As Suburbs Develop, Group Seeks to Protect and Restore Hickory Creek

As the south suburbs continue to grow commercially and residentially, an area environmental group wants to make sure municipalities and developers can take the steps needed to protect and restore the Hickory Creek Watershed.

The watershed, which is a natural system that includes all the water and surrounding land in an area, includes more than 100 miles of streams that run from Orland Park through the south suburbs to Joliet, and eventually out to the Des Plaines River. The creek is on the state's list of impaired waters, so it is unfit for fishing and swimming.

In 2007, a planning group composed of municipal leaders, activists and consultants formed to develop recommendations to reduce pollution, improve water quality and plan with the watershed in mind as the area develops.

“As new development happens, historically, things get a little worse,” said Dennis Dreher of  Geosyntec Consultants, which helped the planning group form its suggestions. “So we’re looking to plan so things don’t get worse, and in some cases can get better.”

For a summary of the study and recommendations, see the attached PDF. For the full report, click here.

The planning group shared its recommendations with the public Wednesday at Lincoln-Way North High School to educate residents and hear feedback. With stimulus money, the watershed group studied reasons for the creek’s water impairment, identified problem areas and looked at conditions based on future development.

One major focus is how storm water runoff is managed and where it or the pollutants in it can be reduced by using alternative methods. In New Lenox, for example, the Public Works Department tried using beet juice to help clean roads instead of salt, which contains damaging chlorides. Rain gardens, which allow storm water to drain underneath them and in the meantime help grow plants, have been proven as an effective alternative to streets drains, as well.

“We spent a lot of time in the streams and in the watershed to identify the steam’s condition,” consultant Mark Willobee said.

Besides storm water management, the group encourages two key aspects of future development that are less projects than they are philosophies and mindsets: a green infrastructure network and livable communities. This essentially entails integrating the creek and open space into development, and also growing more efficiently and compactly to maintain the quality of the watershed.

To do this, the group said, municipalities will need to work together to try and make various ordinances consistent and also allow for planning at a larger-scale level.

"It’s not just municipality by municipality," Dreher said. "It’s an opportunity to start connecting open spaces and areas and really do it in a holistic way. We want to treat the creeks and land around them as amenities instead of hazards to build around. It’s not just about protecting the environment, but making the environment more accessible to people."

Bill Eyring, a senior engineer who works on the Watershed Planning Group, said municipalities working together could also allow them to pool together resources and apply for grants to fund projects. While municipalities would be responsible for paying for any retro-fitting upgrades, a lot of the recommendations focus on future development. Eyring encouraged the public to get involved, and the watershed group hopes to start an adult volunteering organization to aide its efforts.

“One of the keys of success to something like this, which is ambitious, is that there are people … who say ‘we want you to make these commitments’ and work toward them," Eyring said.