As you may know, public hearings were recently held for the Forest Preserve District’s proposed Stormwater Management Policy. My office has received numerous e-mails regarding this policy, and though consideration before the Forest Preserve District Board is not scheduled at this time, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide some background information relating to stormwater management in the county and related activity by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD):

The MWRD of Greater Chicago assumed authority for general supervision of stormwater management in Cook County pursuant to the passage of Public Act 93-1049 by the Illinois State legislature on November 17, 2004. Additionally, MWRD adopted the Cook County Stormwater Management Plan by ordinance on February 15, 2007.

Recently, the MWRD has proposed a Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO). This ordinance is intended to protect Cook County citizens from increases in flooding, protect the County’s natural resources and preserve and enhance water quality by fostering responsible development addressing stormwater management.

On January 26, 2010 the Board of Commissioners passed a Resolution calling on the MWRD to conduct an economic impact study of the proposed Watershed Management Ordinance and re-examine technical provisions of the draft WMO.

The MWRD is currently undertaking a fiscal impact study of the proposed WMO which is due within the next 6 to 9 months. It is my intention to wait for the completion of this study so that we have additional information before considering the Forest Preserve District’s Stormwater Management Policy.