Saturday, when the cities north of us were suffering under the rains' wrath, we were sitting pretty. Wet, but pretty.
The Mexican Independence Day parade was still held. If that doesn't say, "We're not underwater," I don't know what does.
Then came Sunday.
I don't think it was Sunday's rain that did us in. It was all of the water from our northern neighbors, flowing angrily downstream.
So why did Will and Grundy fair so well during Saturday's rain when other people were bailing water?
Could it be that we have a little thing called fields that soak up water?
When rain hits impermeable surfaces (often 90 percent or more of cities like Chicago), it rolls into storm sewers, which lead to our rivers.
When the sewers back up, it flows to low ground.
Here, where we don't pave every single thing, some water runs to the rivers, but a lot runs to fields that can absorb it, to prairie plantings that can send the water down low into the earth and other systems built to handle the rain the earth gets.
But our system here can't handle our rain and the rain from the impermeable cities.
Now we're sandbagging and trying to avoid tragedy.
Dear Chicago,
Please plant some water-absorbing prairies. We don't want to do this anymore.
Love,
Will County
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
Julie,you have so much to learn! It is not as simple as you make it sound. Did you ever stop to think all of us, Grundy and Will, are adding just as much to the problem? Fact:Grundy does not have laws to prevent problems, there working on it. Fact:Will does have laws, after 7 years of Joliet and Developers complaining it was too strict. Forget the pun, the law has been watered down. You seem to have decided prairies should replace people. Sorry but you cannot have them both, we all have to live somewhere.
"Did you ever stop to think all of us, Grundy and Will, are adding just as much to the problem?"
Just as much!? True, we are adding to the problem, however, considering that the populations of Grundy and Will county are about a tenth of what Cook county has I'd say we're still a little behind. Combine that with the fact that we don't have anywhere near the amount of pavement, concrete, skyscrapers, airports, etc. and it's a pretty easy conclusion to make that we have a much large permeable surface for water to soak into.
Does this mean that the people of Grundy and Will should act irresponsibly? No! (of course, there's that whole watering the commons at 8:45 thing but still...) The fact of the matter is this: while our populations are sure to rise we should utilize our common sense as they do and not just set about developing willy-nilly without a thought about the consequences.
The fact that the laws you mention even exist speaks volumes to the tenacity of those trying to prevent future floods and other calamity. But as far as developers and development are concerned this is one subject where you truly have to vote with your dollars. For example, that fancy house in the nice subdivision that was built on a swamp (don't worry we tiled it out!)--maybe it shouldn't be bought. But then again, if someone doesn't mind having a sump pump run 24/7...I suppose it's a great little house. Buy the ticket, take the ride.
"You seem to have decided prairies should replace people. Sorry but you cannot have them both, we all have to live somewhere."
Sorry but you're wrong--you can have them both. Rather than plant a lawn that promotes runoff (ie. with the good ol' Kentucky Bluegrass) you can plant native species that are well suited for sucking up the water. Also, instead of building on flood plains and tiling out swamps build elsewhere (read as: build on ground that stays nice and dry)--this not only keeps overflow going where it should but also keeps your sump pumps from running night and day.
Doing a few simple things and acting responsibly can carry us pretty far without hampering our "lifestyle" in the least. So instead of thinking that these things Julie talks about as restrictions, hating on the American way of life, or whatever it is you think they are--think about them as warning signs, wake up calls, and-ultimately-a concern about welfare of others.
Nobody likes a flood, especially the folks who are currently having to drain out their basements. So rather than bickering, our thoughts should be with them rather than ourselves and how we can prevent another one of these disasters.
You left something out of your article's title. It should have said, "If you pave it and fail to provide for drainage and detention, it will flood."
That said, I hope no one is naive enough to think that even unpaved earth could possibly have taken up the tremendous downpours we saw last weekend. The word you're looking for is, "runoff". Think: why do the yards in subdivisions have drainage swales? Because the area occupied by the house reduces absorption by the earth? Better consult an engineer yourself - you won't believe me if I tell you the answer!