Des Plaines, IL
Home MenuStormwater Management
The City continues to plan and invest in our stormwater management system to address and improve citywide drainage deficiencies, maximizing federal and state funding for these improvements.
Stormwater Master Plan
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.
Big Bend Project
With funding assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the City has purchased and demolished nearly 90 structures along the Big Bend Drive neighborhood permanently removing them from the floodplain. These structures experienced significant damage during the historic flooding events in 2008 and 2013.
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.