When rain falls on a parking lot, a street, or farm field it flows down and is drained (or is “shed”) into a tile. From there the water eventually is shed into a river or creek. The drained area is called a Watershed.

Everyone lives within a Watershed. Almost all of DeKalb County rain water is shed into either the Kishwaukee River, Rock River or the Mississippi River Watershed, or the Fox River, Illinois River and Mississippi River Watershed and eventually drains into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans.

The DeKalb County Community Foundation (DCCF) has partnered with the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to protect and improve our creeks and river and groundwater. You may have seen the signs on county bridges identifying our streams.

To learn more about their work and your watershed, please visit the website: https://dekalbcountywatersheds-il.org/.

Michael Haines

Kingston