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Vol. 5, No. 2 - Apr 1984ail ' 1 � 1 KISSING 41 ZONE April,1984 Vol. 5, No.2 THIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF D•TALES IS DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO STORM WATER MANAGEMENT It's been almost two years since major storms caused widespread flooding, not only in Deerfield but in many northern suburbs. As soon as the waters receded, we began looking for solutions to the problems. We've made significant progress and this special issue of D-TALES is meant to describe what we've done and the results we've achieved. At our Wastewater Treatment Facility, the Village has a universal rain gauge which is maintained by the State of Illinois, Division of Water Resources. Because we believe what Confucius said - "One picture is worth a thousand words" - we're showing you here some of the official rain fig- ures to give you an idea of what caused the big flooding problems in 1982: JULY DECEM BER TOTAL YEAR RAINFALL RAINFALL ANNUAL RAINFALL 1974 2.15 1.61 31.57 1975 3.10 2.71 37.35 1976 1.25 0.36 24.48 1977 1.49 1.59 23.89 1978 5.49 3.21 32.94 1979 1.71 2.39 31.98 1980 3.22 2.04 30.75 1981 3.85 0.73 29.37 1982 12.95 6.38 40.78 1983 1.70 2.80 38.02 FLOOD ADVISORY COMMITTEE One of the Village Board's first actions was to reactivate the Flood Advisory Committee. The following residents were appointed: Alan Schultz, Chairman Roy M. Fay Wallace Hanson Philip Maxey Harlan Johnson Lee S. Rose Richard Miller Keve of the members have engineering degrees and all, in one way or another, were victimized y the 1982 storms. Their task was to investigate all aspects of the stormwater management problem and make recommendations to the Mayor and Board of Trustees. The Committee has held numerous meetings and has worked closely with the Village Board on three major projects in- volving stormwater management:. 1. CREEK MAINTENANCE WEST FORK Due to legal problems that practically froze the fund-raising ability o�, the Union Drainage District, the Village loaned the District $200,000 to clean the West Fork, which was desperately in need of attention. This was completed in July of 1983. The District is still trying to resolve its legal matters, and the Village is evaluating means of treating the creek banks to prevent a recurrence of the overgrowth problem. MIDDLE FORK Meanwhile, we started to unravel the jurisdiction of the various Drain- age Districts on.the Middle Fork. West Skokie Drainage District is re- sponsible for the portion north of Deerfield Road; Union Drainage District #2 controls the portion south of Deerfield Road. West Skokie District has been active and working on drain- age issues but the Union District #2 had been inactive for several years. Now that it has been reactivated, we are all working on a cleaning project similar to the one on the West Fork. This would be done by the Corps of Engineers under a federal grant - 75% government funding, 25% from the local districts. Cleaning the creeks - AND KEEPING THEM CLEAN - is a must if the total drainage system is to operate properly. While the flooding problems on the Middle Fork were not as severe as on the West Fork, there were serious problems relating to loss of electricity. Water overflowing the banks on the Middle Fork flooded electrical transformers, resulting in loss of electrical power to resi- dents of Kings Cove and Colony Point. Through negotiations with Commonwealth Edison, the Village was able to get the utility company to raise the transformers located along the creek. The cost to Commonwealth Edison was $30,000, which will be charged against monies committed to the Village through its franchise agreement. 2. STORM AND WASTEWATER STUDY • Research done by our Engineering and Public Works Departments identified 15 areas of the Village where flooding and basement back-up problems were chronic. It became apparent that we needed a more thorough investigation and, after several firms were interviewed, Baxter and Woodman was selected to complete an engineering analysis and recommend remedial action. Their engineering analysis was divided into three phases: PHASE A - Local Storm Sewer and Surface Flooding Problems PHASE B - Overbank Flooding of the West and Middle Forks PHASE C - Sanitary Sewer Surcharge Problems. PHASE A, which is practically finished, addressed local drainage problems in eight different areas where flooding occurs due to overloaded storm sewers and inadequate inlet capacity. A program of recommended improvements is being developed now. The field investigations for PHASE B have been completed and the data are being analysed by computer. The field investigations consisted of an examination of houses which were flooded by the 1982 storms and a determination of their elevations. The computer analysis will com- pare the elevations of those houses with the projected water levels in the streams, using a variety of rainfall frequencies. Various remedial measures will then be identified, includ- ing channel improvements, an upstream detention basin ( as recommended by the Corps of En- gineers), local detention facilities, a flood bypass, and/or individual. flood -proofing measures, and combinations of all these. The computer analysis will then determine the level of benefit which would result from each such measure and the combinations. PHASE C is the largest portion of the engineering analysis. Ten of the 15 areas selected 0 by the Village were identified as having concentrations of chronic sanitary sewer problems. Flow meters were installed at 18 locations throughout the Village to monitor flows in the sanitary sewer system during the spring months when wet -weather flows are usually highest. In addition, the five areas which are served by older parts of the sanitary sewer system have been field-tested for the sources of leakage using a variety of techniques, including smoke 40esting, dyed -water flooding of nearby storm sewers and internal television inspection. he information obtained from the flow metering and the field-testing work points to a number of preliminary findings: 1. In general, the Village's sanitary sewer mains are in reasonably good condition. 2. Most of the storm water entering the sewer system appears to be related to the house services, coming from sources such as roof and driveway drains, footing drains, sump pumps, and leaky house service lines. 