Engineering

Waubonsie Creek Watershed

Funding Opportunities

Watershed Description
Counties
Municipalities
Land Cover
Planning and Technical Committee Chairs
Resource Concerns
Milestones
Completed Technical Inventories
Identified Resource Projects

Watershed Description

The Waubonsie Creek watershed covers approximately 18,950 acres (29.6 square miles). The creek originates in the Fox Valley shopping corridor and flows southeast 11 miles to the Fox River at Oswego. The watershed drains portions of Naperville, Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego and surrounding unincorporated land.

Counties

DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will

Municipalities

Naperville, Aurora, Montgomery, and Oswego

Planning and Technical Committee Chairs

Planning Committee: William Dunn
Technical Advisory Committee: Peter Wallers

Resource Concerns:

• Flooding
• Chronic flooding
• Man-made and natural obstructions of natural creek flow
• Loss of open space and increase of impervious areas
• Lack of unity in stormwater management of watershed
• Environmental
• Impaired water quality due to sedimentation and urban runoff
• Poor stream habitat
• Moderate streambank erosion
• Funding
• Physical work and field investigation
• Plan implementation

Milestones

• Completed watershed resource plan in Fall 2000.
• Awarded IEPA planning grant.
• Local jurisdictions signed adopted resolutions for watershed-wide floodplain re-mapping.
• Installed recording and crest gauges.
• Formulated IEPA Section 319 and IDNR Conservation 2000 grants.
• Requested watershed-wide release rate of 0.10 cfs/acre and adoption of stormwater control ordinances.
• Stormwater release rate recommendations adopted by Montgomery and Aurora.
• $5.6 million buyout of homes in floodplain.
• Secured IDNR Conservation 2000 funds to remove Stonegate Dam.

Identified Resource Projects

In January of 1998, four project areas, several components each, were identified for 319 funding with implementation costs totaling $320,500. Other potential project opportunities include three dam modifications, utilizing riffle pools to provide grade stabilization and passage of fish to the upper reaches of the watershed. Additional project opportunities include streambank stabilization, lake shoreline stabilization, wetland/floodwater fish refuges development, stream riffle pool construction, greenway plan development, and restoration of native vegetation in floodway and wetlands.