The Cache: A Disconnected River

At the point where the Post Creek Cutoff diverted the Cache directly south into the Ohio River, a floodgate was installed. When water levels were high enough, the floodgates were opened and water flow from the upper Cache continued west through the Lower Cache Channel. However, the Cutoff continued to deepen and widen until eventually…

Cache River Watershed Before the Dawn of Ditching and Draining

The Ohio River runs clear, thousands of Carolina parakeets are roosting in hollow trunks of large sycamore trees, wolves and panthers are plenty, bear, buffalo and beaver abound, and giant cane grows 30 to 40 feet high in brakes up to a mile wide.  Cypress-tupelo swamps and floodplain forests cover over 250,000 acres, while the…

Canoeing the upper Cache

Recent flooding in southern Illinois has led to many opportunities to play in the many rivers and creeks. Posted here are a few shots taken during a short paddle in a tributary of the Cache River. The brown line above the surface of the water is the level of the water from just a few…