that a viewing gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees.
All individuals and their belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
1. When entering or exiting the gallery.
2. When providing public comment during the portion of a meeting, set aside for that purpose.
Or, 3. When asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior or speech,
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms may lead to a breach of the peace
or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances,
are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms,
such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the sergeant at arms,
is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to,
1. Any pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
2. Banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
3. Food and beverages, including in glass or metal canisters.
4. Backpacks, large bags, and sealed packages.
Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12,
are permitted and subject to search.
And 5. Firearms, ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns, tasers,
mace pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a manner
that does not interfere with the ability other individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting by the sergeant at arms.
City of Chicago, City Council, Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings, 2023-2027
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of Order and Procedure,
the sergeant at arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times,
that a viewing gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees.
All individuals and their belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
1. When entering or exiting the gallery.
2. When providing public comment during the portion of a meeting, set aside for that purpose.
Or 3. When asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
3. Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior, or speech,
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair, or the sergeant at arms,
may lead to a breach of the peace, or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
4. Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item,
whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances,
are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair, or the sergeant at arms,
such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
5. Any item that poses a potential safety hazards,
as determined by the sergeant at arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to,
1. Any pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
2. Banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
3. Food and beverages, including in glass or metal canisters.
4. Backpacks, large bags, and sealed packages.
Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12,
are permitted and subject to search.
And 5. Firearms, ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a manner,
that does not interfere with the ability other individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules will be subject to removal
from the remainder of the meeting by the sergeant at arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings, 2023-2027
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of Order and Procedure,
the sergeant-at-arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing gallery or room
is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees.
All individuals and their belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except
1. When entering or exiting the gallery
2. When providing public comment during the portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose
or 3. When asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council
3. Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior or speech
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant-at-arms may lead to a breach of the peace
or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting is not permitted.
4. Disruptive or distracting actions such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item,
whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair
or the sergeant-at-arms, such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the sergeant-at-arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to
1. Any pointed objects, including knives of any kind
2. Banners, flyers, or other forms of signage
3. Food and beverages, including in glass or metal canisters
4. Backpacks, large bags, and sealed packages
Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12, are permitted and subject to search
5. Firearms, ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper spray, and toy weapons
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode
Can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere with the ability
other individuals to view or hear the proceedings
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules will be subject to removal
from the remainder of the meeting by the sergeant-at-arms
City of Chicago, City Council, Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings, 2023-2027
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of Order and Procedure
The sergeant-at-arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for members of the public
These rules shall be in effect at all times
that a viewing gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees
All individuals and their belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request
Individuals must remain seated at all times except
1. when entering or exiting the gallery
2. when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose
Or 3. when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior or speech
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant-at-arms may lead to a breach of the peace
or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting is not permitted
Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances
are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant-at-arms
such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the sergeant-at-arms, is prohibited in the gallery
Such items include, but are not limited to
1. any pointed objects, including knives of any kind
2. banners, flyers, or other forms of
signage. 3. Food and beverages, including in glass or metal canisters. 4. Backpacks,
large bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not exceed 12 inches by
6 inches by 12, are permitted and subject to search. And 5. Firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other
small handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere with the ability other individuals to
view or hear the proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules will be subject
to removal from the remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant-at-Arms. City of Chicago City Council
Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings 2023-2027 Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council
Rules of Order and Procedure, the Sergeant-at-Arms sets forth the following rules of conduct for
members of the public. These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing gallery or room
is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request. Individuals must remain seated at all times
except 1. when entering or exiting the gallery, 2. when providing public comment during the portion of
a meeting set aside for that purpose, or 3. when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the
City Council. Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior, or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant-at-Arms may lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the
orderly conduct of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the
stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud
utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant-at-Arms,
such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting. Any item that poses a
potential safety hazards, as determined by the Sergeant-at-Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, 1. any pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
2. banners, flyers, or other forms of signage. 3. food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. 4. backpacks, large bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do not
exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12, are permitted and subject to search. And 5. Firearms, ammunition,
fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other
small handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated, and can
only be used in a manner that does not interfere with the ability other individuals to view or hear
the proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules will be subject to removal
from the remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant-at-Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings 2023-2027
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of Order and Procedure, the Sergeant-at-Arms
sets forth the following rules of conduct for members of the public. These rules shall be in effect at all
times that a viewing gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or any of its committees.
All individuals and their belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request. Individuals
must remain seated at all times except 1. when entering or exiting the gallery, 2. when providing
public comment during the portion of a meeting set aside for that purpose, or 3. when asked to rise
and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council. Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or
defamatory behavior, or speech, which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant-at-Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any
item, whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances, are not permitted when in the judgment
of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant-at-Arms, such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly
conduct of the meeting. Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant-at-Arms, is prohibited in the gallery? Such items include, but are not limited to,
1. Any point?
Good morning, everybody. The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy will now
come to order. I want to wish everybody a happy September 1st, and back to council chambers for
all my colleagues. I will begin with a roll call to establish quorum. We will be covering two agenda
items today. One is an ordinance, including data centers and Chicago's benchmarking requirements,
and we'll also have a subject matter hearing focused on urban flooding. With the roll call,
Chair Hatton is present. Vice Chair Knudsen, Alder Laspata, Alder Ramirez, Alder Lopez,
Alder Cruz, Alder Rodriguez-Sanchez, Alder Conway, Alder Riley, Alder Lawson, Alder Clay, Alder Martin,
Alder Manal Hoppenworth. With nine members present, we have a quorum,
and we are working on getting our virtual link set up. We do have a Rule 59 request that came
in a little bit later, and we will come back to that when it is ready. All right. Do we have
any non-members present? No? All right. At this time, we're going to begin public comment. Public
comment is limited to 30 minutes, and out of respect for everyone's time, each speaker is limited to
three minutes. We're going to start. Mr. Blakemore, are you ready to start us off?
Mr. Edison, we're at this environmental environment. It affects your whole life, and pollution, water
reclamation plays a key role in having a good and clean environment. And that agency is a very rich
agency. And the president of that is Carrie Steele. She's unqualified. She's not competent.
So much fraud and waste and abuse happens at water reclamation. You know, some people don't know
about the main function of water reclamation. I've been attending these meetings for over 30 years
or more. Mr. O'Brien was one of the plexus name that gave me a book, The Power of One. The power of
One Star can light up the door. So I don't want to be profane. The doo-doo hits the fan when it comes to the
water reclamation. That's very important. That's agency. Water reclamation. So it's getting time for political
change. What you can do is vote them all out. And someone new will come in and innovate and make this system work. Water
reclamation as it should. It's so much waste, fraud, and abuse at this particular agency. And the general public, they don't know
about water reclamation. It's to maintain water and high flood and everything. It's millions of dollars. Now, I urge all of you, all of you to attend
these meetings at water reclamation. It's very important, the flooding that's going on in these various
communities because of incompetent leadership. This lady and the others, they need to vote them all out. Every one of them
out. I'm very astute with public policy and government. I attend many meetings and I connect.
The dots, water reclamation, waste, fraud, and abuse at this agency.
And you must stay focused on water reclamation.
And thank you, and have a blessed day and a better tomorrow.
And don't forget, water reclamation is very, very important, and they have very poor leadership.
No leadership is waste and fraud and abuse at water reclamation.
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore.
Before we continue with our public speakers, I want to recognize Alder Tabaris and Clay for purposes of quorum.
Great to see you, ladies.
Also, we have that Rule 59 request from Alder Sigcho Lopez.
Per Rule 59, could I have a motion to approve Alder Sigcho Lopez's remote participation now that we have established a quorum?
So move from Alder Clay.
All those in favor, say aye.
All opposed, say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
And Alder Sigcho Lopez, are you with us?
Yes, Madam Chair.
All right.
We will mark you present, and thank you.
And Alder Martin is also present for a quorum.
I'm so proud of our committee continuing in our attendance record of being pretty good.
So thanks, guys.
All right.
We're going to move on with public comments.
I've got Brashaun Reddick.
Brashaun Reddick.
Good morning, Chair Haddon, committee members, guests.
My name is Brashaun Reddick.
I'm a Chicago native born on the far south side in the birthplace of the modern environmental justice movement, Alt-Gale Gardens.
I walk the same flooded streets as Hazel M. Johnson herself.
I have lived through and witnessed personally the damage and toll chronic flooding has on a person's psyche, health, pockets, and sense of stability.
I've dedicated my career to caring for the environment, which includes project managing the Flooding and Sewage Coalition, a diverse group of community organizers, advocates, organizations, and agency partners working across Chicagoland on community-led solutions to urban flooding, sewage backups, and stormwater.
Flooding is not a new problem and has only gotten more urgent.
For decades, with raw sewage in basements, dangerous flooding in the streets, and stagnant water in yards, this summer alone, we've experienced back-to-back storms that have resulted in unprecedented damage.
The city's own 2026 green infrastructure strategy says these impacts are disproportionately felt by black and brown communities on Chicago's west side, where environmental burdens and decades of underinvestment have made it harder to recover from these storms.
Insurance data backs this up.
Nearly 90% of flood damage claims were made in black and brown Chicago neighborhoods at a cost of more than $400 million over 10 years.
The Flooding and Sewage Coalition has spent the past year talking with community members in flood-impacted neighborhoods, and here's what we've heard.
More than half have had their health impacted by flooding.
More than a third said that they suffered financial impacts.
Their stories speak for themselves.
In Belmont-Cragan, a community member shared that the landlord did nothing to fix the water in the garden department.
In fact, they threatened to call ICE.
Currently, no single agency is tasked with supporting flood victims, and residents are falling between the cracks.
As one resident on the south side said, FEMA is telling people to use their insurance.
Meanwhile, insurance is telling people to use FEMA.
Insurance doesn't cover much, and if anything, and so we end up with nothing.
The good news is that community members know what solutions they want.
Home flood protection programs, green infrastructure, sewer improvements, and accessible flood education.
That's why the Flooding and Sewage Coalition would like to continue to collaborate with the city to ensure the proposed urban flooding and climate resiliency task force results in a community-informed change.
By including the voices of impacted residents in the task force itself, Chicago can make meaningful progress on flood prevention through green infrastructure, sewer system improvements, and protecting the health and livelihood of our neighborhoods.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Our next speaker is Miriam Savad.
Good morning.
Thank you, Chair Haddon and fellow alders of the committee for holding today's hearing on the urgent and widespread issue of urban flooding in Chicago.
I'm Miriam Savad with Center for Neighborhood Technology, or CNT.
We're a Chicago-based nonprofit.
We've worked on urban flooding since 2009.
We are an active member of the Flooding and Sewage Coalition, as Brashan mentioned, and we strongly support and echo the coalition's comments and recommendations.
I want to add one central point.
That Chicago must move from reacting to flooding towards systematically identifying vulnerability and investing before disaster occurs.
Rainfall is becoming more intense.
Decades of infrastructure disinvestment have left many south and west side neighborhoods particularly vulnerable, particularly since the gravity-fed sewer system flows south and west.
The consequences extend far beyond the water itself.
Flooding damages homes, vehicles, creates mold and health risks, increases insurance burdens, threatens generational wealth, and can leave families recovering financially and emotionally for years.
CNT and our partners are working to better understand where these risks are greatest.
Through the coalition, we're developing the Flooding and Sewage Vulnerability Index, which is identifying communities experiencing overlapping environmental and socioeconomic burdens.
We're also working with Verizon and HiFi on a flood sensor pilot, which is measuring water levels in streets, sewers, and waterways,
and helps us better understand flooding alongside the data collected from 3-1-1 and resident experiences.
We're also asking for the city to take three specific actions.
First, use vulnerability to guide infrastructure investment.
The Vulnerability Index should help inform the city's capital improvement plan and implementation of the green stormwater infrastructure strategy
so that resources are directed to communities that are facing the greatest risks and deepest history of underinvestment.
Second, strengthen coordination across government and work directly with impacted communities.
Flooding does not follow jurisdictional boundaries.
The city, MWRD, Cook County, the state, and other agencies need formal mechanisms for sharing data,
coordinating investments, and implementing solutions to this growing problem.
