[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 29, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44859-44860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21324]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Corps of Engineers


Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for Flood Damage Control on the Upper Des Plaines River, IL

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Chicago District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is 
investigating the feasibility of various methods to reduce flood damage 
along portions of the Upper Des Plaines River (UDPR) in Lake and Cook 
Counties, Illinois.
    A feasibility study of the proposed action is being conducted under 
Congressional authority known as the Chicago-South End of Lake Michigan 
(C-SELM) Urban Water Damage Study Authority. This authority is 
contained in Section 206 of the 1958 Flood Control Act (Public Law 85-
500), two resolutions by the Senate Committee on Public Works adopted 
22 July 1969, and 29 March 1973, and a resolution by the House 
Committee on Public Works adopted 11 April 1974. The feasibility study 
was undertaken as a result of a formal request for a reconnaissance 
study by the Illinois Division of Water Resources in October 1986. The 
reconnaissance study was completed by the Chicago District in 1989. 
This study supported further Federal involvement at the feasibility 
stage for flood protection on the Upper Des Plaines River. The State of 
Illinois, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, 
and Lake County Stormwater Management Commission have agreed to share 
the cost of the feasibility study with the Chicago District. The 
purpose of this feasibility study is to (1) describe and evaluate the 
scope of the flooding problems on the UDPR basin, (2) describe and 
evaluate alternative plans to resolve the flooding problems, and (3) 
select a recommended plan. The focus of this investigation is overbank 
flooding along the mainstem of the UDPR in Lake and Cook Counties, 
Illinois.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions or comments about the 
proposed action and DEIS should be addressed to Dr. Ken Derickson, 
Planning Division, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, 111 
North Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60606-7206, ATTN: CENCC-PD-S, 
telephone (312) 353-6475. An issues-scoping meeting is tentatively 
planned during the Fall of 1995.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Upper Des Plaines River, located in Lake 
and Cook Counties of Northeastern Illinois, is subject to severe 
overbank flooding due to inadequate channel carrying capacity to carry 
peak flows during major storm events. Damaging floods, in the mostly 
urban watershed, have occurred several times over the past 50 years. 
The most recent floods, in 1986 and 1987, caused damages exceeding $100 
million. Homes, commercial/industrial facilities, public/municipal 
sites, streets, golf courses, cemeteries, and recreational/open space 
areas were adversely impacted by these latter two floods in many 
communities along the Upper Des Plaines River. Due to the projected 
high rate of development along the UDPR in Lake County, damages due to 
flooding are expected to increase by about 50 percent over the next 50 
years, if no action is taken. At the request of the State of Illinois 
in October 1986, the Chicago District conducted a reconnaissance study 
of these flooding problems along the UDPR.

[[Page 44860]]

    During the problem identification phase of the reconnaissance 
study, 67 flood prone areas were identified along the mainstem of the 
Des Plaines River as well as 40 areas of flood prone roads/streets. Of 
the 67 identified flood prone areas, 17 were recommended for plan 
formulation, based on preliminary economic, engineering, environmental, 
and institutional screening criteria. Actions to be considered in the 
feasibility study and DEIS for these 17 flood prone areas are (1) no 
Federal action, (2) using exiting gravel pits for flood water storage, 
(3) expanding existing reservoirs, (4) excavating new reservoirs and/or 
wetland detention areas, (5) constructing levees, and (6) implementing 
non-structural alternatives (e.g., floodplain management and flood-
proofing). These actions will be studied to determine those, or 
combinations thereof, which best meet the following objectives: 
reduction of flood damages to the UDPR Basin; protection and 
enhancement of natural, cultural and ecological resources; mitigation 
of project-induced impacts on these resources; maintenance or 
enhancement of the social well-being of the community to the maximum 
extent possible; minimization of any adverse impacts to existing and 
future development plans for the UDPR Basin; and minimization of 
project impacts to surrounding communities.
    The DEIS is tentatively scheduled to be available for public review 
in April 1996.
Gregory D. Showalter,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 95-21324 Filed 8-28-95; 8:45 am]
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