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Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve

Location: Will County, Lockport Township, T36N, R10E, Sec 22 & 27
Size of area affected by MSCSF-funded work: 56 acres for restoration, additional acreage under study
Owner: Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC)
Partners: FPDWC, USACE-Chicago Region, CorLands, Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, USFWS, NE Illinois Wetlands Restoration Fund

Action: Hydrologic analysis of the site’s surface and groundwater water sheds, ground and surface water monitoring, update of plant community map, inventory of the federally-listed Hines emerald both on-site and nearby, development of a captive rearing program for larval Hines emerald dragonfly and future reintroduction of larva into restored rivulet habitats, planting of native shrubs, brush removal along west bluff, establishment of FPDWC management agreement with Commonwealth Edison, and acquisition of property.

Summary: Lockport Prairie: Hydrology
A thorough and ambitious hydrologic study was necessary for Lockport Prairie, a site whose seeps and fens are fed both by groundwater and rivulets emerging from nearby bluffs. It seemed the area was getting drier; the seeps which were always intermittent, sometimes flowing and sometimes dry, were flowing for much shorter periods and at less-frequent intervals. The MSCSF-funded hydrological study provided important data and ammunition for solutions.

The study found that a nearby golf course owned by Lockport Township had pumps at two wells, one shallow and one deep, that it used to fill its irrigation ponds. Each time the golf course drew on the shallow well, an immediate impact showed up in the monitors at Lockport Prairie. There was a very pronounced, six-inch drop in the aquifer every time the golf course pumped. When the staff at the Lockport Township Park District learned this, they agreed to stop using the shallow well.

Early on in the hydrology study protecting groundwater recharge area was shown to be a critical priority for the survival of Lockport Prairie. Having data that support this is proving helpful to an ongoing effort by Illinois State Representative Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville), the Forest Preserve District of Will County, and the Lockport Township Park District to have up to 700 acres of State-owned land adjacent to Stateville Prison dedicated as open space for storm water infiltration and public recreation. If this effort succeeds, the FPD of Will County will transform approximately 470 acres of the property into the Prairie Bluff Preserve and restore it to prairie, the best-possible groundcover for ensuring as much water as possible is absorbed by the aquifer feeding Lockport Prairie.

Lockport Prairie: Natural Area Restoration
Lockport Prairie was already a well-managed site of high ecological quality, so much of the intensive restoration work initiated at other MSCSF sites was unnecessary here. However, strategic planting of native plugs was done on approximately 12 acres in the north half of Lockport Prairie's north unit (the section north of Division Street.) This area had been cleared by the FPD, but natives were slow to come back. So seeds were taken from plants at Lockport Prairie to ensure genetic integrity and sameness, and to satisfy the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. Seedlings were grown at a nursery, and then planted as plugs. Also, in 2005 and 2006 approximately 56 acres of the bluff line along the west side of Lockport Prairie has been cleared of invasive woody species. This restoration work was the result of the FPD of Will County successfully negotiating a management agreement with Commonwealth Edison. The agreement allows the FPD of Will County to manage the west bluff of Lockport Prairie and provides access to the series of seep heads that are critical to hydrology of Lockport Prairie and the survival of the Hines emerald dragonfly.

Lockport Prairie: Distribution and Quality of Hines Emerald Dragonfly Habitat in Relation to Surface and Groundwater Dynamics at Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve
Dr. Daniel Soluk of the University of South Dakota produced a detailed inventory and analysis of the existing Hines emerald dragonfly (HED) populations and their rivulet habitats at Lockport Prairie and in Door County, Wisconsin. It was important to understand their distribution and habitat requirements at these two major breeding grounds to help guide potential hydrological restoration initiatives at Lockport Prairie.

According to the studies, the population of Hines emerald dragonfly at Lockport Prairie has the greatest genetic diversity of any remaining population. The overall population in Door County, Wisconsin, is larger as far as the number of HED it supports, but Dr. Soluk believes that this population does not have the genetic diversity found in the HED population at Lockport Prairie.

MSCSF also provided funds for a program to rear larval dragonflies in captivity and reintroduce them into the restored rivulet habitats at Lockport Prairie. Dr. Soluk, has been doing the survey work on Hines emerald dragonflies, is setting up the protocol and processes for this program, which is presently underway.

Lockport Prairie: Watershed Protection
As a result the FPD of Will County’s greater understanding of the importance of groundwater and groundwater recharge to the survival of Lockport Prairie, they have undertaken efforts to preserve key properties within Lockport Prairie’s groundwater recharge area. One example of this is the Prairie Bluff Preserve initiative. A second example is that $100,000 from the MSCSF will go towards the acquisition of 55 acres immediately west of Lockport Prairie by the FPD of Will County to preserve additional groundwater watershed area.