The DuPage River, a tributary of the Des Plaines River actually starts as two individual streams in DuPage County, Illinois. The west branch of the DuPage River starts in Winfield, and flows south through Warrenville and Naperville. The east branch of the DuPage River starts in Glen Ellyn, and flows south through Lisle, Woodridge and parts of Naperville and Bolingbrook. The two branches meet at a spot between Naperville and Bolingbrook. The combined DuPage River continues south from there through Plainfield and west of Joliet, before finally meeting the Des Plaines River.
Like many local bodies of water, both branches of the DuPage River seriously flooded after the "Flood of 1996," when approximately 17 inches of rain fell on the area within a 24 hour period in August of 1996. Other flooding was very common along Washington Street, in Naperville, and Illinois Route 53, in Glen Ellyn, where those roads are close to their respective branches. The City of Naperville has torn down many of the affected homes and businesses in the former case, and DuPage County, with U.S. Department of Transportation funding, tore down many of the affected homes in the latter case.
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