In 2002, Illinois listed Sugar Creek as polluted by 2 water-quality problems. 20 years later, 1 was cleared after cleanup efforts helped restore healthy oxygen levels

Twenty years after Sugar Creek was placed on Illinois' list of impaired waters, one of its two water-quality problems was cleared.

The creek, a major tributary to Lake Springfield, was listed under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) in 2002 for dissolved oxygen and phosphorus impairments. Over the following years, projects across the watershed focused on reducing pollution from agricultural practices, erosion and other sources.