The Saline Branch, or Saline Branch Ditch, is a tributary of the Vermilion River in east central Illinois.[2] It drains a parcel of east-central Champaign County, including most of the city of Urbana, Illinois and the University of Illinois campus within Urbana.[3]

Saline Branch Drainage Ditch
Map
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationChampaign County, Illinois south of Rantoul, Illinois
 • coordinates40°15′59″N 88°10′28″W / 40.266358°N 88.17433°W / 40.266358; -88.17433 (Saline Branch Drainage Ditch origin)[1]
Mouth 
 • location
Confluence with the Salt Fork Vermilion River west of St. Joseph, Illinois
 • coordinates
40°07′02″N 88°03′08″W / 40.1173°N 88.0521°W / 40.1173; -88.0521 (Saline Branch Drainage Ditch mouth)[1]
 • elevation
676 ft (206 m)
Basin features
ProgressionSaline Branch → Salt ForkVermilionWabashOhioMississippiGulf of Mexico
Tributaries 
 • rightBoneyard Creek
GNIS ID417889

Extensive engineering work from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, completed in 1908, straightened and ditched the once-wandering creek. It discharges into the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River; the discharge includes outflow from the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) states an alternate name for this stream is West Branch Salt Fork.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Coordinates derived by sight from USGS National Map. Coordinates not provided by GNIS.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Saline Branch Drainage Ditch
  3. ^ Illinois Atlas and Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping. 1991. ISBN 0-89933-213-7.
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