Saline Branch

Saline Branch Drainage Ditch
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationChampaign County, Illinois south of Rantoul, Illinois
  coordinates40°15′59″N 88°10′28″W / 40.266358°N 88.17433°W / 40.266358; -88.17433 (Saline Branch Drainage Ditch origin)
Mouth 
  location
Confluence with the Salt Fork Vermilion River west of St. Joseph, Illinois
  coordinates
40°07′02″N 88°03′08″W / 40.1173°N 88.0521°W / 40.1173; -88.0521 (Saline Branch Drainage Ditch mouth)
  elevation
676 ft (206 m)
Basin features
ProgressionSaline Branch → Salt ForkVermilionWabashOhioMississippiGulf of Mexico
Tributaries 
  rightBoneyard Creek
GNIS ID417889

The Saline Branch, or Saline Branch Ditch, is a tributary of the Vermilion River in east central Illinois. It drains a parcel of east-central Champaign County, including most of the city of Urbana, Illinois and the University of Illinois campus within Urbana.

Extensive engineering work from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, completed in 1908, straightened and ditched the once-wandering creek. It discharges into the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River; the discharge includes outflow from the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) states an alternate name for this stream is West Branch Salt Fork.