

Until…

Fast forward 17,000 years when 850,000 people moved into the area and drilled wells down through the glacial till to tap into some of the freshest, cleanest drinking water around from what they came to refer to as the “Mahomet Aquifer”.  

And the site of the Clinton PCB landfill just happens to be right on top of our Mahomet River (aka, Mahomet Aquifer) and has the potential to permanently poison this entire Aquifer, which sat untouched for the last 17,000 years.

Area Disposal claims that PCBs even if leaked, would be “highly unlikely” to penetrate the aquifer. Of course we presume these aren’t the same people that said a certain famous ocean liner was “unsinkable” (which we will all be able to watch sink, yet again, in dizzying 3-D in theaters soon).

To allay our fears and protect our aquifer, the owners report that the landfill liner is “quite strong”, reportedly the thickness of three entire garbage bags! Probably Hefty “Steel Sacks” even!  On a recent visit, Champaign County Board member Al Kurtz tried to pick up the liner and tear it with his hands, but that liner held firm. So that’s one tough liner that will be protecting our water supply from permanent PCB poisoning!

Meanwhile, here in Mahomet this past October, Trustees unanimously passed a resolution defending its namesake River/Aquifer stating, among other things: “Whereas the Mahomet Aquifer is the source of water for most Champaign County residents and businesses, and any contamination of the Mahomet Aquifer by PCBs from the proposed Chemical Waste Landfill can be expected to have deleterious effects on the quantity of water available from the Mahomet Aquifer, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Mahomet opposes the permitting by the  USEPA of the proposed Chemical Waste Landfill.”

A special thanks to Trustee Bruce Colravy for bringing this issue to the attention of the Village, to Village staff for their excellent research into the issue, and to all of the Trustees for voting unanimously to protect the long-lost Mahomet River.

From the column "Notes from the River", Mahomet Citizen, December 29, 2011 by Scott Hays

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