The development of government solutions must come from collaboration with impacted communities.
Number three, build a comprehensive system of prevention and recovery.
Chicagoans need infrastructure maintenance and mitigation, but they also need early warning systems,
home-level improvements, and public health and recovery support after flooding occurs.
CNT welcomes continued partnership with the Department of Water Management to evaluate flood sensor data
and explore how these tools can strengthen that system.
Chicago can't prevent every storm, but we can make deliberate choices about who's protected,
where we invest, and whether residents are forced to recover from the same preventable damage again and again.
We urge the city to make vulnerability, coordination, and prevention central to its flooding strategy.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Our next speaker is Tessa Murray.
Good morning, Chairwoman Haddon and members of the committee.
My name is Tessa Murray, and I am with Friends of Chicago River.
We are an environmental nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the Chicago Calumet River System for all people, water, and wildlife.
First, I want to just echo and uplift all that my partners at the Flooding and Sewage Coalition,
the points they just made, are very important.
I'm here today to emphasize the urgent need for Chicago to make green stormwater infrastructure a core part of how we address flooding and water pollution.
For decades, Chicago has relied on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's deep tunnel system to capture stormwater and sewage during heavy rain.
With more than 11 billion gallons of storage capacity and 110 miles of tunnels, it truly is extraordinary infrastructure,
and I see a lot of our leadership at MWD is here today and thank them for their coordination.
But deep tunnel is not enough.
Climate change is bringing more frequent and intense storms, and we cannot solve this problem with larger pipes and reservoirs alone.
This summer, we have seen deep tunnel fill to the brim, and there have been more than 90 overflows from city-owned outfalls into the river system.
That's twice as many as the past three years.
So that's stormwater and wastewater, sewage entering our river system 90 times this summer.
Chicago needs another reservoir, and that reservoir can be the landscape itself.
Green stormwater infrastructure captures rain where it falls, keeping it out of the sewer system.
Across thousands of acres of streets, parkways, vacant lots, parks, and other spaces,
these investments can collectively create meaningful additional stormwater capacity.
And unlike gray infrastructure, these investments do more than that.
manage water. Communities most vulnerable to flooding often face multiple overlapping climate
burdens, including extreme heat and poor air quality. Nature-based solutions allow a single
public investment to tackle these challenges at once, reducing flooding and sewer overflows
while cooling neighborhoods, improving air quality, expanding access to nature, and more.
Friends supports the city's new green infrastructure strategy and its commitment to treat green
infrastructure as essential public infrastructure. But I want to remind you this strategy is not
simply aspirational. It's legally required of the city under the city's National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit pursuant to the Clean Water Act. That permit requires measurable goals
and outcomes to reduce combined sewer overflows while prioritizing sensitive areas and environmental
justice communities. So we urge the city to tackle flooding as a public health crisis it is, embrace
the landscape as infrastructure, and fully implement the requirements of Chicago's Clean Water Act
permit. Thank you. Thank you so much. And to wrap up our public comment section, we have Princess Shaw.
Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Alderwoman Hatton. Good morning, Mr. Lopez and a few others
that are here, Alderman. I just want to take the time out because some of your areas are flooding.
I've been coming down here for three years now speaking to this specific point. And what I found
a lot of the time is, is that we have a lot of shaming of the residents of the community that are
flooding when you all know that these infrastructures and these problems have been going on for quite some
time. And what I'm down here to speak upon, as you've already heard before me, there is a problem.
And what I continuously hear from the Water Department is a few others is that this is a very huge feat
that we need to try to overcome. But what I will say is, is that we need as the community,
as I've been coming down for three years, be taken seriously. And what I mean by that is actually
having a conversation with us. I will say President Steele was nice enough to take time out of her day
to sit down with myself as well as the coalition to actually talk through some of these concerns.
But when you have residents in your actual wards that are experiencing this flooding and the only
answer that you have for them is to call 311 and those resources are not there. And what I mean by
that is a lot of these 311 reports and calls are being closed out as satisfactory and completed.
But where does the person go? Once you get their data, once you get their information,
and then you send it to the state in order to then be sent up for a potential federal disaster
declaration from your president, what happens then? So Alderman Lopez, I want to make sure that
I have a conversation sidebar with you at some point, because I have been trying to reach you
in your office through MARC for at least the last six months. So I really appreciate it because I've
been getting several calls to the west side, and I don't know the actual resources on the south side.
So I would love to be able to sit down and have a conversation with you about that. And to the other
Aldermans who your areas have also been flooding on the south side, I implore you to please get on board
with the task force that is being introduced later on this month in order to try to make some real change
and actually have real conversations with OEMC, with the Department of Water, with the Department
of Environment, because we know it's not happening. Because the conversations we have is saying that
it's really hard to reach out to some of you, and that you guys are very unknowledgeable about some
of these areas. So what we're asking you, as you've seen before me today, let's have to sit down and have
a realistic conversation with the knowledgeable people that can bring you the data that's needed
in order to make sure the city can be the greatest city in the world. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The task force that Ms. Shaw mentioned, some legislation was introduced by
Alderman Mosley in July. So if folks are interested, if you didn't get to speak with Alder Mosley about
it before, he's the lead sponsor on that. All right. Our public comment period has concluded. We had four
written public comments that were submitted, and those have been sent out to committee members via
email. Our first order of business is our Rule 45 report from July 13, 2026, which was sent out to
the committee via email as well. Could I have a motion to approve the Rule 45 report from July?
Alderman Hoppenworth, so moves. All those in favor, say aye. Any opposed? In the opinion of the chair,
the ayes have it. Our first item is a substitute ordinance SO 2026-0027165, the amendment of Municipal
Code Sections 18-14-101.3 and 18-14-101.4 regarding covered buildings and related public availability of
water usage data and Section 18-14-102.3, removing data center exemption from benchmarks and performance
ratings made public by the Chief Sustainability Officer. Last Thursday, members were emailed a copy
of the substitute language. It's also available on the City Clerk's website, and a printed copy is
included in your committee packets today. The substitute includes three main changes from the original
ordinance. The first is an update to the definition of covered building in 18-14-101.3.
The change no longer requires changes to the groups listed in the definition, which would have
required updates to the International Building Code and the Municipal Building Code. The substitute
ordinance updates the definition to ensure that data centers are included as covered buildings under the
benchmarking ordinance. Off script, I'll say this was the intention. We just found a better way to do it without
having to change every single thing. The second update is to Section 18-14-101.4 regarding the water usage
reporting for data centers. As currently written, the benchmarking ordinance's water usage reporting requirements
were optional, leaving buildings to decide whether to report their water usage. The changes that we are
proposing in the substitute to the ordinance will allow the Chief Sustainability Officer to mandate data
centers' water usage reporting through the rulemaking process. Again, the intention in digging into what we had in
existence, we had to make sure that the intention was met. And the third change is to Section 18-14-102.3,
which will no longer exempt data centers from the disclosure and publication provisions in the
benchmarking ordinance. May I have a motion to accept the substitute ordinance for consideration by the
committee? So moved by Alder La Spada. All those in favor, say aye. Any opposed? In the opinion of the Chair,
the ayes have it, and the substitute ordinance is accepted and now before the committee.
In July, our committee held a subject matter hearing on the Department of Environment's findings
in the Sustainable Data Center reports. One of the recommendations in the report was to include
data centers in the city's benchmarking requirements so that we could collect this important data on energy
use and water use. There were many recommendations in the report. It was a fantastic, I think, panel. I learned a lot.
I hope you all learned a lot. And with so many resident concerns and a lot of discussion around what we're doing
with data centers, I felt it was really important to take an action. And this ordinance that's before us is representative of
the information that the department gave us. They said, hey, you guys could do this, like, right now.
And so we did. And many of you here signed on as co-sponsors, and I appreciate that.
It's not often that we have the opportunity to take immediate action on something that's going to move us forward
in a positive direction. And this ordinance will allow us to collect important data that will help us
find, I think, grounding and facts in what is a very hotly debated topic right now.
This ordinance is not going to regulate how data centers are operating.
It's not going to regulate whether they're allowed or not.
It's just going to require them to turn over important data to the city.
As you're aware, Mayor Johnson issued executive order number 2026-5 last month,
which will establish the Interdepartmental Data Center Environment and Community Protection Task Force.
The information that we collect as a city on data centers, water, and energy usage will help inform
the task force and this body as we determine what the regulatory framework for our city should be
to meet the needs of this new generation of data centers.
So joining us today to answer any questions from committee members is Joe Arcus from the Department
of Environment. He oversees enforcement of our benchmarking requirements and helped draft the
substitute language. I want to thank you for that, Joe. With that, I'll just open it up for questions.
I see Alder Conway and then Alder Lopez.
My question would be, I think it's great that the ordinance seems to give us a pathway to disclose
this water usage of data centers to the public, but the questions I have in terms of the drafting,
I think specifically under 18-14-101.
dot four are, you know, in two places it says the chief sustainability officer may make such
water usage data public as provided in this subsection. The question I would ask is why are
we giving the administration the discretion to be able to hide this information from the public?
If we're trying to do something transparency, why are we putting the discretion specifically
in the lap of the chief sustainability officer as opposed to this body or simply saying that they
shall make that water usage public? Thank you for the question. Joe, I'm going to turn it to you.
Yeah, thank you for that question, Alder. So I believe that the May in this section is actually
amending the select certain covered buildings. Again, our intent for this ordinance is to allow
the chief sustainability officer to identify buildings that are already identified by the
public interest by our stakeholders and community members who are concerned about their water usage
that would include data centers. So in our original intent of this, the May was to amend select
certain covered buildings instead of the make what make public the water usage data. If we were to collect
that water usage data from the commissioner of water management, then we would intend to make public
that data. And Joe, would you say that it's fair to say that this change cleaned up language that
that select buildings piece, that the intention here is very similar? So the prior language that we would
be substituting with the word may is giving the flexibility that was originally intended in the initial
drafting, but cleaning that up while still allowing for the chief sustainability officer to determine
through rulemaking and not through ordinance where we need to collect water usage, because it's not
necessarily for every industry. Yeah, that is correct, Chair. Yeah, I mean, I would I would I would merely say
that I know there is no doubt that this ordinance is superior to what exists before it. But I don't think
that we should give the discretion to the administration really under any circumstances to to have the
administration decide whether this this information should be public at all. Now, I'm happy that this is this
ordinance is allowing a pathway to make the make the make that information available to the public. But I think it
should be I think the public would like to know that it was certainly news to me that the average data center I
think in the materials provided uses 330,000 gallons of water a day, and it can be up to 5 million gallons of
water a day. So I think having that information before the public would be a good thing. And I don't mean any
dispersion to you all like it's, you know, but obviously, the leadership can change in the city and
administrations can change in the city. And I think it's something that we want the I think we want
the public to to be aware of. So I'm certainly going to support it because it's a better situation
than it was and making a drafting change at this late hour, I know it'd be a difficult thing. But I
hope that the administration will lean towards making this information public. Presumably, you will
because you wouldn't push for this for this bit of legislation. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Thank you for
that, Elder Conway. And I think one of one of the lines we're walking here was
not trying to completely revise our benchmarking standards, because the language we're revising doesn't just
apply to data centers, right? It applies to everything else that was included in our benchmarking standards. And so
trying to work within the space of, we're just making sure we can include data centers and make the right
amendments to the code to make that possible without necessarily reopening the whole can of worms, if that
makes sense. I appreciate that. I actually thought the response was going to be that May is there because
of some legal requirement or something. But I, I appreciate that answer. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Alder Lopez. Thank you, Chairman. And good morning, members of the committee. How many
covered buildings are currently in existence in the city of Chicago? There are approximately 3,800
covered buildings. And of those 3,800 buildings, how many do we see water usage information transmitted to
the chief sustainability officer? We have not, as of this reporting year, requested any water usage
information. And I'm sorry, you are with which department? Sorry, excuse me, Joe Arcus, project
manager with the Department of Environment. So the Department of Water Management, which may
transmit, regardless if you ask for it, has not provided any information to your department?
