ronk Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 I attended a meeting yesterday sponsored by Plainfield & Plainfield Township to deal with the high water & flooding problems that many homeowners have been enduring in the Plainfield & western Joliet areas. The meeting was very heavily attended by affected homeowners.The meeting was presided over by a high ranking Township officer& the deus consisted of a local water official,an IDNR rep,& even an Army Corps of Engineers rep along with a cupl Village officials. The water problem is twofold.The 1st as could be expected is the surface flooding of homes near the Dupage R. and any of its tributary creeks primarily Lily Cache Creek that has threatened ever since several years of below normal precipitation was followed by way above normal amounts beginning in Summer'07 up to the present.The more perplexing,insidious,& widespread problem affecting many more homeowners (including me) is the steady increase in groundwater levels that coincided with and apparently resulted from the manic unbridled development of the area beginning in th 90's & only now mercifully tempered by the real estate crash. (It is indeed an ill wind that blows no good.)With groundwater levels remaining persistently high irrespective of rainfall amounts in all those years any significant rain would create abnormal threats for basement flooding for many homeowners thruout the area.With all the rain those threats have reached critical levels.While there was speculation on any connection it would seem that the groundwater problem exists independent of the river & would be just as bad or worse if the river wasn't in the area.While the vast majority of the homeowners attending were victims of the groundwater problem those most vocal were those suffering along the river.There were calls to have the river dammed & dredged etc.The officials on the deus promised to investigate in an effort to come up with solutions to both problems.While hopefully in this more enlightened era significant alteration(degradation) of the river will not be permitted an ear had better be kept to the track re this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thought I'd put this in the general discussion forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim J Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thanks for attending and the information. There would be a huge outcry if there was any serious discussion about dredging or damning that river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Ron I'm truly sorry for you and anyone else that has to deal with loss due to water damage. I have experienced loss but not in that genre. However this is really a pet peeve of mine. Neither the river nor the high ground water are to blame. What is to blame is that somebody thought it would be a good idea to build right next to the river. What is to blame is somebody thought it would be a good idea not to leave a flood plain or buffer zone. What is to blame is somebody thought it would be a good idea to build a room underground and expect it to stay dry. What is to blame is our (or the powers in charge) general attitude that we/they can control and shape this planet with no regard for the consequences and no forward thinking. The really sad part is they keep making the same mistakes over and over again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 And to add insult to injury I was just reading that they found zebra mussels in Deep Quarry Lake. They are supposed to set up mussel monitoring stations on the west branch. I guess its only a matter of time before I'm cursing cause I lost another fish due to frayed line from all the mussels... Probably a good idea not to river hop any more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 One thing that came out in the meeting that I forgot to mention in my post is that the river gauge in Shorewood will not be discontinued. Public funding to continue it is in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredmo Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 One thing that came out in the meeting that I forgot to mention in my post is that the river gauge in Shorewood will not be discontinued. Public funding to continue it is in place. At least one good thing came out at the meeting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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