LAKE COUNTY, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is highlighting $11 million in federal funding flowing to the Des Plaines River in Northern Cook and Lake County in the form of restoration work to address flooding problems.
This project, in partnership with Lake County Forest Preserve is the first part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Chicago District's broader Upper Des Plaines River Project that will address ecosystem restoration and mitigate flooding along 67 miles of the river in both Lake and Cook Counties.
“For decades, increased urban and agricultural development changed the natural habitat and hydrology along the Upper Des Plaines River,” said Durbin.
“These changes have had significant detrimental impacts on the flow of water and the strength and diversity of the ecosystems in the watershed, severely impacting neighborhoods in the region. With the help of the federal funding I secured for this project, we’ll be able to restore our ecosystems and protect our communities from flooding at the same time.”
The funding will allow the Corps and the Lake County Forest Preserve to restore Pollack Lake and Hastings Creek Wetlands, a 421-acre site that has been modified from its natural condition to support agricultural use of the land.
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