Cooperation celebrated on Busse Woods dam project
State, county and village officials gathered at the Busse Woods dam near Elk Grove Village Wednesday morning to celebrate unprecedented government cooperation that's expected to bring flood relief to thousands.
The occasion marked the start of a three-month modification of the dam and the first time in Illinois history that two counties - in this case, Cook and DuPage - have worked together on a stormwater mitigation project.
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson gave the majority of credit to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin for breaking the long streak of previous administrations' unwillingness to cooperate.
"It shows that when you're dedicated and you work hard, things get done," Johnson said.
Preckwinkle said Busse Woods is the busiest of all the forest preserves in Cook County.
"This is an important part of the forest preserve district," she said.
Johnson specifically called Preckwinkle "a breath of fresh air for the suburbs," remembering how quickly after her first election she walked out to the Busse Woods dam with him and Cook County Forest Preserve District General Superintendent Arnold Randall to see the problem for herself.
"She looked at Arnold and said, 'We've got to get this done,'" Johnson recounted.
The total cost of the project, expected to be done by Thanksgiving, is $4.6 million. Elk Grove Village spent $3.38 million in design and study costs, DuPage County paid $100,000, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District $1.12 million.
The work includes the installation of hinged crest gates at the dam. The gates will open and close, allowing water to come in or go out, depending on the upstream water level.
During a storm, the level of Busse Lake, which feeds into Salt Creek, would be manually lowered, allowing the reservoir to hold more water. The water would then be released at a slower pace after the storm.
Randall said the forest preserve district is particularly pleased to be able to do this project, because it can't fulfill many of the requests it receives for stormwater mitigation. The bar that such projects must meet is to do no harm to the forest preserve's ecosystem, a requirement that makes many improvements impossible, he said.
Cronin, a native of Elmhurst, said he's no stranger to flooding problems. He threw praise back onto Johnson for lobbying so hard to bring all the necessary government agencies together.
"I have to congratulate you on your stalwart and determined leadership on this," Cronin said.
Though the dam itself is in Cook County, coordination between the two counties was necessary because DuPage is only a short distance downstream, Johnson said.
"It had to be a partnership because we wanted to make sure that whatever we did up here didn't interfere with DuPage County's flood mitigation," he said.
Just when it seemed that all relevant agencies had been brought into the project, it was discovered that the dam had originally been built with federal money. Federal permission was therefore needed, and provided with the assistance of U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth's office, Johnson said.
The mayors of other communities expected to benefit from the project also attended Wednesday, including Jeff Pruyn of Itasca, Nunzio Pulice of Wood Dale and Rod Craig of Hanover Park.