‘Investments in the future’: More than a dozen major Lake County stormwater management projects in motion

Warmer weather is synonymous in Illinois with the resumption of construction season.

But as the usual roadway improvement and commercial construction projects unfold this year, a host of projects meant to equip Lake County communities to deal with aging stormwater infrastructure and higher levels of rainfall are nearing completion or are set to break ground in the coming months.

In conjunction with a consortium of local governments, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission is carrying out $30 million worth of projects using grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the county commission could receive up to about $122 million in grants for other projects in coming years if the Illinois General Assembly sees fit.

Kurt Woolford, the commission’s executive director, said the biggest undertaking on the docket this year is a flood mitigation storm sewer project in Park City that is expected to cost $2.75 million.

“ (Park City) residents didn’t really have any options,” Woolford said. “And now we’re definitely trying to bring them the needed change that they will enjoy a better quality of life in their community.”

The installation will improve movement of stormwater from north of Belvidere Road to the south of Park City through the Greenbelt Forest Preserve and down near Casemir Pulaski Drive, according to Ernesto Huaracha, a water resources professional in his seventh year working for the commission.

“It’s an outdated system, an undersized system and based on its legacy, it just doesn’t meet the needs of properly conveying water from north to south,” he said.

He said the project will also bolster storage capacity in the area so it’s not, “just pushing water downstream.”

Several projects are completed, including one totaling just under $1 million to make drainage improvements in the Highlands neighborhood off Route 41, two significant projects in Lake Forest and a project in the oft-flooded Knollwood subdivision in partnership with the village of Fox Lake.

Woolford explained the need to coordinate stormwater mitigation efforts on a wide scale is accentuated because of Lake County’s many existing lakes and watersheds and rising levels of rainfall, combined with development that has occurred in municipalities which has increased runoff.

Capital improvement program manager Susan Novak said Lake County and its partners are “being proactive” to address stormwater concerns, diligently spreading the effort around different areas of the county based on watershed and environmental data.

A project getting $2.75 million from the state grant to improve the Sequoit Creek site in downtown Antioch is now underway, as well as another project to construct a storm sewer to mitigate flooding in several subdivisions in Libertyville Township.

In particular, Huaracha explained, unincorporated communities tend not to have as thoroughly crafted long-range plans to resolve infrastructure needs, as many towns and cities do, “so that’s where SMC comes in.”

“Because there’s not a tax base like (in) many municipalities, there are not many opportunities for drainage improvement projects unless a collective of stakeholders get together to work to define a project or provide some funding,” he said.

Other projects in unincorporated Lake County include a Wildwood area stormwater infrastructure project in Warren Township, and a drainage improvement project at Talbot Avenue in Shields Township.

(The Wildwood project) is going to have significant improvement for the community around Valley Lake,” Huaracha said. “And it’s going to help alleviate a lot of flood issues in the street.”

While the Stormwater Management Commission is handling project management for some of the projects, local sponsors such as municipalities or water drainage districts are taking the lead while the commission manages the grant funding and compliance.

Woolford and his staff have also identified a host of unfunded potential projects that are being designed, and more than 30 additional projects that are under review and engineering scope.

Created through state law in 1990, the commission is tasked with monitoring the county’s watersheds and flood plains, crafting management plans and mitigating flood impacts while protecting and restoring natural resources.

Six Lake County Board members and the mayors of Fox Lake, North Chicago, Beach Park, Buffalo Grove, Kildeer and Gurnee make up the commission’s board.

Woolford is optimistic the commission will be able to utilize further funding from the state and other sources, and said it has identified the need for dozens of additional projects around Lake County.

Notably, the legislation passed by the General Assembly dictates the commission will either receive the full sum of about $122,098,000, “or so much thereof as may be necessary.”

“It might appear that these are just construction projects, but they’re more than that,” Woolford said. “They’re investments in the community, investments in the future and they’re investments in addressing the disadvantaged communities and building a more equitable society across Lake County.”