Shoal Creek is a watercourse in the U.S. state of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It rises near Harvel, Illinois

Harvel, Illinois

Harvel is a village in Christian and Montgomery Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 223 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Harvel is located at ....

 and, flowing southward through Lake Lou Yaeger

Lake Lou Yaeger

Lake Lou Yaeger is a 1,300-acre reservoir located in Montgomery County, Illinois. Created by damming the West Fork of Illinois's Shoal Creek, it was built for recreation, sport fishing, and flood control purposes. The lake is 8 miles long and 0.5 miles wide...

, discharges into the Kaskaskia River

Kaskaskia River

The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in central and southern Illinois in the United States. The second largest river system within Illinois, it drains a rural area of farms, as well as rolling hills along river bottoms of hardwood forests in its lower...

 near Okawville

Okawville, Illinois

Okawville is a village in Washington County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Okawville is located at...

. It drains parts of Montgomery County, Bond County

Bond County, Illinois

Bond County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 17,768, which is an increase of 0.8% from 17,633 in 2000. Its county seat is Greenville, Illinois....

, and Clinton County

Clinton County, Illinois

-Demographics: As of the census of 2000, there were 35,535 people, 12,754 households, and 9,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 75 people per square mile . There were 13,805 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...

.

Shoal Creek is named for the many shoal

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

s and sandbars strewn along its bed. These features prevented the creek from being much used by Native Americans or Euro-American pioneers for travel or commerce. The creek is heavily used in modern times, however, for recreation, flood control, piped water supply, and electrical power generation. Going from north to south, Lake Lou Yaeger and Lake Glenn Shoals

Lake Glenn Shoals

Lake Glenn Shoals is a 1,250-acre reservoir located in Montgomery County, Illinois. Created in 1976 by damming the Middle Fork of Illinois's Shoal Creek, it was built for recreation, sport fishing, and water supply purposes. The lake is 4 miles long and 0.4 miles wide...

, both impoundments of various forks of Shoal Creek, are used by many boaters and fisherfolk; a third Shoal Creek lake, Coffeen Lake

Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area is an Illinois state park on in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States.-External links:* , Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois...

, is the site of the Coffeen Power Station, a 900-Mw Ameren

Ameren

Ameren Corporation was created December 31, 1997 by the merger of Missouri's Union Electric Company and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company . It is now a holding company for several power companies and energy companies. The company is based in St...

 electric generating plant; and a fourth lake, Governor Bond Lake

Governor Bond Lake

Governor Bond Lake is a reservoir in Bond County, Illinois, United States. The reservoir covers an area of . The reservoir was built in the 1960s to supply water to nearby Greenville....

, serves the town of Greenville, Illinois

Greenville, Illinois

Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, east of St. Louis. The estimated population as of July 2009 is 7,284. The population was 6,955 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bond County....

.