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DuPage County stormwater committee praises staff after early-July storm
Summary
At its July 7 meeting the DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee heard staff report that parts of the county received between 3.5 and nearly 8 inches of rain during the July 3 storm and credited rapid field response and gate operations for limiting widespread flooding.
Chairman Zay opened the July 7 DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee meeting by thanking staff for their response to a severe early‑July storm and saying county and municipal stormwater investments helped avoid more widespread damage.
Sarah, a stormwater program staffer, told the committee the county received "somewhere between 3 and a half to almost 8 inches of rain" during the storm, with heavier pockets in the northwest, southwest and southeast parts of DuPage County. She said county crews began operations at about 2 a.m. on July 3, opened gates ahead of automated triggers in some places and activated pumps and telemetry to manage flows.
"I can't say enough about the work they did," Sarah said, naming coordinating staff members Jamie Locke, forecaster Samantha, field crew leader Brian Boroviak, Kevin and Dave Johnson for their roles in mobilizing crews and maintaining communications.
Chairman Zay described localized inundation in Bartlett, Hanover Park and Carol Stream but said those incidents were isolated and that the overall response "paid off." He told the committee he expected crews to begin dewatering some facilities as elevations recede and that pumps were being turned on where conditions allow.
Committee member Desart asked staff to define "dewater," and staff explained it means pumping water out of stormwater facilities back into creeks when safe to do so.
Staff also briefed the committee on completed ARPA-funded stormwater projects totaling $9.7 million across 11 projects and noted a personnel update: Jenna Fahey’s promotion to wetland program manager was acknowledged during the meeting.
The meeting closed after routine business and a brief discussion of the July rainfall relative to historical averages; no formal action was required on the storm response other than informational receipt of staff reports.
