Stormwater Management

Font Size: + -

Feedback Print

Stormwater Master Plan

The City continues to enhance our stormwater management system to address and improve citywide drainage deficiencies, maximizing federal and state funding for these improvements. The City has invested more than $50 million over the past several decades on numerous projects to reduce and mitigate floods, primarily from large rain events that result in the Des Plaines River overflowing its banks. The City's Stormwater Master Plan, first adopted in 1986, has continually been updated to address local flooding.

Craig Manor Drainage System Improvements

The Craig Manor Drainage System Improvement Project consists of a new 2.5 acre-foot underground stormwater storage facility at Craig Manor Park with relief storm sewers to convey floodwater to the facility. The storage facility serves as drainage overflow for the Craig Manor neighborhood. The improvement project provides significant flood reduction and is designed to prevent structure flooding to 11 at-risk houses. This project was selected for grant funding through the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Stormwater Partnership Program (SPP). The City has partnered with the Des Plaines Park District and the MWRD to complete the project.

The project scope includes installation of the storage facility, installation of new storm sewers, sanitary sewer improvements miscellaneous water main and service repairs and street reconstruction. The project is expected to begin in Fall 2024 and be completed in summer 2025. Click here for an exhibit of the project area.

Big Bend Project

Levee 50 Flood Control Project

The Rand Park Flood Control and Multi-Use Project, also known as Levee 50, is designed to alleviate damages caused by the flooding of the Des Plaines River. This project was the first of six flood control projects included in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' Des Plaines River Project. As a state sponsor for the Corps' federal project, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources / Office of Water Resources (IDNR/OWR) agreed to design and construct the Rand Park Project as part of the Department's financial obligation to the federal project. The cities of Des Plaines and Park Ridge serve as local sponsors for the project and as such, will ultimately own, operate and maintain the flood control and multi-use trail system constructed.

The documents below illustrate the location of the project, and highlight all three phases. Phase I included extension of an existing culvert and the installation of a 48-inch Tide Flex gate at the end of that culvert extension. Phase II included construction of a gated closure structure in addition to a pump station at Prairie-Farmer's Creek. This phase was substantially completed in 2005. Phase III was substantially completed in 2009 and included floodwalls, levees, multi-use trail, a Miner Street underpass, and a Golf Road Interceptor Sewer gate at Big Bend Lake.

The multi-use trail and Miner Street underpass components of the project were part of a federally funded Grand Illinois Trail project. During non-flood times, the 12-food wide trail closes a crucial gap in the roughly 50-mile Des Plaines River Trail and the greater Grand Illinois Trail. The underpass consists of a 12-foot wide by 10-foot high box culvert running underneath Miner Street to serve as trail tunnel and to provide additional flow conveyance during times of high water.

Stormwater Management Program and NPDES

Water pollution degrades surface waters and makes them unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming, and other activities. As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States.

Similar to other cities across the region and country, the City of Des Plaines maintains two types of permits with the EPA under the NDPES program: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Permit. Below is information regarding each of the programs.

Help Des Plaines limit water pollution! Pet owners and business owners can play a part in taking care of our water.

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)

Polluted storm water runoff is often transported to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) and discharged into local rivers and streams without treatment. The EPA's Stormwater Phase II Rule establishes an MS4 program to improve the waterways by reducing the pollutants that stormwater picks up and carries into storm sewer systems.

Common pollutants include oil and grease from roadways, pesticides from lawns, sediment from construction sites, and trash such as cigarette butts, paper wrappers, and plastic bottles. These pollutants can impair waterways, discouraging recreational use of the resource, contaminating drinking water supplies, and interfering with wildlife habitats.

In 1990, the EPA promulgated rules establishing Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater program. The Phase I program requires operators of "medium" and "large" MS4s, who generally serve populations of over 100,000 people, to implement a stormwater management program to control polluted discharges. The Stormwater Phase II Rule extends coverage of the NPDES stormwater program to certain "small" MS4s, but takes a slightly different approach to program development and implementation.

Listed below are documents from the City of Des Plaines' efforts as part of its federal NPDES MS4 Phase II permit. A full explanation of the NPDES MS4 program can be found on the USEPA and IEPA's websites.

Annual Reports:

2023-24 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2022-23 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2021-22 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2020-21 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2019-20 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2018-19 NPDES MS4 Annual Report

Additional Documents:

MS4 EPA Notice of Intent 2013
General NPDES Permit ILR40
General NPDES Permit ILR10

Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO)

Most older cities in the United States were built with combined sewer systems containing a single pipe designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.

Most of the time, combined sewer systems transport all of their wastewater to a sewage treatment plant where it is treated and then discharged to a body of water. However, during periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, the runoff volume can overflow the sewer system or treatment plant and discharge excess wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies.

The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), sometimes referred to as the "Deep Tunnel," is the long-term plan for the region to reduce and/or eliminate direct discharges of wastewater. The TARP consists of a series of tunnels and reservoirs that temporarily store excess runoff during rain events so that it can be treated before it enters the waterways. In addition, the City of Des Plaines creates separate storm sewers during street reconstruction projects to reduce the volume of rainwater that flows into the combined sewer system.

Example:

Graphic_CSO

Additional Information

A full explanation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) CSO program and information about combined sewer overflows can be found at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) maintains a network of flow-monitoring devices throughout the Chicago area to detect CSOs. Up-to-date information is available at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's website.

Information about the Tunnel and Reservoir Action Plan (TARP) is also available on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's website.

View these documents specific to Des Plaines.

Des Plaines, IL