IL SB1789

Creates the Riparian Protection and Water Quality Practices Act requiring landowners with property adjacent to mapped water bodies to maintain vegetative buffers to protect water resources from erosion, runoff pollution, and to stabilize soils and banks

Public waters require a 50-foot average width (30-foot minimum) continuous buffer of perennial vegetation; public drainage systems require a minimum 16.5-foot continuous buffer

Soil and water conservation districts must submit watercourse summaries to local water management authorities by July 1, 2026, with authorities incorporating recommendations into water management plans by July 1, 2027

Buffer implementation deadlines are November 1, 2026 for public waters and November 1, 2027 for public drainage systems

Exemptions include land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, public/private water access areas, land covered by structures, NPDES-permitted land, water-inundation cropping systems, and land temporarily nonvegetated for authorized projects