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Watershed Infrastructure Improvement Plan (WIIP)

Last updated: Public Relations Specialist |

Background

Widespread flooding from heavy rains in October of 2006 prompted the Village to comprehensively address deficiencies in the infrastructure and maintenance of the public stormwater system. In February of 2007, the Village Council hired four consultants to begin a thorough analysis of each of the Village’s three primary watersheds. (Lacey Creek, Prentiss Creek and St. Joseph’s Creek). These are identified on the Watershed Map.

The Watershed Infrastructure Improvement Plan (WIIP) is the result. Approved by the Village Council in September of 2007, the WIIP identifies areas in the Village where drainage and flooding issues exist and recommends specific solutions to each problem area according to the following prioritization guidelines:

  • HIGH Priority (Critical): Problems that result in an immediate danger to public health and safety or complete loss of property value; structural damage (including any flooding of the first floor of a primary structure; basement flooding of more than 6” that resulted from overland flow through a window or door; or garage flooding of more than 7”). Problems that cause disruption of major traffic routes were also classifed as High.
  • Medium Priority (Chronic): Problems that are less severe than High and do not result in costly damage or repairs. These conditions include shallow street flooding, disruption of minor traffic routes, basement flooding of less than 6” resulting from overland flow, garage flooding of less than 7”, or yard flooding of more than 12” ( which is not also associated with structural flooding).
  • Low Priority (Nuisance): Minor, isolated problems that are less severe than chronic and do not generally result in damage or require repair, or are NOT caused by surface flooding/drainage problems. Low problems include yard flooding of less than 12”; basement flooding resulting from foundation cracks, sump pump failure, seepage or other non-overland causes; or other minor, isolated problems.

Goals and Outcomes

Projects recommended in the WIIP primarily address drainage and stormwater issues within the public system. While the completion of these projects will create additional capacity within the system and improve drainage as a whole, they are not intended to alleviate all flooding and stormwater issues on private property.

Construction of the improvements will provide property owners an opportunity to address their private flooding and drainage concerns by allowing connection to the public stormwater system. These future projects would consist of a network of smaller (12” to 18”) sewers and catch basins which would eventually place a connection point to within 200 feet of every lot in the Village.

Funding

The Stormwater Improvement Fund was created in 2008 to pay for projects in the WIIP . The revenue sources for this Fund include:

  • Issuance of General Obligation (GO) Bonds
  • A 1 /4 cent of the Home Rule Sales Tax
  • Property Taxes
  • Detention variance fees collected on certain building permits

In 2008, the first round of GO Bonds was issued in the amount of $25 million. Depending on the status of future budgets and market conditions, the Village hopes to issue additional GO Bonds in 2011 and 2014, each in the amount of $25 million, to complete all High Priority projects in the WIIP .

High Priority Projects

The WIIP identifies 16 High Priority projects and calls for a multi-year implementation process that will focus on these projects first. All are budgeted to have design and engineering work completed by 2010. However, depending on available funding, construction of all projects may take up to 9 years to complete.

WIIP Docs