There may have been information provided to the department during the data centers. I'm not asking
about data centers, sir. I'm asking about covered buildings, which is part of the current law,
correct? Correct. So per the current law of those 3,800 covered properties, how many has the Department
of Water Management provided water usage information to your department? They have not provided any.
Last year, how many buildings were provided information to your department?
Regarding water disclosure, they do not provide any. So to my colleague's point about may or shall,
may means they can, they could, but yet they have not. And now we are to sit here and see that
maybe they will. I think, Chairman, based on what we just heard, it is clear that the very first line
of Section B of 18-14-101.4, solicitation of compliance information and water usage data,
the Commissioner of Water Management may transmit. That needs to be amended.
Immediately. Because clearly the intent, as my colleague started with, is not being lived up to.
Yes, they may provide us information, but they're not. The water department is silent.
Further, you just stated that the department's not even asking. So we're going to single out one
industry, one building out of 3,800 to ask their water usage while ignoring the other 3,800 covered
buildings in the city of Chicago? That, sir, is ridiculous. So Chairman, I would move to amend this
substitute on its face, striking the word may after water management and replacing it with the word
shall transmit water usage information. So that it reads, the Commissioner of Water Management
Water Management shall transmit water usage information for covered buildings to the Chief
Sustainability Officer. Let all of the other mays, maybe they don't want it, maybe they can come up
with something, let that stand. But one needs to talk to the next, because we shouldn't be in a position
wondering why our departments are working in silos, especially on something that should be so readily
available to the public. Thank you, Alder Lopez. I'm open to this, and I'm wondering if folks want
to have some discussion on this change. So there's a motion to make this amendment, not to change all
the mays, but the shall, specifically to the effect, and clarify for me if I'm off Alder Lopez, to the effect
of requiring the Commissioner for the Department of Water Management to transmit the water usage data
for all covered buildings every year, regardless of whether it's requested. Is that the intent, sir?
Yes.
Discussion. Alder Martin.
I'm open to that as well. I was wondering if a representative from the department could
weigh in just around feasibility, because if we're going to direct them, we want to make sure
that they have the resources and processes to ensure it happens timely and successfully.
Thank you. We do have representatives of the department in the box. If you would introduce
yourself and weigh in for us.
So Brendan Shriver, Deputy Commissioner over sewer engineering, which I think is a critical component
to this discussion, that I won't be able to speak to the resources needed for such a requirement
on the water side.
All right. Alder Martin, please continue.
My one point about that, and I can appreciate that we're kind of springing this on you last minute,
is that.
If it would be the preference of you, Chair, and the members of the committee here to move forward with that addition, I would be open to that.
And perhaps between this hearing and full city council, we could continue engaging the department and potentially if there are modifications that would be needed shortly before city council, perhaps that's something that committee members would be open to.
Just putting that out as an option. That's it.
Okay. Oh, point of order from Alder Conway.
Yeah, I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page here.
So the amendment would be to strike the first May in subsection B and replace it with the shall.
So it would be reflecting the Commissioner of Water Management, shall transmit water usage information for coverability to the Chief Sustainability Officer.
We are not changing the subsequent Mays among the Chief Sustainability Officer.
Correct.
I just want to make sure that's the amendment.
Yeah, and as a point of order, I'll read it into the record.
That way, once we come to a decision point, we can clarify.
So there's a motion to amend Section B of 18-14-101-4, the solicitation of compliance information and water usage data.
Exactly.
Exactly.
We're excited.
We're excited.
With the following language.
So under subsection B, the Commissioner of Water Management, we would look to strike may and to insert shall transmit water usage information for covered buildings to the Chief Sustainability Officer.
The Chief Sustainability Officer may, pursuant to rules, select certain covered buildings and make public the water usage data of such covered buildings.
The owner of any such covered building may submit a request to the Chief Sustainability Officer in a form and manner provided by rule that the building's water usage data not be made public, establishing any of the grounds specified in Section 18-14-102.1, subsection C, subsection I, subsection C, subsections III, or subsection C, subsection IV.
Therefore, if the Chief Sustainability Officer denies such request, the Chief Sustainability Officer may make such water usage data public as provided in this subsection.
Yes.
Okay.
Alder Laspata.
I would just say that the data is kind of fascinating because we had reached out to DWM for kind of the aggregated data on this from Michael Griot with the Bureau of Water Supply.
And while about 290,000, the majority of Chicagoans use 2,000 gallons of water annually, there's 910 accounts that used over 1 million gallons of water annually in the city of Chicago.
And even the idea that there's folks or entities out there using 500 times the water of the rest of us, I think that's interesting information to not only know in aggregate, but to have a clearer sense of who those properties are.
Thank you, Chair.
Alder Lopes.
Sorry, Chairman.
Are we voting on the motion?
I was allowing, actually, some debate and discussion around the proposed motion, so I'm not just going on to other questions.
I actually just wanted to know what committee members thought about the proposed motion and wanted to offer them some opportunity for a question and consideration before we vote.
Because I would like to resume my –
Okay.
We'll come back to you.
Alder Lawson.
Thank you, Chair.
My questions are more general, but they speak to my feeling of the motion, so I'll ask them.
Just 3,800 covered buildings, would you give us a rundown of what type of buildings we're talking about for the discussion?
Yeah.
The covered buildings in the city of Chicago are defined under the definition of covered building.
And you'll notice that there's a series of exclusions related to the building code in Chapter 14.
What that leaves out is essentially covered buildings are large, residential, commercial, mixed-use, and institutional properties in the city of Chicago or buildings that are over 50,000 square feet.
So 50,000 square feet is the definition of large.
Correct.
And within the intended use.
And you said it includes all uses, residential, commercial, institutional, manufacturing.
It does not include industrial.
Okay.
And it does not include storage uses, which you'll see in the current definition where in the second sentence does not include any building,
where more than 10% of the floor area is classified as group A5, F, H, S, or U.
Those include industrial and storage uses.
Gotcha.
So we're talking about, you know, a grocery store or bigger, right?
Larger residential buildings, larger commercial operations, universities, hospitals.
Correct.
Not public facilities, though.
Public facilities do report.
I was, prior to my role with the Department of Environment, I was the Director of Sustainability with the City Colleges of Chicago.
I reported our benchmarking data.
And so city colleges have to report.
We have a number of CPS schools that report.
I believe it's, we have 595 public buildings that do report their data.
So that's helpful.
And so we have that data from these public buildings now.
We should have it from maybe more private buildings that are large users.
I think that helps on the point.
Let me just ask, too, you know, when I pay a water bill, it's based on water in and water out.
Because assuming it's the same amount, are we doing the same with this type of user?
Obviously, hospitals probably are similar to my home, just in volume different.
But data center, are they putting as much out as coming in, or is some of that going to evaporation?
And maybe I'm ahead of myself.
I'll say, I'm going to hold that question until we move on from this motion,
because I want to give our friends from the Department of Water Management an opportunity to answer that directly.
I'll hold my last question.
We'll hold that last question.
Great.
Thank you, Chair.
Okay.
Any more discussion on the motion on the floor?
All right.
So we're going to renew that motion to strike and insert the language as I read earlier,
and I won't read again.
All in favor of the motion?
Any opposed?
All right.
In the opinion of the Chair, the motion passes.
Thank you, Alder Lopez, and we'll come back to you.
As long as you don't have any more motions.
Well, Chairman, I actually do.
Because I think to our colleague from the first ward's point, information is key, right?
And I think we should not have to have hearings or do FOIAs or try to do email chains to try to get information for this body, for city council.
So in that very same sentence that we just amended, I would also like to add and city council after the chief sustainability officer.
Because we should all be getting that information as well on an annual basis.
If we are going to treat water as a limited resource worth protecting, we should all know what we're protecting and who are the users of it.
So we'd be looking at 18-14-101.4, the Solicitation of Compliance Information and Water Usage Data, subsection B.
The Commissioner of Water Management shall transmit water usage information for covered buildings to the chief sustainability officer.
We would insert the Commissioner of Water Management shall transmit water usage information for covered buildings to the Chicago City Council.
And the chief sustainability officer.
I was adding a new sentence. Do you want to just add an and, a little clause?
We could debate this a little bit more. I think I have questions of whether it's wholly necessary.
Obviously, if we put it in ordinance, we can require it.
So, again, I'll kind of, I'll open it up to the committee for folks' feelings on this.
I know Alder Conway mentioned earlier, sometimes we like to put things in our code as council, of course,
make sure things happen, no matter who's in the role or who's the administration is.
So I understand the desire for this.
I'll say I feel that we do have the power already in city council to compel this information to be shared with us.
But we'll open the floor for debate on this motion and Alder La Spada.
May I just ask, thank you, Chair.
May I just ask, as all of the rest of the information that generally goes into the energy benchmarking ordinance,
currently, like you can go today on the Chicago data portal, all of that information is there.
By ordinance, there's also supposed to be an annual benchmarking ordinance that comes out from the city.
So the data would be there for any Alder person who wants to look at it.
Would the water usage, as we're requiring to be reported, also find its way into those data sets and or the annual report?
Yes. Again, Joe Arcus, Project Manager, Department of Environment. The water usage would be included in that annual data set that is published as an open source data set on data.chicago.gov, and it would be included in the annual report for our analysis and discussion.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
Alder Lopez, here's a question. Oh, and then we've got a piece, some of our experts in the box want to speak. A question, because I'm following your logic and, you know, tend to see some real benefit to maybe something more formal.
What, instead of making further amendments here, because, again, I don't want to, I think it's unnecessary, but I could see a benefit in maybe us working on something that requires, I know that this reporting happens annually, and to Alder Lopez Point, the Chief Sustainability Officer collects this information and we get this annual benchmarking.
But as we move into the space of having more questions about both our energy and water usage, perhaps there's something that we could work on to require an annual reporting to the committee, right?
That's fine.
Like, instead of trying to prescribe it directly in here for this, what about something that we could work on to have the Department of Environment and relevant departments through the Chief Sustainability Officer actually come and share some type of energy and water use reporting for the city, where they would take this data that they're collecting and whatever other data they're collecting around energy usage and bring it to the committee for city council.
That's fine.
Would that be amenable?
Well, okay.
All right.
Then I would draw my motion.
Okay.
Any other questions?
Not at this time.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you.
All right.
Next up.
We'll go back to, oh, you popped out.
Alder, what's the spot?
This will be hopefully very quick.
So I'm asking about, it's in the broader benchmarking ordinance, but I think it's pertinent to today.
18-14-102.3, letter E.
Upon receipt of an energy rating card, a covered building shall conspicuously post the energy rating card so that it is visible to the general public and to visitors prior to or upon entering the covered building.
I'm very curious because, like, these tend to be buildings with very large footprints, some of them without, and often for, like, good reason, access to the public.
Like, what do you, how does conspicuous posting look, do you think, where data centers are concerned?
I think I would have to refer to the Department of Law for their interpretation of conspicuous with the ordinance.
That's fine and fair.
Like, I think, topic for another day, but I have found it generally hard to find these energy rating cards on any of these buildings.
I worked at the AN Center for five years.
I couldn't have told you where that card was.
So, yeah, conversation for another day, but just curious.
Thank you, Chair.
Yeah, and that's maybe something we can take back with our Chief Sustainability Officer, Commissioner Tovar, to have a discussion,
because it sounds like maybe something that's just an update in the rulemaking, since it exists currently in the code already.
All right.
I know Alderman Lawson, maybe I'll renew Alderman Lawson's question.
Oh, and, of course, I'm so sorry, DPD.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Lindy Wardlaw, and I'm an Assistant Commissioner in the Department of Environment.
I think you've already addressed it, that we do have an annual report.
We'd be happy to look at ways for, you know, further doing a presentation after those reports are released,
and happy to discuss other issues with the benchmarking ordinance as well.
I'm so sorry.
I got distracted.
It's okay.
Thank you.
And same page.
All right.
Oh, Alderman Lawson.
Perfect.
You're up if you want to renew that question.
Oh, I apologize.
I had to step up.
It's okay.
I believe it was on kind of water rates.
Water in, water out.
Yeah.
How are large users billed for water usage?
And I'm wondering if our friends from the Department of Water Management can speak to how users are billed.
Is it water in, water out for data centers or other large buildings?
