Embarras River (Illinois)

Embarras River
The Embarras River at Lawrenceville
Map
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationChampaign, Illinois
 • coordinates40°05′40″N 88°15′02″W / 40.094314°N 88.250540°W / 40.094314; -88.250540 (Embarras River origin)
Mouth 
 • location
Confluence with the Wabash River southeast of Lawrenceville, Illinois
 • coordinates
38°38′35″N 87°37′02″W / 38.6431028°N 87.6172464°W / 38.6431028; -87.6172464 (Embarras River mouth)
 • elevation
397 ft (121 m)
Length195 mi (314 km)
Discharge 
 • locationLawrenceville, Illinois
 • average2,648 cu/ft. per sec.[1]
Basin features
ProgressionEmbarras River → Wabash → Ohio → Mississippi → Gulf of Mexico
GNIS ID407983

The Embarras River (/ˈɛmbrɑː/ EM-brah)[2] is a 195-mile-long (314 km)[3] tributary of the Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States.[4] The waters of the Embarras reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. The river drains a watershed around 1,566,450 acres (6,339.2 km2) in an agricultural region. It arises near Champaign-Urbana and flows south to near Vincennes, Indiana. The name comes from French explorers, who used the French word, embarras, for river navigation obstacles, blockages, and difficulties relating to logjams.

  1. ^ "USGS Current Conditions for USGS 03346500 EMBARRAS RIVER AT LAWRENCEVILLE, IL".
  2. ^ Jackson, Marcus (2016-02-05). "What's in a name? Embarras River". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 19, 2011
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Embarras River