DuPage County issued the following announcement on Sept. 11.
On Tuesday, federal, state and local officials came together to celebrate the completion of the Graue Mill Flood Control Project in Hinsdale.
The project was a collaborative effort between DuPage County, the Village of Hinsdale, the Graue Mill Homeowners Association and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County to protect the area from repetitive flooding. DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin highlighted the need for the project.
“In a span of only five years, Graue Mill endured three significant flood events. It was after the April 2013 flood that DuPage began working with all of the project partners to come up with a solution,” Cronin said. “The Graue Mill project became an important piece of our regional flood control approach, and we really couldn’t have done it without our federal, state and local partners.”
The project addresses repetitive flooding within the Graue Mill neighborhood, adjacent to Salt Creek. The project included construction of floodgates, floodwalls, pump stations and berms, as well as storm sewer improvements and compensatory floodwater storage in nearby Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve.
U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley helped secure more than $2.5 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to get the project off the ground.
“This is a remarkable community. The men and women of Graue Mill took it upon themselves to doggedly peruse creative solutions to the flooding problems that have repeatedly threatened their lives and property. As their representative in congress, I’m proud to have marshalled the federal resources needed to support their work. The Graue Mill flood abatement project is a prime example of the collaboration at the state, local and federal levels that will be crucial to address the mounting challenges of a changing climate,” said Quigley.
In addition to the FEMA and Illinois Emergency Management Agency grant, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources provided a $626,000 grant, which was secured in part by former State Rep. Patti Bellock. The Village of Hinsdale, Graue Mill Homeowners Association, DuPage County Stormwater Management and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County provided the remaining local and in-kind matches.
“The Village of Hinsdale and the Graue Mill Homeowners Association were instrumental in securing grant funding and overseeing design of this project. When they came to the County asking for assistance in construction oversight and fulfilling the remaining local match, we were happy to help,” said Jim Zay, Chairman of the DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee. “We adopted the project into our existing Lower Salt Creek Watershed Plan, and then got to work on bidding out the construction and administrating the project through from beginning to end.”
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up