|
northeastern illinois planning commission |
Agencies with broad responsibility for flood control on the Upper Des Plaines River met today with the Water Resources Committee of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) to brief it on the development of a coordinated flood control plan. The meeting was suggested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which recently released a draft Upper Des Plaines River Flood Control Feasibility Study Report. The report has been a subject of some concern among local governments which would be partly responsible for implementation of recommended flood control projects. In addition to the Corps, agencies represented at the meeting included the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Lake County, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, and the Northwest and West Central Municipal Conferences. The Upper Des Plaines River extends from the Illinois-Wisconsin border south to Riverside in west Cook County. In opening the meeting, Phillip Peters, Executive Director of NIPC, emphasized that it is not the Commission's intent to inject itself into the development of the "locally preferred" flood control plan. "Our purposes today are to brief our Commissioners on the current status of flood control planning for the Des Plaines," Peters said, "and to play our traditional role as a forum on intergovernmental issues which may be obstacles to success." He noted that at least seven of NIPC's Commissioners represent jurisdictions with some responsibility for the Upper Des Plaines. Lead responsibility for development of the locally preferred plan rests with the Office of Water Resources (OWR), a branch of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "We have been concerned about Des Plaines River flooding for many years", Peters said, " and we continue to be supportive of the development of an effective, equitable, locally acceptable plan." After destructive floods on the Des Plaines in 1986, NIPC adopted an Action Agenda on Flooding and Drainage which called for the initiation of an Upper Des Plaines flood study. In each year since, the Commission has urged northeastern Illinois' congressional delegation to include funding for the study in the Corps of Engineers' budget. NIPC had earlier worked with state and local agencies to develop channel maintenance agreements in connection with the Lower Des Plaines plan. The draft feasibility study report, released in October 1996, identifies a proposed flood reduction strategy which maximizes net economic benefits from a federal perspective, thereby justifying the expenditure of federal funds for flood control projects. The Corps' draft plan includes a package of recommended flood control projects which could reduce existing average annual damages by $8.9 million, or about 42 percent. The projects, consisting of six new flood storage reservoirs, a reservoir expansion, four bermed water retention areas, and five levees, would cost an estimated $73 million, resulting in an average annual cost for construction and operation of about $6 million. Several serious concerns have been raised by local agencies whose involvement would be necessary to implement the plan. Local sponsors constrained by tax caps say they may have difficulty raising their portion of the required 25 percent state-local match. Jack Farnan of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) informed the NIPC committee that the District is seeking legislative relief for that purpose. A majority of the sites proposed by the Corps for structures are on land owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. The District has responded that use of these sites as proposed by the Corps could interfere with the preservation of natural resources and recreational opportunities and negate substantial investment by the County. The District has recommended several alternative sites for consideration by the Corps. Another concern raised by some local officials is that while most of the structures are planned for Lake County, most of the flood control benefits would accrue in Cook County. The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, in its comments, emphasized the need for inclusion of multi-purpose projects and watershed management practices to complement the proposed structures. Colonel Roger Gerber of the Corps of Engineers stated that the Corps' purpose had been to develop an initial proposal based on engineering feasibility and cost effectiveness as a starting point, to which the local sponsors could respond with their preferred proposals. Philip Bernstein of the Corps added that these local proposals might well include environmental and recreational as well as flood control benefits, and that the Corps could endorse these as long as they provided positive cost/benefit ratios for flood control. It is important, he said, that the plan be a regional solution to the flooding problem and not just a collection of local projects. Colonel Gerber emphasized that the Corps must receive the locally preferred plan and conduct its own analysis and public review in time to submit the final plan to Congress by September 30, 1997. Arlen Juhl of the Office of Water Resources said that "local priorities must be the driving force behind the plan." OWR, he said, has been seeking local comments on the projects in the Corps' draft and has been assessing whether those projects could be redesigned or alternative sites identified which would provide the required flood control benefits and meet other local objectives. The alternatives might include a greater emphasis on flood storage projects in the tributaries and headwaters of the river, including Wisconsin. Once it has completed its analysis, OWR intends to meet with affected local agencies to review its analysis of the draft and the alternatives before submitting locally preferred proposals to the Corps. The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and MWRD have worked with OWR in providing local funding and oversight for the feasibility study. "The opportunity to reduce identified flood damages with federal funds is a compelling reason to work steadfastly toward the resolution of these issues," Phillip Peters concluded. "With growing questions about the prospects of future Congressional appropriations for flood control projects, an expeditious approach is clearly warranted." He said that NIPC representatives meeting with the Congressional delegation next week in Washington would particularly emphasize the need for a full 75-percent Federal share of funding for the Upper Des Plaines projects. For further information, contact Dennis Dreher, NIPC Director of Natural Resources, or Sandi Radtke, Director of Public Affairs, at 312-454-0400 |
