Vol. 5, No. 2 - Apr 1984ail
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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
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