Budget Message / Highlights - Metropolitan Water Reclamation ...

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
2009 BUDGET
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FUND
2009 BUDGET NARRATIVE
The mission of the Stormwater Management Fund is to protect the safety of Cook County’s residents and minimize flooding
damage by coordinating, planning, implementing, financing, and operating regional stormwater management projects, to foster
improvements in water quality within the watersheds and to educate the public with respect to sustainable growth concepts.
The District assumed responsibility for stormwater management for all of Cook County, including areas that currently lie
outside the District’s boundaries, with the passage of Public Act 93-1049 (Act) in November of 2004.
The 2009 appropriation request for the Stormwater Management Fund budget is $33,807,000, a decrease of $1,117,000 or 3.2
percent from last year. This decrease is due primarily to the suspension of negotiations with Lake County Forest Preserve
District regarding the Buffalo Creek expansion. The fund consolidates the stormwater management activities of the
Engineering, Maintenance & Operations, and General Administration Departments. The budgeted staffing level of 49 is an
increase of one Associate Civil Engineer and one Associate Public Information Representative position from fiscal year 2008.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING 2008 INCLUDE:
• Expansion of the Small Streams Maintenance Program (SSMP) to approximately 1,000 miles of small streams in the
District’s service area, 300 miles in the North Side Water Reclamation Plant (NSWRP) service area, 300 miles in the
Stickney Water Reclamation Plant (SWRP) service area and 400 miles in the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP)
service area. Prior to the implementation of the program, the NSWRP serviced 57 miles, the SWRP serviced 24 miles and
the CWRP serviced 25 miles, or approximately 11 percent of total mileage. In 2008, as in the previous year, a contract was
awarded to perform work outside the scope of District capabilities. The contract is presently in place and both District and
contractor personnel continue to make great strides in improving small stream flow, reducing the chance of flooding. It is
anticipated that the 2009 contract cost will be approximately 2.5 million dollars, which is 15 percent greater than the 2008
budget;
• Initiation of a Rain Garden Demonstration Program to raise public awareness of the function, construction, maintenance,
and benefits associated with rain gardens. The District intends to sponsor construction of rain gardens at selected high
schools throughout Cook County;
• Initiation of a Permeable Pavement Pilot Study at the SWRP. The permeable pavement test plots will be monitored to
measure their effectiveness as a stormwater management tool;
• Expansion of the Rain Barrel Program.
INITIATIVES FOR 2009 INCLUDE:
• The Engineering Department is overseeing the development of six Detailed Watershed Plans (DWPs). The DWPs will be
conducted in two phases: Phase A and Phase B. Phase A consists primarily of data gathering and identification of existing
stormwater related concerns within a watershed. Phase B includes further data evaluation, hydrologic and hydraulic
modeling, and the development of alternatives to address stormwater related concerns. Phase B studies are currently
underway for the Calumet-Sag Channel, Upper Salt Creek, and the Little Calumet River watersheds. Phase A has been
completed for the Lower Des Plaines Tributaries, Poplar Creek, and the North Branch Chicago River watersheds; Phase B
for these watersheds were awarded in 2008. The length of time required for each study varies from one to two years. It is
anticipated that all DWPs will be completed by 2010. Completion of the DWPs will enable the District to initiate the
Stormwater Management Fund Capital Improvements Program and allow for the development of a more detailed schedule
of expenditures for design, post award and construction contracts. Until the DWPs are completed, the District will provide
funding for projects which provide regional benefits and have been studied and approved for funding by regional agencies
such as the Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Water Resources and the United States Army Corps of
Engineers (Corps). One such project currently under consideration is a flood control facility to provide compensatory
storage necessary for the construction of Levee 37, a Corps project proposed in their approved 1999 Des Plaines River
Phase I Study;
• The Engineering Department began the process of developing a comprehensive stormwater management regulatory
ordinance known as the Cook County Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO) in 2007. The WMO will establish
uniform, minimum, countywide stormwater management regulations throughout Cook County. Components which may be
regulated under the WMO include drainage and detention, floodplain management, wetland protection, riparian
environment protection, soil erosion and sediment control, and water quality. The Stormwater Management Section
anticipates the draft WMO to be completed, presented for public review and submitted for final approval to the Board of
Commissioners in 2009.
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