To my – so, Brendan Schreiber, Deputy Commissioner of Water Management, to my understanding of the ordinance and how we enforce it is that it is water in, water out.
There are a few exceptions to that.
So, to my knowledge, there is no exception for a large user.
Right.
Okay.
We assume that everything you're taking in is being discharged, as I see our friends from Water Rec just down from you, right?
It all goes into the same system.
What would be some of those exceptions, though?
Not a restaurant, not a data center, not an industrial user.
I guess if a location could demonstrate that they have no connection to the city sewer, that we would not have a sewer charge for them.
We have cases where on the outskirts of the city they may be connected to an out-of-town system.
Okay.
So, very, very limited cases then.
That was really it.
I had sort of another question on benchmarking, and we may have discussed this, but we're not including data centers for energy usage purposes, or are they – they're already –
Yes.
That's already included.
Yes.
Great.
That's all I have.
Thank you, Alder Lawson.
And I will mention, and this can be maybe the subject of a further future hearing, questions around water use and how we bill it.
I know Alder La Spada has been doing a lot of work – ha, ha, ha, ha, calling on you while you're talking.
Gotcha.
A lot of work on water usage, fairness, equity in the city.
And a lot of times we are dealing with constituents who are burdened by high water bills.
I know, and some of you might deal with this, I get a lot of calls from my commercial, especially small restaurant people on the water bills and the way sometimes they don't feel like their bill actually reflects their usage.
And I don't think there's an alder person here who hasn't had the opportunity for you or your staff to struggle with water billing.
For those in the public, while our Department of Water Management are fantastic and they're in charge of maintaining our system and getting water to people,
we use a private system for managing our water billing, which I think is something for us to look into.
So as we both think about rate structures, we have some, right, as a utility, there are regulations on how we are allowed to bill people, right?
We can't just bill some people more than others without some very fine causes.
And at the same time, the water billing experience is something that is crucial to our constituents and the end consumer.
And I personally am not a big fan of the way it's handled.
So if anybody's interested, we can work on that for the future.
All right.
All right.
With no further questions, I would ask, may I have a motion to recommend the approval of substitute ordinance 2026-0027,
one, six, five, as amended.
All right.
Alderoy and Rodriguez-Sanchez, so moves.
All those in favor, say aye.
Any opposed?
All right.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
And I'll report this vote as a recommendation to pass at the next city council meeting on September 23rd, 2026.
And I want to thank my colleagues for your support, for your engagement on this.
I know we've got more engagement to come as we talk about data center regulation.
But this was a really good first common sense step to get us the information that we're going to need in order to move forward.
So I appreciate you all.
All right.
We're going to move on to our second item.
Thank you, Joe.
You're out of the hot seat.
Our second item before the committee today is a subject matter hearing on urban flooding in Chicago.
Our city has experienced more precipitation than normal to date in 2026, with rainfall totaling 30.8 inches out of August 27th.
Chicago's average year to date total is approximately 26.17 inches.
So, again, our average year to date total is usually 26.17 inches, and we're already several inches above that.
The heavy rainfall has flooded streets, viaducts, and basements.
The reservoirs managed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District also nearly reached capacity this summer, as we saw in news reports and heard about earlier.
Increased precipitation, severe storms, and flooding are all consequences of climate change, and according to Chicago's Climate Action Plan, average rainfall could increase by up to 10 percent by 2069, placing strain on some of our city's outdated.
infrastructure meant to prevent flooding. We're seeing it in the news. It's not just here in
Chicago. Most of our systems are overburdened. They're still searching for people in the flash
flood in the Grand Canyon. And we saw the devastation and the human loss in Nepal
with the glacier fall creating flash flood conditions there. Here in the city of Chicago,
we're called Chicago because it's the indigenous word for stinky onion and this is marshland and
we're near a lake. There are a lot of environmental factors that existed before we got here that also
pose challenges for water management. So we want to thank the Department of Water Management,
the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the Department of Environment, the Department of
Transportation, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, and the Office of Budget
Management for joining us here today to discuss the city's existing stormwater management solutions
and to talk about how we're identifying long-term opportunities, including those outlined in the
Department of Environment's green infrastructure strategy. We've also asked departments to share
their insights into their role in emergency responses to heavy rainfalls and any updates that
are available on dissemination of past relief funds and pending requests for additional relief funds.
Ahead of today's meeting, we emailed the Green Infrastructure Strategy Report from the Department
of Environment to all of you. We've also shared the one-pager fact sheet on urban flooding and data
from the Department of Water Management on 311 calls reporting flood-related requests across the city.
Joining us from the Department of Water Management, we have Deputy Commissioner Brendan Schreiber.
We have President Kerry Steele with Dr. Catherine O'Connor and Kevin Fitzpatrick from the Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District. Joining us from the Department of Environment, we've got Deputy Commissioner Lindy
Woodlaw and Jackie Wrigley. And we have Sean Wydell and Matthew Crocker from the Department of Transportation,
Matthew Dowdy from the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, and Matthew Schmitz from the Office
of Budget Management. Following all their testimony, we'll of course have time for Q&A.
I know this is a lot of information. We really appreciate all of our panelists, departments,
and other representatives, President Steele, you and your body for being here, for working with our team
and setting this up. I know this won't be our last conversation, and it's not even our first.
But yeah, so please, I hope you reviewed the materials, take questions, and we'll spend time today getting all the answers.
I want to turn it over to our panelists, and we're going to start with our Deputy Commissioner Schreiber
from the Department of Water Management.
Thank you, Chairwoman Hatton. Thank you, members of the City Council. As mentioned, my name is Brendan Schreiber,
the Deputy Commissioner of Water Management over the sewer engineering section.
We'll go to the next slide.
So, water management, stormwater management in the City of Chicago is a collaborative effort.
It's not only DWM, but it takes a collaborative effort with partnerships that we have with not only sister departments,
but also sister agencies such as MWRD.
Like MWRD, we coordinate our Space to Grow program,
which is the green infrastructure program for the city's schoolyards.
We coordinate with them or partner with them on large infrastructure projects,
such as our wing storage projects, pilots that we have ongoing on the west side right now.
And we also collaborate with them on data sharing, among other things.
In addition, we coordinate with DOB with our stormwater regulations.
That's a very important part on the private side for the City of Chicago.
Through DOB, they perform the reviews of all private developments, 15,000 square feet or larger,
which can provide marked improvement over the existing developed property.
In addition, we coordinate with DOE.
We've been partnering with them on the green stormwater infrastructure strategy that they'll be giving more details on later in this presentation,
and then also with CDOT with their WPA street conversion projects and their green permeable alley program.
Next slide.
So today, I'm going to take you through a little bit of the history of the system.
My hope is that you'll have a better understanding of the sewer system itself, the constraints and challenges that it faces,
and then outline the things that we are doing to take the stepwise approach to improving stormwater infrastructure
and the storm and the urban flooding outcomes that we are challenged with all too often.
Next slide.
So our sewer system dates back to 1857.
Back in 1857, Ellis Chessborough is credited with developing the first integrated sewer system within the United States,
if not in the world as a whole.
And that's right here, right at the mouth of the Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.
So the concept then was they laid the sewer on the existing ground,
and then as we all may have known through the different stories and encyclopedias that the city was raised,
well, that was all part of the integrated sewer system.
So the sewer was laid on the ground, and the ground around it was built up.
The streets and sidewalks were built up, some cases up to 14 feet,
and then the adjacent buildings were then raised up to that new ground level.
The sewers that were constructed, they took all of the waste from the properties, from the homes, the businesses,
combined it all into the street with any of the stormwater runoff and flowed to the rivers, the river system.
And that was directly related to a public health crisis at that time,
which was the city was undergoing devastation from cholera and typhoid outbreaks.
As time and the city continued to develop, more was recognized needed to be done.
The river was flowing into the lake.
The lake was a source of our drinking water.
And ultimately, by 1890, the Sanitary District of Chicago, which is now MWRD,
was commissioned and began the work of reversing the flow of the Chicago River,
all in the name of protecting the drinking water supply.
We can go to the next slide.
Today, we still have the combined sewer system that was rooted in the 1850s.
Our drainage area has expanded greatly and vastly from the area surrounded the mouth of the Chicago River,
not far from here, to now more than 220 square miles of land area is drained primarily through our combined sewer system.
That has over 4,400 miles of sewer pipes that all essentially drain towards the river systems.
The sewers range in size from as small as 8 inches that may be in some valleys,
all the way up to 21 1⁄2 feet in diameter that you could drive a bus through comfortably.
All of this water is transmitted.
As I mentioned, it all transmits, flows towards the river system where it is picked up by MWRD interceptors
and taken to their facilities for treatment.
Next slide, please.
So what you're looking at today is the integrated – what you're looking at right now on the screen is the integrated system
that we have today.
The sewer – the city sewer is represented by the pinkish-hued sewer running towards the river.
As I mentioned, MWRD's infrastructure comes into play closest to the river system itself.
After the reversal of the Chicago River and the Calumet Rivers on the south side,
MWRD undertook the implementation of their wastewater treatment plants and the construction of their interceptors.
Their interceptors were then responsible for carrying all of what we call dry weather flow to the wastewater treatment plant.
That's the highly concentrated wastewater that's coming out of homes and businesses.
In the years that followed, there was a recognition that more needed to be done to control the pollutants
entering the aerial waterways, and then TARP was built.
So as you can see, only under the extreme conditions, when TARP is full, we still may have discharges into the river.
I know that was mentioned earlier in the public comment, and that is true.
We have had an increase, an uptick in the number of discharges this year as a result of the rain that we have seen.
But that is only occurring when TARP is unavailable.
Next slide. So this slide shows some of the, how do I put it, constraints that we face. As you can see by the solid color, the more important thing to take away from this is the solid red color is indicative of relatively constant gray.
So I know it was mentioned by Chairwoman Hennon about land in a swamp. That is what today's digital elevation model, this is an elevation model of the ground surfaces. And it supports that. That is something that our sewer system then is solely responsible for moving the water out of neighborhoods.
And we do move it out of the neighborhoods. 95% of the time or more, it is efficiently moved out of the neighborhoods, 99% of the time. It is extremely unfortunate that we have, that it leads to when we have the high intense rainstorms, the ability for the system to move the water gets challenged greatly.
It is only moved by the slopes of the pipe. The slopes of the pipe can only be so much in terms of being able to make grade because everything is controlled by something downstream, some downstream constraint.
Whether it's the river system elevation or some other sewer infrastructure that may have predated where we are today, we have downstream constraints that control our ability to slope the sewer pipes.
So just like rolling a ball downhill, if you have a steeper hill, the ball rolls faster. Same with the sewers. If you have steeper sewers, more water will move out of the pipes faster.
But nonetheless, the reliance at this, how it was constructed, the reliance is on the pipes.
And this is where things like green infrastructure, you can go to the next slide.
This is where things where green infrastructure and some other things that we're doing at water management come into play.
So there's two, there's essentially two types of complaints that we at water management track with respect to urban flooding.
We have the water on street complaints and the water in basement complaints.
With the water on street complaints, well, maybe I should start.
The water in basement complaints, there's essentially three ways water ends up in one's basement.
It can happen through damaged or clogged pipe, their private drain, that is.
Their drain coming out of their house could be damaged, clogged, something wrong with it from that.
They have their downspouts connected to their drain.
That can lead to backups in their basements.
The other way that it can end up in people's basements is through seepage, through their foundation cracks.
That's not so much something that we in the city can handle.
That's something that's more specific to the individual property.
And then the third way is what my department and my team focuses on greatly,
and that is the water in basement that ends up due to the surcharging of sewers.
That's indicative of when we see large clusters of water in basement complaints.
That is the likely result from surcharging of the sewers.
And what I mean by that is that water enters the system faster than it can move out of the particular area, the neighborhood, for example.
And when too much water is entering in, it ends up backing up.
The water ends up literally going the other way.
It's supposed to slope away and out of the house, and it ends up coming in.
So things that we're doing, like at water management, we tend to look at it as our system is extremely sensitive to the rate,
to the amount of water, not so much the total volume.
It's the rate, the amount of water entering over a certain amount of time.
And, again, this is where green infrastructure and other mechanisms come into play.
