 
    
THE DES PLAINES
WATERSHED TEAM
The Des Plaines Watershed Team was
incorporated in early 1998 by a dozen people who are committed to
action. Three of us have strong political bases. Our Chairperson,
Sheila Schultz, was President of the Village of Wheeling for 20 years
- and has been evacuated three times from her home during floods.
Martha Marks, Lake County Board Member and Herb Schumann, Cook County
Commissioner, serve constituents who are under constant threat of
flooding from the Des Plaines. Others on the Team include leaders in
the paddling community, stewards of natural areas, and leaders in
civic and environmental organizations, including the
Wisconsin/Illinois Upper Des Plaines Ecology Partnership. Bill Eyring,
our Coordinator, is a professional engineer and community organizer.
We recognize that urban flooding is a complex
problem and that major facilities are necessary to reduce hazards. But
we are disturbed by the tendency by both local governments and
citizens to wait helplessly for many years, assuming that federal and
state agencies will eliminate the danger. Not only is time wasted, but
the limitations of both available land and money make it unlikely that
problems can be solved by big government alone.
We envision a Des Plaines River Watershed
area in which individuals, garden clubs, homeowners' organizations,
developers, agencies and governments work together to reduce the
threat of flooding at the same time they bring the river and landscape
back to health. Landscapes are modified, where water can most
effectively be intercepted, so that natural processes are
reestablished and both appearance and maintenance are acceptable to
the landowner. Runoff is decreased; the maximum amount of rainfall is
absorbed in open spaces planted with native vegetation; habitat is
enhanced; and water quality is improved. Sustainable watershed
management practices increasingly reduce the threat of flooding.
To attain this vision, our mission is to
build a watershed ethic within the diverse communities in the
watershed.
The Team's goals are:
- Bring people to an understanding of the
watershed, the natural processes that formed it, and our role in
reestablishing those processes.
- Bring about the adoption of new
development standards that will decrease, rather than increase,
environmental problems.
- Conduct workshops and projects to
demonstrate how environmental health can be attained through the
cooperative work of volunteers and government.
- Work through schools, the Internet, and
all means possible to disseminate information so that people can
contribute the their own well-being.
During the past year, members of the Team
have made important progress, including:
- Preparing recommendations for changes in
the Lake County Watershed Ordinance that would require developers to
design new developments so that the volume of stormwater runoff from
the site is no higher than it is now. Examples of such regulations
have been found on both the East and West Coasts.
- Representing residents at the regular
meetings of officials in the Des Plaines River area as they are
briefed by the Corps and the State on the status of plans for flood
hazard reduction.
- Meeting with municipalities to widen
their perspectives on watershed management to include both local
actions by government and voluntary actions by land owners.
- Planning with other interested groups, a
day-long conference dealing with the Des Plaines Watershed. The
conference, to be held on June 20th at Dominican University in River
Forest, will be the kickoff for a Des Plaines Watershed Alliance of
activists. An exciting canoe expedition down the river will take
place on June 12-14.
- Monitoring an effort by the State to
obtain funding to study the construction of a tunnel to divert flood
waters from the Des Plaines river at Gurnee to Lake Michigan. While
we believe that all potential alternatives to reduce flooding should
be explored, we will oppose extravagant studies on a project that is
inherently unacceptable, and which will defer action and divert
funding from other valid, cost-effective, and timely alternatives.
- Receiving a grant from the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources, through the Conservation 2000
Program and the Wisconsin/Illinois Upper Des Plaines Ecology
Partnership, to work with volunteers in the Heather Ridge Community
and south Gurnee to improve water quality, stabilize shorelines and
create improved habitat while reducing runoff to ponds and a
tributary of the Des Plaines River. This work will occur during the
Summer of 1998.
- Working with the many and varied
interests in the four square-mile watershed of Prairie/Farmer Creek.
Though this partially unincorporated area between the Cities of Des
Plaines, Park Ridge and Glenview is heavily impacted even by
frequent storms, no single agency with the authority has been able
to move toward the reduction of flood damages.
- Working with State agencies and other
potential funding sources to initiate planning and organizing along
Buffalo Creek, Mill Creek and Hickory Creek to achieve environmental
improvements while reducing runoff to the streams.
- Making presentations to school groups,
garden clubs and other community members who can join in the effort
to make the Des Plaines Watershed a healthier place to live.
- Developing materials and an Internet site
to spread information to the widest possible audience, and give
activists a means of communicating with others having similar goals.
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