Land Use and Environmental Regulations

At this time, the residents of the floodplain of the Illinois River view the land as public property (Schneider 2000). Much of the land is held in private ownership, but there are numerous ownership disputes, and many owners live in the east and pay little attention to their property. Frequent flooding also limits land use. As a result, residents are free to fish, hunt and trap the area, and farmers use the land to graze livestock. This remains true throughout much of the 1800s.

There is also no involvement by federal, state, or local units of government in issues related to land use or environmental protection during this 1800-1876 period. This later changes with increases in hunting and fishing as recreational activities by urban residents and with changes in the legal structure that encourage drainage of the land. The concept of zoning does not evolve until the early 1900s, and the role of the federal government in protecting water quality only begins to be established in the mid-1900s. This lack of authority over land use or environmental protection leads to an explosion of industrial activity along the river and to a significant decline in water quality throughout the entire period.

The 1870 Illinois Constitution sets the stage for the drainage of the floodplains and wetlands in the early 1900s by authorizing the General Assembly to pass laws giving landowners drainage rights, including the use of adjoining land for ditching purposes. As a result, the Illinois legislature passes a comprehensive drainage law in 1871. This law establishes the framework for the creation of drainage districts to perform drainage works and to assess and collect the costs of this work from the landowners who benefit from the drainage. Revisions are later made to Illinois’drainage law, including the recodifying of the law in 1955, but the responsibilities of drainage commissioners remain largely unchanged from the original 1871 law (Illinois State Archives).