And one of the mechanisms that we utilize in force in our redoubling our efforts are the restrictor program.
So the restrictor program is purposely meant to hold the water temporarily on the street.
That leads to, yes, some of the other complaints, the other side of the complaints that I mentioned earlier,
which was water on street complaints, that can come from these restrictors.
But it can also come from clogged and debris-filled curb lines that don't allow the water to actually drain into the catch basin at all.
But the restrictors themselves are designed and meant to allow the drain, allow all of the water to eventually drain out.
But they're designed in a way that it restricts that flow and tries to reduce the clogging as a result as well.
The way I like to look at this is that the system being sensitive to rape, I try to tell this story,
and I hope I hit the points of it, is that it's kind of like leaving a parking lot after a concert or sporting event.
You have all those people getting into the cars all at the same time, all leaving the parking lot.
And my experience, I assume it's most others, is that that ends up, you end up backing up and feeling like you're not going anywhere.
It could be 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it is.
But you can see traffic moving, say, on Lakeshore Drive if you're at Soldier Field or Damon Avenue over by the United Center.
But you yourself aren't moving.
Anyway, that's essentially what's happening to our system, and that's what's causing backups.
Too many cars trying to leave a parking lot at the same time, too much water entering into our pipe system leads to backups.
So what the restrictors are doing is kind of like if you hung out after the concert, maybe a post-concert tailgate, whatnot,
where you're sitting there relaxed, waiting for the traffic to die down, then you end up leaving without much concern.
That's kind of what we're doing with the restrictors.
So I know that it can drive some complaints up when it comes to water on street complaints,
but what we're essentially saying is water on the street is not water in the basement.
You can go to the next slide.
So switching to more than on the technical side of things, we maintain a hydrologic and hydraulic model of the entire sewer system for the city of Chicago.
So what we're able to do with this is analyze where we have capacity constraints.
So we can input storm, design storm data from the state of Illinois.
They issue this bulletin on rainfall that we subscribe to.
We could utilize individual storm data that we collect from rain gauges.
However we want to do it, we can look at where we have capacity limitations,
and then we utilize this model to then help us identify the most cost-effective and most beneficial solution.
So we take input from communities, from outreach, from aldermen, from 311 data.
We use that information to identify areas where we need to look for the capacity constraints.
And utilizing the model, we then are able to develop our capital improvement program.
Next slide, please.
Wait, before we go to the next slide, just because this is a great map,
and I think people might not be able to see the key for the colors.
So the dark green, so it says basement flood risk.
Dark green, I want to point out, I don't see any dark green areas.
Dark green is greater than 10 years.
The next green is 10 years.
The lighter shade of green is 8 years.
The yellowish color is 2 years.
The pinkish color, and pardon me if it's not pink and it's orange, is 1 year.
And red is 6 months.
And could you speak to that?
Is that saying that the basement flood risk would be greater than 10 years,
or maybe once every 10 years, or once every 8 years, or once every 2 years, once every year, or once every 6 months?
Yes, so that's correct.
So in terms of hydrology, we look at things in terms of return interval of when a storm or a flood.
And I know we've had a lot of that in the news, whether it's internationally or nationally.
You may have, and we have it here in the city, where you have a 100-year, 500-year, 1,000-year storm.
That's what that's based on.
So it's based on that we have areas in the city that we struggle to...
from a capacity issue that we believe the sewer system surcharges for even what we'd have six-month storm intervals,
which are generally the smaller storms, and it goes up from there.
So a six-month storm is the smallest.
A 10-year storm is the largest that we model.
Thank you.
So out of this and through the model and through constant review of our programs
and the benefits that we're trying to achieve, we have undertaken now a wing storage program.
Two projects are currently underway and are close to finishing up on the west side.
These storage projects are very large underground concrete vaults that are currently how we have them,
how the program is structured as of now.
These are going in right away.
They do require a lot of space, and we are strategically trying to locate these projects within right away
that has limited or no other utilities.
So that's where they coined the term wings because as the city's grid system is set up, for example,
if the grid is set up in the north-south direction for your homes, then the side streets,
or as I call it, the wings is where we're putting storage.
This is a hyper-local – this is to address localized flooding at a very local locations.
Yeah, so the pilots we've felt have been greatly successful to date,
and that's just in terms of being able to implement it.
So we believe through the modeling that we have – that these will bring marked improvement to those neighborhoods.
You can go next slide.
Next slide, please.
So the way these work is that the sewers themselves remain functioning as they have.
And what we're doing is we're installing these tanks underground that take the overflow.
So instead of ending up in – instead of the flow ending up in one's basement, they – these tanks will fill.
It's essentially like – it's our own basement.
It's like these are water management's basements that will flood before our residents' basements flood.
So the way that they're constructed is we're using hydrologic and hydraulic principles.
We're setting elevations for what these tanks should go in at that will be below people's basements so that, again, these will flood first.
This is – this is the concept, and this is the point.
And then we're doing it at the local level to bring marked improvement to those areas that have been hardest hit.
Next slide.
In addition to the wing storage, we do have ongoing long-term planning efforts.
One area that we've put some effort into recently is what we call Area 4.
Area 4 is the part of the city that's generally south of 87th Street, but it comes up and gets most of – all of Chatham, Avalon Park, South Shore, that part of the city.
This particular project that we have – or anticipated, we are moving forward with the final design of a eight-plus-mile deep rock tunnel that will connect directly into TARP's Thornton system.
And this particular type of project would bring the generational relief that has been long needed for that area.
Other areas of the city have ongoing efforts that are in light of the wing storage projects,
where we're integrating the wing storage projects as well as the consideration of green infrastructure will be modified and adjusted as time comes.
Next slide.
This is my closing slide.
So this is – these are all the programs that many of you are already very familiar with.
Our sewer improvement projects, that's the standard projects that we do every year.
Not necessarily do we get a sewer project every year within your wards, but these are – that's the typical projects that you may have some experience with.
Lining, that is something that you may see more regularly.
We tend to do two to three times more lining than we do replacement projects.
The other thing that's important – the other components that are important to our program are our structure rehab program as well as our restrictors.
That is where we're putting in upwards of 12,000 restrictors per year.
And then downspout disconnection, you'll hear a little bit more about that with the CDOT presentation.
But we do have a pilot right now that is underway in the Chatham neighborhood where we are utilizing CDOT's Green Corps team to help assist us with the outreach and the implementation of downspout disconnection.
Downspout disconnection, along with the restrictor program, is a very effective way of combating basement backups.
And that's where I think you'll find the need of green infrastructure will be driven because we will need areas – we will need places for all that water to go.
Because obviously, the more you get on the street, the more headaches that creates.
And then the other program that we have that's been longstanding with respect to green infrastructure has been our Space to Grow partnership that is between DWM, MWRD, and CPS as the funding partners.
And then Healthy Schools Campaign and Open Lands provides their expertise and outreach.
That program is the conversion of existing hardscape or permeable schoolyards, school lots, into green, community-centric, resilient play lots that have a –
It brings all the co-benefits of what we speak of when we speak of green infrastructure.
That's all I had.
So I'd like to pass the microphone.
Before we – I'll do the microphone passing.
I want to thank you for the presentation.
This was really – it was very fulsome.
And I know folks have questions.
We are going to have each of our agencies go through before – and save questions for the end, if you guys don't mind.
And if there's a thing – so I've got Tavares on deck and Lopez on deck.
But they will stay here with us to the end.
So I want to keep going so we get the presentations.
And that way, when we ask our questions, we'll have every single agency or department here to answer them in a fulsome way.
So with that, thank you, Deputy Commissioner Schreiber and President Steele and MWRD URO.
Thank you.
And we'll – I'll get through my part really fast.
And then we'll try to get through it so we can move into our healthy discussion.
But as stated, my name is Keri Steele, and I'm President of the Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to be here today to everyone.
I would also, at this time, like to acknowledge our Executive Director behind me, John Murray,
and our Vice President, Teresa Flynn, I believe, is here as well.
I would like to send thanks to your Mayor, Brandon Johnson, Chairman Alderman Haddon,
and the entire Committee on Environmental Protection and Agency for inviting us to share the work that we do
at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
We appreciate you continuing this conversation on how we build resilient communities together.
Now, at the MWRD – and I'll go through this fast because the Department of Water Management
did a great job of discussing our history.
But for the students and the people here that do not know what we do at Water Reclamation,
basically we treat wastewater and we manage stormwater for Cook County.
Now, that's Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
Over 100 years ago, 135 years ago, more than that,
we were tasked with reversing the flow of the Chicago River to protect Lake Michigan from pollutants and contaminants.
And basically, we continue that mission to this day.
We treat wastewater and manage stormwater to protect our primary drinking water source, Lake Michigan,
and to maintain a clean water environment.
Basically, the City of Chicago's Department of Water�ulements
Yeah.
Water management gives you your fresh drinking water, deals with the water that comes into your house.
And the MWRD, we deal with the water that leaves your house.
Now, this summer, we have continued to see very real impacts of changing climate across the Chicagoland area.
This year alone, the Chicagoland area experienced at least 69 tornadoes,
along with extreme rain events that have contributed to flooding and put added pressure on our water infrastructure.
We've seen that pressure firsthand at the MWRD.
This summer, the MWRD Thornton's Reservoir reached its highest ever record, filling almost to capacity at 94 percent,
while the McCook Reservoir reached capacity seven times this year.
Now, to put that in perspective, the Thornton Reservoir holds 7.9 billion gallons of water,
and then our McCook Reservoir holds 3.5 billion gallons of water, and that has filled seven times already this year.
These extreme weather events continue to test our infrastructure
and show why investing in resilient, forward-thinking solutions for urban flooding is so important.
The Department of Water Management used the analogy of the traffic getting out of a concert.
I like to use the analogy that it's like trying to drain a swimming pool with a straw.
Basically, when there's so much water at one time with these extreme rain events,
it's a lot for that water to travel through local infrastructure, stormwater, and the water you're using at home.
Travel through those pipes to get to the MWRD.
But we are finding ways to work together, and since the last time we met here about three years ago
when we had the devastating flooding on the west side, we have worked together for the West Wing Storage Project,
and we continue to do our Space to Grow programs, which are big examples of us working together to manage stormwater.
Because no single agency or organization can solve the challenge alone.
Bringing together industry experts, the appropriate departments, community members, and government partners
is essential to developing innovative solutions that protect all of our communities.
So we all thank the Committee on Environment Protection and Energy for initiating this important conversation
and for providing the MWRD with an opportunity to contribute to the discussion about urban flooding
and the work underway to build our more resilient region.
I'd at this point like to introduce Dr. Catherine O'Connor, who is the head of our engineering department,
and also Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Thank you, President Steele.
I'm Kevin Fitzpatrick.
As President Steele mentioned, I've been with the Water Acclimation District for 28 years,
and it is, despite what you may have heard earlier today,
it is one of the most well-run government agencies in the country.
Next slide, please.
I'm going to talk a little bit about our tunnel and reservoir plan.
So MWRD works very closely with the city of Chicago.
We have for 100-plus years now.
Our facilities are generally downstream of the city of Chicago's facilities.
So we own the wastewater treatment plants, as President Steele mentioned,
but also the tunnel and reservoir system and our intercepting sewer systems.
So you saw a little bit about a combined sewer system that the city of Chicago has.
This just shows how it ties into our intercepting sewer, which brings that wastewater to our treatment plants.
Next slide, please.
And back in the 1970s and 80s, we started construction of the deep tunnel system.
We call it TARP, the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan.
And there are 110 miles of deep tunnel in the Chicagoland area that capture combined sewer overflows
from over 400 different locations throughout the city and the suburbs.
And it intercepts that flow and drops it down into the tunnel system before that water can go out to the waterways
and pollute the rivers or cause a backup in the sewer system that you heard about earlier also.
Next slide, please.
So we have four different tunnel systems.
On the south side, the Calumet TARP system and Thornton Reservoir serve the area of the city basically from 87th Street South.
In green, you see the mainstream system that follows the Chicago River and serves the north side, downtown,
and the central area of Chicago.
And then the blue tunnel shown is our Des Plaines Tunnel, which follows underneath the Des Plaines River.
And it mainly serves the western suburbs but also the western portions of Chicago as well.