3. It is estimated that the potential leakage into the sanitary sewers could exceed 50,000,000 gallons per day during and immediately after a severe rainstorm, compared with a normal dry -weather sewage flow of 2,500,000 gallons per day and a maximum sewer system capacity of 17,000,000 gallons per day. 4. The responses to the Village's questionnaire last January and the house -to -house canvass this summer identified a total of 577 homes which have had sewer back-ups in the basements. However, 393 of these occurred only during the July 1982 and/or December 1982 storms, leaving 184 homes with more chronic sewage back-up problems. In light of the Consultant's findings to date, the Village Board has authorized $60,000 for additional.flow meter testing throughout the community. The meters have been installed and, for a six -week period during Spring rains, will record the amount of stormwater infiltration and inflow into the sanitary sewer system. Information obtained by this testing will provide useful data in developing Village -wide solutions to the sewer back-up problems. 3. NORTH BRANCH FLOODWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN • Since the mid 1970's, the Illinois Division of Water Resources has had plans to develop a series of reservoirs along the North Branch of the Chicago River. A lack of funding has delayed these projects,. Following the flooding in 1982, Deerfield has lobbied our Federal legislators to move these projects along. In late 1983, the United States Army Corps of Engineers approved plans for installing two reservoir basins along the West Fork - one at the southeast corner of Duffy Lane and the Tollway, and the other at the northwest corner of Lake -Cook Road and Pfingsten Road. The State, working with the Lake County Forest Preserve District, is attempting to acquire the site in Bannockburn which, when completed, will be of the most benefit to the Deerfield area. Proposed is a 600 acre foot reservoir to retain water during severe rain storms. Once the storm is over, the water from the basin will be pumped gradually into the West Fork. The Lake -Cook Road reservoir will be of bene- fit primarily to the Northbrook property owners. While the projects are being reviewed by the Department of -the Army and the Office of Management and Budget, our legislators are working to gain Congressional approval for fund- ing. Both Senator Percy and Congressman Porter have introduced legislation in Washington to fund these improvements. It's difficult to predict when these projects might be built since they are competing against other projects of equal importance to other areas of the Country. YOU can help �y writing to your Senators and Congressman, asking that they continue to give this matter a high priority. Their addresses are included on the next page with the article on Federal Flood Insurance. . NEW ORDINANCE At their March 19th meeting, the Mayor and Board of Trustees adopted an ordinance which re- quires that when a power assisted flood control system is installed in a residence, all existing cross connections (if any) must be eliminated at that time. Simply put, this means that if you take measures to eliminate sanitary sewage back-up in your home, you will be required to co- operate with the Village by correcting any source of infiltration/inflow into the storm and/or sanitary sewers. Violators can be fined up to $500 for each day the violation continues. Residents should contact the Village Engineer's office (945-5000) before undertaking this -work. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT During 1983, the Public Works Department has: - Cleaned 394,785 feet of sanitary sewers - TV'd 24,092 feet of sanitary sewers - Cleaned 19,350 feet of storm sewers - TV'd 1,180 feet of storm sewers - Dye or smoke tested 1,497 homes - Cleaned 978 drainage structures - Repaired 46 manholes - Replaced 630 feet of sanitary sewer - Corrected 27 sources of storm water line infiltration into sanitary sewers These statistics are delineated here simply to show the emphasis being placed on identifying and correcting some of the storm and sanitary sewer problems. Much of this work was completed in connection with the engineering consultant's project and, therefore, is beyond what is typically accomplished on an annual basis. FEDERAL FLOOD INSURANCE EVERYONE in Deerfield is eligible for Federal Flood Insurance, whether your home is located in the flood plain or not. Today, 277 such policies have been written for properties in our Vil- lage, 267 of which are for dwellings and 10 are commercial properties. The thrust of the Federal Emergency Management -Agency (FEMA) is to encourage that new construction is built high enough to prevent its flooding. L -I Effective October 1, 1983, FEMA defines a basement as "the lowest level or story of any build- ing of which the floor is below ground on all four sides". On new and/or renewal policies, they will no longer pay for finished basement area damage. They will continue to pay for walls, floors, footings, foundations, furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners, electric boxes and - if a contents policy is taken out - freezers, washers and dryers. NOTHING else will be cover- ed. 40 If you'd like to communicate with your Washington legislators in an attempt to get the basement definition changed, or to emphasize the need for federal funding of the North Branch Floodwater Management Plan, the addresses are: Senator Charles Percy Congressman John E. Porter Senator Alan Dixon 1530 Longworth House'Office Building Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. 20510 Washington, D. C. 20510 VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD 850 Waukegan Road Deerfield, Illinois 60015 Fire Department .....................945-2121 Police Department ...................945-2131 Village Hall.........................945-5000 BERNARD FORREST, Mayor TRUSTEES Stephen O. Jackson Edwin B. Seidman James L. Marovitz Vernon E. Swanson Cynthia J. Marty J. Robert York POSTAL CUSTOMER DEERFIELD, ILLINOIS 60015 Bulk Rate U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 1 Deerfield. Illinois CARIPRE-SORT Printed at Standard Printing Service, Inc. (312) 498-6126