‘This project is delivering’: Suburban leaders credit flood-prevention efforts for keeping towns dry during recent deluges

New sewers and stormwater detention basins in several historically flood-prone suburbs prevented potential catastrophes during this month’s thunderstorms, officials say.

Nearly 4 inches of rain fell on Wheeling between April 13 and 19. That combined with heavy rainfall upstream in Lake County and southern Wisconsin caused the Des Plaines River to overflow its banks in town.

But streets didn’t flood, homes stayed dry and businesses remained open.

Village Manager Jon Sfondilis credited $9 million worth of village-funded stormwater system improvements over the last decade — as well as some regional projects that benefit Wheeling — for averting disaster. One of the most recent efforts focused on the flood-prone South Dunhurst subdivision, where a nearly 3-acre detention pond was constructed and underground sewers leading to that basin were installed in the last couple years.

When the rain started coming down this month, the systems worked as intended, Sfondilis said. Village officials received no reports of flooding.

Without these improvements, Sfondilis said, “there is no doubt we’d be underwater.”

“While no community is immune to an outlier weather event, years of strategic planning and infrastructure improvements paid off when we needed them most,” he said.

In neighboring Mount Prospect, the concrete, sheetpile and clay structure known as Levee 37 once again kept parts of that village — as well as sections of Wheeling and Prospect Heights — from flooding this month as the Des Plaines River surged. The $36 million levee, which was built in 2015 along River Road, works with three pump stations to protect hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses.

Mundelein officials reported stormwater success, too, despite about 5 inches of rain there. For generations, Mundelein’s problem hasn’t been the Des Plaines River per se but the Seavey drainage ditch, a manufactured channel that flows through the central part of town to the river and to Indian Creek. It’s supposed to alleviate flooding but often failed to do its job.

The Western Slope neighborhood, which is on the west side of Route 45 near Division Street, especially was hit hard. After a devastating 2017 flood there, the village spent about $9 million to create a roughly 8-acre stormwater detention pond near Courtland Street and Seymour Avenue and to install new sewers and culverts.

They’ve worked.

Whereas exasperated residents with flooded basements inundated Mundelein officials with complaints after the 2017 disaster, Village Administrator Eric Guenther said he’s received no such calls this month, nor has he spotted any gripes about flooding on social media.

Were it not for the pond, new sewers and culverts, though, several hundred homes surely would’ve flooded, Guenther estimated.

“This project is delivering,” he said.

Due to its proximity to the eponymous river, Des Plaines has a history of severe flooding, too. But decades worth of stormwater relief projects that have cost more than $50 million kept most of the city dry this month, officials said.

Efforts include construction of an underground stormwater storage system in the Craig Manor neighborhood; the purchasing and demolition of homes in flood-prone areas; and the reconstruction of River Road at a higher elevation to serve as a levee between nearby homes and the river.

Without those improvements, entire neighborhoods near the river would’ve been flooded after this month’s storms instead of just some localized homes, city spokesperson Brad Goodman said. Likewise, stretches of only three streets — Golf, Central and Campground roads — had to be shut down because of standing water.

“The city’s only impacted areas were directly adjacent to the river,” Goodman said.

Other suburbs haven’t been as fortunate, especially those bordering the Chain O’ Lakes and the Fox River — the level of which rose in northern Illinois last week even as the Des Plaines River began to recede.

Antioch, Fox Lake, McHenry and Port Barrington were hit particularly hard. Standing water left some roads and bridges impassible and forced businesses to shut down. Some neighborhoods flooded as well.

Observing what’s happening in those towns, Guenther can’t help but be grateful for the steps Mundelein leaders took to combat flooding ahead of the most recent storms.

“(They’re) putting us in a much better position today,” he said.

Flood prevention — by the numbers

Stormwater management projects in Wheeling, Des Plaines, Mundelein and other suburbs have kept homes and businesses dry this month as other towns flooded. Here’s a look at some of those efforts, by the numbers.

1.9: In miles, the estimated length of Levee 37, which prevents flooding from the Des Plaines River in Mount Prospect, Wheeling and Prospect Heights

3: In acres, the size of the detention basin that’s part of the relatively new flood-control system in Wheeling’s South Dunhurst neighborhood

6: In inches, the estimated rainfall in Des Plaines between April 1 and April 19

85: Homes in flood-prone areas that Des Plaines purchased and demolished between 2014 and 2025 as part of a federal program designed to reduce the risk of future flood damage

9,000,000: In dollars, the estimated amount Wheeling has spent since 2016 to prevent flooding

Sources: Daily Herald interviews, levees.sec.usace.army.mil