Next slide, please.
So the Thornton Composite Reservoir was completed in 2015.
In that area that I mentioned south of 87th Street,
I don't believe the city or MWRD have had any combined sewer overflows since this reservoir came online.
It came very close to filling this summer after we got pounded by numerous storms.
So we had not had a chance to drain it back and clean this.
All this water has to be cleaned at our treatment plant before we can put it back in the environment.
So it takes a while to drain it.
So this summer, with the back-to-back storms, we got very close to filling.
And next slide, please.
And then, sorry, I was going to mention also our McCook Reservoir is, as President Steele mentioned,
it is 3.5 billion gallons and it's filled seven times already this year,
which is why we're working to expand it to 10 billion gallons.
So in the near future, we will have additional capacity to help reduce those continuing combined sewer overflows
and also help reduce flooding in that area.
So green infrastructure is now another large portion of what we're doing at MWRD
to try and help the conveyance issue that you kind of heard about earlier.
A lot of these city sewers, and it's not just the city, it's the suburbs,
it's all everybody put their sewer system over 100 years ago,
and they weren't anticipating the kind of storms that we're seeing today.
So as you saw on Mr. Schreiber's slide about the sewer modeling,
a lot of sewer systems just can't handle these large storms.
Maybe a one-year storm is about all they could handle right now.
And so we're working with the city to try and help reduce flooding by keeping water out of the sewer system.
And we have several different initiatives with the city,
and I'm going to turn it over to Dr. O'Connor to discuss some of our partnerships.
Yes, hello.
Thank you, Kevin.
I'd just like to run through because I think it does bear repeating.
Native landscaping has much deeper roots, so we can absorb much more rainwater.
The next is the rain barrels, and that is to take the roof load.
Brendan Schreiber mentioned that we're working together to get as much roof load disconnected
that it stays out of the combined sewer system and leaves room for the flow that needs to get to the plants.
Green roofs.
We've constructed a number of green roofs.
The bottom left is an example of a bioswale that takes rainwater and keeps that out of the sewer system,
rain gardens in front of the house, and finally permeable pavements
where that flow on the parking lot doesn't make it into the combined sewer system.
So every one of these, the native landscaping provides habitat.
The rain barrel, now we're not using the city water, and it creates stewardship.
We understand 55 gallons of water off our roof load, and we're not using our hose and city water.
Every gallon we keep in Lake Michigan is a plus.
The green roofs extend the life of the roof, and the bioswales and rain gardens also provide great habitat for butterflies,
and transpiration keeps areas cool.
These are all green parts of the solution.
They're not the whole answer.
We do need the deep tunnel.
We need the reservoirs.
But we also need to capture an inch or two of rain where it falls.
Next slide, please.
So we've done very productive partnerships.
We're shoulder-to-shoulder with the Department of Water Management.
We're out at the meetings.
We did complete the Albany Park Stormwater Diversion Tunnel.
That was the city's initiative, but MWRD provided over $16 million towards that project.
It was very supportive of the project.
It's an 18-foot diameter, 1.4-mile-long river that alleviated the overland flooding
from the north branch of the Chicago River and saved that neighborhood, Albany Park,
from the devastating flooding when the north branch became at flood stage.
We've mentioned the Space to Grow program that converts asphalt lots into meaningful play lots,
and they are prioritized based on certainly flooding.
And we'll see you next time.
where the children don't have another play option, and that creates the habitat.
We've completed 41 schools and the vibrant learning spaces
and capture 8.8 million gallons of water where it falls.
That is the beat of the drum.
The tunnels are finished.
The reservoirs fill.
We need to capture water where it falls.
And where do we have green space?
Schoolyards and the park district.
Brendan went through the wing storage project after the devastating flooding
when President Steele said we were here in 2023.
We met biweekly with water management,
and the wing storage for the west side was because the sewers cannot be upsized.
That would be terribly disruptive anyway, but that underground infrastructure is crowded.
We don't have room.
We need it on the wing storage on the side streets, as Brendan mentioned.
Next slide.
We're working closely with the Chicago Park District,
so we have green space at schoolyards and at the park district,
and we've partnered on native landscaping projects,
and we are working on a master agreement where we can capture all of the flow,
the park district, meaningfully connected with nature.
And, again, we're all talking about downspout disconnection.
It was the big storm of 2023, September and July.
A house on the west side would typically discharge,
a standard city of Chicago house would potentially discharge 400 gallons from their home.
What fell on the roof during the July 2nd storm was over 8,000 gallons.
So a three-inch storm would be proportionally less.
We want to capture that flow, and that's a big part of the solution.
And I have a photo of a space to grow project.
This is the Fernwood Elementary School.
Next slide, sorry.
So they do turn into beautiful, vibrant lots.
And my last slide is just if everybody here, all the people that are participating
and attending this meeting, we've completed the Green Neighbor Guide,
and that gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to disconnect your downspout
and meaningfully construct a bioswale or a rain garden and capture that flow.
Flood resilience takes all of us.
We also have flood response resource guides for communities and understanding your sewer.
So thank you very much.
Thank you all very much so much.
All right.
Now we're – next we're going to hear from our Department of Transportation partners.
You're up.
Hello.
My name is Matt Crocker.
I'm a project manager for the Department of Transportation,
and my responsibilities include implementing the Green Alley Program for CDOT.
Green alleys are one aspect of the combined effort the city has to address flooding in the city,
and the goal of this program is to utilize our alley space to alleviate flooding in the alleys and in basements
and to reduce the wastewater treatment burden that we have.
Several methods of accomplishing these goals, including permeable pavers.
As mentioned earlier, permeable pavers allow stormwater to infiltrate through the ground.
And when soil conditions below that surface are agreeable, you can utilize that space to hold water
and even prevent it from having to enter the wastewater system,
although that does require certain conditions to be met in the ground.
So we look at other alternatives as well to hold and reduce the speed of water entering our system.
Like mentioned earlier, you know, for trying to drain a swimming pool through a straw,
one thing you might want to consider is adding more space to the swimming pool.
So I think in one instance, what we can do is increase storage underneath our alleys,
adds more space to hold some of that water so it's not all directly on the surface and overflowing into properties.
So that gives us some extra space while the water has time to drain out,
and we do need to give it that time, which is mentioned earlier by DWM,
very critical to have restrictors in place to slow down the pace of that water
so it doesn't create any backflowing in the combined sewer.
We also, you know, revise grading on the surface in these programs.
Sometimes there's isolated puddling.
We're trying to get it into either our permeable pavement or our new storage system to reduce this burden.
So, yeah, this is a slide.
So the city has over 1,900-plus miles of alleys.
That's a huge amount of space that can be used and utilized for this purpose.
To date, this program has constructed over 500 projects,
and the pace accelerated significantly since 2021 when the capital bond-funded alleys were put into place.
CDOT ensures that aldermen are informed when making decisions about selections for the Green Alley Program.
The recommendations we give are based primarily on the 311 basement flooding reports that we receive
and also factor in pavement condition.
Every design is different.
I mentioned a few reasons earlier, but we have to utilize the soil conditions that are in the ground
and the available space that we have in the alley to select an optimal design.
The coordination with existing utilities can vary depending on what's in the ground,
and we also have multiple routes to constructing these alleys.
There are several contractors in place right now building them.
I'm going to turn it over to Sean Wydell to talk about other programs CDOT has to promote green infrastructure.
Good morning, everyone.
Oh, you could just say that.
I'm Sean Wydell, Deputy Commissioner for Citywide Services at CDOT,
and I wanted to talk a little bit about how CDOT is working to build the workforce for the next generation of folks
who work on green infrastructure.
I wanted to talk specifically about our Green Corps Chicago program.
So Green Corps Chicago program is the city of Chicago's green job training program for individuals with barriers to employment.
Green Corps has actually been around for 30 years.
It was started at the Department of Environment 30 years ago, and it moved to CDOT in about 2012.
And over those years, we've trained 750 Chicagoans with barriers to employment,
so folks who may have been impacted by the criminal justice system, may not have graduated from high school,
or may just have never had a job before.
We give them the resources, the training, and the wraparound social services to help them become successful in a career
to improve their lives, their families' lives, and their communities.
We have, as part of our program for the last five or seven years,
we actually have instituted a green stormwater infrastructure training in the Green Corps Chicago program,
which trains around native plants, rain gardens, and a number of other things,
including, as Brendan from DWM mentioned, downspout disconnection is a new item that we're training for this year.
We have partnered with DWM, and we are working to disconnect downspouts at a number of homes in the Chatham community
in areas that are most impacted by basement flooding to reduce that basement flooding
and reduce the drains on the sewer, the amount of water draining into the sewer.
So we're really excited about that pilot, which is we're doing outreach and engagement in the community right now.
So that's it for CDOT.
Thank you so much for our partners from CDOT.
And next, we're turning over to Matthew Dowdy with the Office for Emergency Communications and Management.
Good morning.
Thank you, Alderwoman.
Matt Dowdy, Manager of Emergency Management Services for Chicago OEMC.
I will talk briefly about OEMC's role as it relates to flood preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.
Starting with twice a year, OEMC hosts spring, summer, and winter weather workshops,
in which we get all of our city partners as well as regional partners and NGOs together
to talk about our respective roles and responsibilities when it comes to extreme weather response.
Typically, we'll host a mini tabletop exercise in which we put forward a tabletop hazard scenario
and talk about how we would collectively resolve that.
And those roles and responsibilities are developed through our emergency operations plan that we update every three years,
so we maintain that document.
We have 18 annexes, including three dedicated to extreme weather, including extreme heat, extreme cold, and severe storms.
We just updated it several months ago for 2026.
Our agency has been a participating member in the Chicago Climate Action Plan,
including developing the Heat Vulnerability Index in recent years.
We are an adopting partner of the Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan,
in which we identify natural hazards across the city and the county that could potentially impact us,
including flooding, and we identify all of the either ongoing or proposed actions.
because there's probably a long way of 흥-jurisd concurВ이�よし as well,
... ability for both of us?
in which we address those hazards.
OEMC is also a participating member of the Chicago Shoreline Advisory Board
that focuses on hazard mitigation and lakefront development.
Okay, twice a day, 365 days a year, OEMC hosts twice a day citywide coordination calls
with dozens of agencies in which we look at the roles and responsibilities for that day
and we look at actions and activities that are going on in the city.
If there is extreme weather involved on any given day, we can dedicate time and efforts
to discussing the latest forecast and what our roles and responsibilities will be
and make sure that we're all aligned on strategies.
On any given day, we can analyze 3-1-1 and 9-1-1 calls to look for what types of issues are being reported
and where they're being reported from.
And, of course, we always have our 24-7 operations center that is responsible for monitoring various hazard events
and sharing information both across our public sector partners and with the public.
As well, we can always operate or activate our emergency operations center at the discretion of our executive director
if we feel there's an extra layer of coordination that needs to take place between departments.
We have a variety of ways in which we can notify the public.
First of all, we maintain a healthy relationship with the National Weather Service.
We communicate with them through a variety of mechanisms.
We even have our ring-down phone in our operations center, which they'll pick up the phone right away.
National Weather Service is very good about giving us heads-up on extreme weather events.
So, you know, if we know that some severe storms are coming, we'll probably know about it perhaps a couple of days in advance,
and we can make sure that we're sending out appropriate notifications, including through Notify Chicago and our Shire Lake notification system.
So these are opt-in subscriber-based notification systems.
We encourage anybody and everybody to sign up for that so you can get notified not only on extreme weather but on special events occurring in the city,
as well as any other hazards that may be occurring.
We are always promoting our OEMC app that has a lot of different features, including signing up for Notify Chicago.
It will link you to recent damage assessment surveys.
It will allow you to get information on special events occurring in the city,
as well as just providing handy tips for general emergency preparedness.
Any of the notifications that go out through Notify Chicago automatically translate over into our various social media pages.
We also have the ability to target both landline and cell phone notifications through our reverse 911 and wireless emergency alert system.
We can designate certain populations, such as a list of senior populations that we notify, say, when extreme heat or extreme cold is coming.
On a regular basis, we send out media advisories, and we're sharing those media advisories across with the elders on a regular basis.
We have the opportunity to take over the digital billboards that you might see along the expressways,
where we can put up messages on everything from severe thunderstorm warnings to tornado warnings.
We regularly host press conferences with our partners here when perhaps we have an extreme weather event either about to occur or currently underway.
We have several emergency preparedness campaigns, including our Marvel Comics campaign that we started several years ago.
And a lot of our material, especially the ones in which we team up with FEMA and the Small Business Administration,
are always available in English and in Spanish.
Next slide.
All right.
A quick word on OEMC's role in flood recovery, what happens in post-incident.
Typically, we'll do a quick windshield damage assessment, and we'll send out a small team just to get a quick lay of the land.
We'll take a look at our 3-1-1 data of where the problem areas may be,
and we'll go out and take a look, as we did after the most recent storms on August 11th.
As I mentioned earlier, we're constantly analyzing 3-1-1 and 9-1-1 data.
Typically, we will team up with IEMA, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, to distribute a series of surveys that can go out to the public.
So when those go out, we're encouraging anybody who has experienced damage in their homes,
regardless of whether you have insurance or not, to fill out the survey so we can really get a good lay of the land of where the damage has taken place.
If we feel that the damage is sufficient enough, we will work with FEMA, IEMA, SBA, and Cook County to develop a joint preliminary damage assessment
so we can actually put boots on the ground, go out and interview people that may have experienced damage in that storm event.
And that may allow us to collect enough data to eventually allow the governor to request a presidential disaster declaration.
If that occurs, we work with FEMA and IEMA to set up disaster recovery centers, as we did after the 2023 and 2024 floods, so folks can seek assistance.
Now, the types of assistance that are available, these all come with the caveat that if we qualify for them.
The big one is FEMA individual assistance for individuals as well as public assistance for municipalities as well as Cook County.
Small Business Administration has been busy in Cook County this year, available to assist with low-interest loans.
And as a direct response to the 2025 two big storm events, the state of Illinois earlier this year issued a home equity flood rebate program,
and Cook County issued their resident storm relief project.
Next slide.
A quick word specifically about the storms from last summer.
You know, as you've heard, we had two significant storm events taking place in July and August last year.
As a result of those storms, that was one of those instances where we worked together with IEMA, FEMA, SBA, and the county
to conduct joint preliminary damage assessments, both here in the city and in the suburbs of Cook County.
We collected enough data that we worked with Governor Pritzker and President Preckwinkle
to request a federal disaster declaration.
Unfortunately, that request was denied by the president in October of last year.
We collectively decided to appeal that assessment or appeal that decision.
We collected additional damage assessment information, and we appealed it.
Unfortunately, the appeal was also denied.
However, even though we did not receive individual assistance or public assistance from FEMA,
we were able to receive a small amount of SBA, or Small Business Administration, assistance as a result of those two storms.
They were able to set up their disaster loan outreach centers at various locations in the city and the county
earlier this spring across a 12-week period.
Next slide.
All right, this is just a small example of one of the individual assessments that we put out after, you know, a storm event,
a large storm event, in which we'll ask survey takers to answer a series of questions.
So this is just kind of a screenshot of what the results of one of those surveys.
This example is from our July 27th storms that impacted both the city and the county.
We had across the county 2,160 people that took these surveys.
We have 458 survey takers here in the city.
We learned through these surveys that our most impacted areas were Chatham, Roseland, and Calumet Heights.
While we did not have enough damage to engage a joint preliminary damage assessment,
we did receive enough damage to have SBA assistance come to both the city and the county.
In fact, they're operating currently this week through September 3rd at various locations,
including the Chicago Public Library branch in the Pullman neighborhood.
We regularly share this data with our friends at American Red Cross so they can address any unmet needs that might be occurring.
And when this survey is issued, we typically make sure that it's bilingual.
We can address it in both English and Spanish.
So that's a small look at OEMC, and I believe we're ready to turn it over to OBM.
Thank you so much, Matt.
Budget and management.
Good morning.
My name is Matthew Schmitz.
I'm the managing deputy budget director for the city of Chicago.
I'm here on behalf of the Office of Budget Management to discuss funding as it relates to urban flooding events.
Financial relief for urban flooding generally falls into two buckets.
You have your immediate relief to address acute harm, which was touched on a bit by OEMC.
And then you have longer-term relief to address...
more root cause issues, and mitigate future flood event damage, which our office has historically
coordinated investment for. The biggest financial tool for these longer-term investments at the
federal level is called the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery, or CDWGDR,
which is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
These funds are directly awarded by Congress to areas subject to a presidential
disaster declaration. Chicago has only received this funding twice in recent history, once in 2013-2014
under the Obama administration, which helped fund the Albany Park Tunnel Project, which was mentioned
by Dr. O'Connor at the MWRD, and most recently in 2025 under the Biden administration to help respond
to the 2023 flood events. Because this funding is rare, when we receive it, our office collaborates
with all the folks up here to allocate the funds to projects with the greatest return on investment
in terms of mitigating future urban flooding events. The detailed action plan for our most recent award
to address the 2023 storms has been approved by HUD this year and can be found on our website,
and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you so much. All right. Lastly, we're going to hear from Lindy and Jackie from the Department of Environment.
Hello again. My name is Lindy Wordlaw. I'm an assistant commissioner with the Department of Environment.
Next slide. Since the reestablishment of the Department of Environment and efforts like green infrastructure,
the Department plays an important role of both comprehensive long-range planning for both planning
and policy and coordination of implementation activities. The 2026 Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Strategy is an update from an earlier version in 2014. The strategy serves as a roadmap for managing
stormwater in order to reduce urban flooding, strengthen climate resilience, deliver multiple
co-benefits to the people of Chicago, and my colleague Jackie will give a high-level overview of the
components of this strategy, which is set to be released later this month. This is a culmination
of a months-long planning and engagement effort that resulted in a draft plan that is still posted online.
We also had a 60-day public comment period, and the final draft is what will be released very soon.
I should also note that the development of this strategy included input and support from numerous
city departments, including the departments of water management, transportation, fleet and facility
management, planning and development, streets and sanitation, and buildings. Now the next slide.
In broader context, the strategy aligns with several key Department of Environment documents and policy
frameworks, including the cumulative impact assessment, which looks at disparate unequal exposure some
communities have to multiple environmental, health, and social stressors, and thus their cumulative
impact is then greater. And of course, the 2022 Climate Action Plan, which addresses climate mitigation
strategies that reduce the harmful emissions causing climate change, along with climate adaptation and
resilience strategies that acknowledge we must shore up our communities in preparation for the climate
impacts that we're already facing today. And with that, I'll turn it over to my colleague.
Thank you, Lindy, and good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jackie Wrigley, and I'm a water policy advisor at the
Department of Environment. And you can go to the next slide. So as several of our other speakers today have
already covered, Chicago faces significant challenges when it comes to stormwater and flooding. About two-thirds
of our land cover is impervious, so things like roads, rooftops, and parking lots. So when we get these heavy
rain events, there are very few places for that water to go. Instead of soaking into the ground, that water
runs off into our streets and eventually into our sewer system. That contributes to flooding and to sewer
overflows. And we know that heavy rain events are becoming more frequent. So the question we're
trying to answer is, how do we better manage water in a city that wasn't designed for the conditions
we're experiencing today? And importantly, there isn't just one answer to that question. Next slide.
Green infrastructure is one part of the solution. Green infrastructure uses or mimics natural systems
to capture water on site, slowing it down, absorbing and filtering it. That can reduce the amount of
water that enters our sewer systems and take some pressure off that system during heavy rains.
And there's a lot of different ways to do that. Next slide. But before I get into the strategy itself,
actually, next slide. Oh. Okay, go back. I have a different order. The green and gray one,
the one right before this. Thank you. Before I get into the strategy, I want to emphasize a really
important framing point. Green and gray infrastructure are not mutually exclusive. We need both in order to
effectively address flooding. So our gray infrastructure, our pipes, our sewers, and our
tunnels are critical to managing stormwater in Chicago. But green infrastructure works alongside
those systems to manage water before it ever reaches the sewer. And it can provide benefits that
gray infrastructure alone cannot. So given the scale of our city's flooding challenges and the fact that
those challenges are only expected to grow, we need to scale up both. Next slide. And green infrastructure
is already all around us in Chicago. We're talking about things like trees, green roofs, rain gardens,
and permeable pavement. Some of these projects are relatively small, so a single tree pit or a rain garden,
while some are much larger, like a permeable alley or a green schoolyard. There's no single solution that works
everywhere. Different types of green infrastructure make sense in different places, depending on the site and what
the community needs are. And that's important because green stormwater infrastructure can do more than just
manage stormwater. One of the things that makes green infrastructure so powerful is that it can
deliver a wide range of co-benefits. It can improve water quality by filtering pollutants, improve air
quality through trees and vegetation, provide habitat for our wildlife and pollinators, and it can also help
to mitigate extreme heat. But just as importantly, green infrastructure can support community well-being.
It can create greener, safer, and more welcoming public spaces.
It can create opportunities for education and workforce development.
So these investments aren't just about solving a stormwater problem. They are also an opportunity
to make our neighborhoods healthier and better places to live. And that's a really important part of
how we approach this strategy. Because Chicago is not starting from scratch, we already have a very strong
foundation to build upon. So programs like green alleys, space to grow, green core, our climate
infrastructure fund, and our reach Chicago are all doing important work across the city. But one thing that
we heard consistently throughout the strategy process and from other departments is that these efforts don't
always operate as one connected system. And that creates some real challenges. Next slide.
The first challenge is that coordination can be really difficult. Different city departments and
outside partners are responsible for different pieces of this work. There is a lot of people doing great
work, but they don't always have a shared process or shared goals. Second, maintenance responsibilities are
not always clear. And that matters because green infrastructure needs to function for years and not just on the day that it's installed.
Third, funding can be very inconsistent. That's true both for implementation of new projects
and importantly also for maintaining projects after they're built. So the strategy is not about starting
over. It's about building a stronger framework around the work that's already happening and making it easier
for that work to happen at a larger scale. Community input and engagement was a really big part of this process.
We heard from residents about what they wanted to see from green infrastructure in Chicago.
Residents share division for a greener city with more trees and biodiversity. They talked about wanting
safer and more welcoming public spaces. They talked about better access to green jobs and education.
And we heard very clearly that equity has to remain at the center of this work.
That means making sure our investments reach communities that have experienced disproportionate
impacts from both flooding and extreme heat. It also means thinking about equity, not just in terms
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Because the whole thing can't affect the fact that they've been at the cracks as well.
It's because you think it's here, right?
of where things go, but also how decisions are made, who's involved in those decisions,
and who has access to the benefits of these projects. That feedback helped shape the strategy
and our vision for where to go next. So based on both what we heard from community and what we
learned from looking at the city's existing programs, the strategy focuses on three main
priorities. The first being coordination. We need better collaboration across city departments,
community organizations, and other partners. We need shared goals, and we need to make sure this work
isn't happening in silos. One of the recommendations here is to explore establishing a joint green
infrastructure office or team that can help coordinate across departments. We also want to
develop a shared language and shared definitions around green infrastructure, and we need to
identify sustainable funding sources that can support this work over the long term.
The second priority is maintenance, and I'll spend a little more time here because it came up
repeatedly throughout our process. Green infrastructure is infrastructure, and just like
a road or a sewer, it needs to be maintained. We heard that a lack of maintenance is really the key
breakdown in green infrastructure implementation right now, and when a project isn't maintained,
it does not perform the way that it was designed to. It can also undermine community trust. So if a
community sees investment made in their neighborhood, and then they see that project deteriorate,
it becomes a lot harder to build support for any future green infrastructure projects.
So we need to know what do we have, who's responsible for it, and how it's going to be maintained over the long
term. And that means creating one shared inventory of city-managed green infrastructure. It means
establishing clear ownership and responsibilities, but it also means planning and designing for maintenance
from the very beginning, and not treating it as something we figure it out after our project is built.
Our final priority is equity and engagement. Once again, prioritizing investments in communities most
impacted by flooding and extreme heat, and making sure that the residents in those communities see the
benefit from these investments. We can move toward communities and improve mapping and data. And finally,
looking ahead, our focus is implementation. The strategy gives us a framework, and now we need to build
the systems, the resources, and the partnerships that will allow us to put that framework into action.
That means building a stronger inventory of green infrastructure assets so we know what we have and where it is.
It means identifying sustainable funding sources.
It means strengthening coordination across departments and with our community partners.
It means continuing to engage communities as this work moves forward.
And importantly, it also means setting measurable goals and metrics to track our progress and understand
what's working and what's not. Because ultimately, the strategy is only as useful as our ability to implement it.
We already have programs that are demonstrating what green infrastructure can do.
And we have community members that have been very clear about what they want to see.
Our job now is to connect those efforts, invest in them, and build the systems that allow us to scale them.
Ultimately, the strategy is about using every tool available, both green and gray infrastructure,
to better manage stormwater, reduce flooding, and create healthier and more resilient neighborhoods across Chicago.
So you can access our draft green infrastructure strategy on the DOE website to learn more. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the presentation.
All right. So I've got folks on stack. I've got Tavares, I've got Lopez, and I've got Martin, who I think had to leave, and we'll add Cruz.
I'm going to start us off with a couple questions. So one, again, a thank you to all of our presenters and folks who are present today.
Okay. It's very helpful to be reminded about some programs, and I think to have others highlighted for us.
And I think it's instructive for not just elders, but of course the public, to see how complex the efforts go into maintaining, designing, adapting,
and our infrastructure for water management, but also what that emergency response looks like.
So my first question is actually for budget. I know you guys had one of the shortest presentations there,
but I'm wondering, one of the reasons we kind of started this was we know that constituents have really been hit hard by some of the flooding.
Could you talk a little bit more about how these, you know, what's the city doing with this $426 million?
How are we getting money out the door? What's the kind of status of those programs?
And what kind of ways can constituents expect to engage with the city on any kind of aid to help them from some of the storms and flood damage?
Sure. Thank you. So, as folks may be aware with federal funds, there's a lot of red tape that kind of comes along with deploying those resources.
And so, you know, with this money, which we are awarded in, I want to say early 2025,
came to start with about a year of planning and public engagement as required under the statute.
And so that's when we worked with all the departments, looked at the data, came up with a plan of action for how to deploy these resources
to effectively not only respond to the immediate harm that you're talking about,
but also make sure to get at the root cause, which Water touched on a bit.
It has to do with system capacity.
And so how can we make strategic investments with half a billion dollars from the federal government
that will make sure that, you know, this flooding doesn't happen to the same extent in the future in these areas?
And so we worked through that process.
We were able to secure approval from the federal government for our plan in fall of 2025.
And now different departments up here are implementing different programs with that funding, and I can touch on those briefly.
But effectively, they're now kind of going on to the next phase, which is, you know, when it comes to the infrastructure,
which a bulk of the investments are going towards, is that preliminary engineering, where it has to go through environmental review.
And then there'll be the design engineering phase, which we have to go through procurement processes that follow federal standards.
And so by, I believe, by summer of 2028 is when we'll start to see shovels in the ground for some of these larger infrastructure improvements.
Having said that, we know that there's that immediate harm.
So the city took a strategic approach in making kind of two programs more immediately available.
One of those is we allocated $40 million from city bonds to the housing department to help people remediate their homes that had flooding damage.
The reason we did that, as opposed to allocate federal dollars to that program, is, like I mentioned, we received this funding in 2013 and 2014 as well.
And we ran, at the time, under the housing department, what was called the Residential Flood Assistance Program, RFAP.
And we – so one of the lessons we took from that is the paperwork was so burdensome on the homeowner to use federal funds to do these basement repairs.
We didn't – we weren't actually able to utilize all the federal money.
And it was very difficult for the homeowners to go to go through that process on top of everything they've already done.
So we said let's use local money that we can move out the door faster with less, you know, federal burdens.
And we could concentrate the federal investments on the infrastructure side because we know it's already going to take a little longer to do that infrastructure planning.
On top of that, we did take advantage of a newer area under this most recent disaster recovery statute that allows for cash relief using federal assistance.
So the Department of Family and Support Services was allocated $15 million to effectively dole out cash assistance to victims of the 2023 floods.
And what that will entail is, you know, when we were out in the community, specifically on the west side where a lot of this damage was concentrated from those storms, one of the big things we heard from community members was, you know, not only their home was harmed, but also a lot of the health effects, you know, that came after with the mold, a lot of appliances and personal.
items were ruined. And so what this cash assistance program does, which is we applaud the federal
government for kind of carving this out on this statute. It's a newer thing. It'll allow for that
assistance above and beyond what FEMA was able to provide in terms of individual assistance.
And so we originally didn't have that as part of our action plan. And once we went out to the west
side and engaged with the community, we heard it loud and clear that there was more individual
assistance that was needed. And so we actually put that into our revised action plan after the fact.
So it's really hard because with these federal funds, we'd like to move quicker. But I will say,
Cook County and the town of Cicero also received allocations. We're working closely with them
and rolling it out. I will say we're a little ahead of the game. And I'm happy to also report that HUD
it was very impressed with how we've concentrated, chose to concentrate these investments. And again,
that root cause flooding issue, because it took a bit to get them to think of a housing as
infrastructure. But we made a compelling argument to the federal government that but for the capacity
failures of our system, these basements in these houses would not have flooded. And so it was really
key to be able to use housing money to address the underlying infrastructure causes. And now HUD
has kind of come 180 on that and actually is working with Chicago to prop us up as a national
model for how to deploy these funds. So we're very excited about that. And I hope I addressed
the most of your question.
No, it's very, very helpful. The only thing is timeframe on the DOH and DFSS processes,
I realize they're not your departments. But for that direct cash assistance and for the housing
assistance, what is that looking like?
Yeah, so we're, we're, DFSS is hoping to roll that cash assistance program out by the end of this
fiscal year. So, you know, I don't want to get ahead of anybody here. But you should be some
see some more news coming up about that shortly. DOE, DOH, I'm sorry, has had an active home repair
program that was initially seeded a little corporate dollars, I believe, out of the 2024
budget in terms of $5 million that has helped kind of serve as a down payment for some of this work
that's already started in the community. But they anticipate rolling out the larger $40 million
program, I believe, early next year.
Great. Thank you. I've got a quick question on green alleys. So switching, switching a little bit.
We love our green alleys. We've got another one starting soon in 49th Ward. But from CDOT,
you know, have we looked at ways to expand the green alley program beyond the Aldermanic menu?
Thank you, Chair. Bill Higgins, Assistant Commissioner of IGA at CDOT. Yes, we have. We're
working on a number of different initiatives with different funding from federal sources,
ARPA, from DCEO in some cases. We've used TIF funding in some cases for green alleys. So
any funding option we can, we have. We don't have a particular line item for that other than the
yearly selection from the menu program. But I hope that answers your question.
Partially, I think what I'm getting to is, could we and does the department, and this could be
discussions further too, how do we expand it, right? How would we fund it more as I think about
the intensity of the program? And I'll say the fact that I feel like the department's really
found your groove with the contractors you've been working with and the organization. We've had very
good experiences with our last couple of green alleys. I feel like we're in a groove. So how could
we grow it? How could we do more? I think it's more what I'm getting at.
Yes. Capacity is certainly an issue with the number of contractors we have and ability to
take funding and make that functioning green alleys and reconstructed alleys. To clarify one point,
it's not the actual menu, the automatic menu that we use. It's the $20 million out of bond funding.
That's what the budget was just reminding me. But expanding that further in future bonds
could potentially grow that because it's a matter of funding, right? We can only do as much as we
have funding for. Okay. Thank you for that. Last thing I want to throw out there before I move on to
Alder Tabaris is this came up as a small highlight in the Department of Environment presentation, but
I want to lift up another part of our infrastructure that has been key for flood mitigation,
and that has been our tree canopy, so our urban tree canopy. So from streets and sanitation,
a lot of the work that they've been doing, I was reminded that our tree canopy actually collects a
whole lot of water, right? A ton of water. And that we need to look at how we're continuing to advance
after the city meets the 75,000 tree goal that they're going to hit this year.
And yeah, we've got, I think Commissioner Stollard was helping me out here with 600,000 parkway trees,
right? Not including then what we've got in private trees and of course within the park district
that really help and are a key part of this equation. So just wanted to lift that up in the
great work that streets and sand and our Bureau of Forestry do. With that, Alder Tabaris, Europe,
and then Alder Lopez, and then Alder Cruz. No, thank you. Thank you, Chairwoman Hannah. I want to thank you
for making this a subject matter hearing a priority and bringing all the departments together. Thank you
and your team for your hard work. I want to thank the departments for being here today and your
presentation and answering questions. In 2025, my ward was severely impacted by flooding. And as you
can see here in this sheet that we all got a copy of, in the 23rd ward, there were 2,705 homes that
had either water in their basement or water on the street. When you look at this sheet, the 23rd ward
was the highest, had the most calls impacted by the flooding. These are residents that lost
appliances, they lost photos, they lost their memories, and they lost thousands and thousands of
dollars that they have to, that they need assistance for home repairs and for basement repairs.
My question to the departments is concerning because a lot of these residents are concerned that every
time that it rains, they're afraid that their basement is going to get flooded again. They don't
want to go through that. And as you can see by the numbers, the 23rd ward is number one, the highest that
received the amount of water in the ward. Second by my neighboring wards in the 13th ward, in the 14th ward,
in the 15th ward. That area, the southwest side, with our four wards combined, more than 10,000 homes
impacted. And these are my neighbors that were impacted. We, I want to thank, I want to just take
a quick moment and thank our state legislators who championed a bill in Springfield and that the
governor signed two weeks ago to get assistance, federal funding assistance for homes that were
impacted by the flooding. But that's not enough. I want to hear from the city on what we're doing
to advocate for funding to help families like we did with the recent funding that we got just
for 2023, the 426 million, 426.6 million is what the city received.
Can you help me clarify that funding, please? How are we spending that money? Is that going to be
for 2023 or is that going to be for residents that were impacted in 2025?
So under federal law, we can only use that money for the 2023 storm, unfortunately. I believe,
as OAMC mentioned, we're trying to secure additional funding for the more recent storms. However,
we need a presidential disaster declaration. And then after that, Congress would need to pass a
law to appropriate more relief dollars. But is there anything in the city right now that we can
do in the budget to help these residents impacted by the flooding? Any assistance, anything that we can
do? Just like the state came in, the state came in to help the residents. How about the city? What is
the city doing, doing its part? You know, as we head into budget season, I think that's a completely
valid conversation we should have about what can be done.
So it's a conversation that we need to have and what we need to get done?
Yeah, I mean, I don't want to get ahead of the city budget process.
I think there's going to be a lot of conversation around funding, you know, as we head into a tough budget season.
And so, yeah, I think this is definitely one amongst many conversations that are really important.
These are residents that are living with mold in their basements caused by the flooding.
My question to the Department of Water, Brendan, Brendan Shriver with the Department of Water.
How can you help me understand how we know when the Department of Water goes out to inspect and clean sewers?
Because most of the time when my office checks on this, it gets closed out.
We're not notified when it gets closed out, when they're completed.
But there's they don't they get closed out as a complete with no report that any sewers were cleaned.
Like there's no details in that. So and it's the same with water in basement reports.
So how do we know when the Department of Water, your department are dispatching crews to go out there and clean the sewers?
How can our ward office and the residents know that it gets cleaned out so I can get more details on that?
I handle more of the engineering side.
That's on the operational side of things in terms of the crews that go out to service the the complaints,
whether it be sewer cleaning, as you're mentioning.
I know, for example, like on water in basements, that particular example that exists, like if there's a high volume.
So if the crew gets and they're getting multiple locations in the same block, multiple addresses in the same block,
what they're what they're supposed to do is they're supposed to be leaving pamphlets for our that says water in basement complaint.
There's a list of things that can cause that generally what they know is that if they're getting multiple per block, that it's a surcharge sewer.
What they'll do is they'll go out there. They'll check the manholes.
They'll lift up the manhole lids in the street.
They'll check at that time if the sewers down and flowing, as they call it, meaning that it's no longer in the in the riser of the manhole.
They'll assess that we don't have a collapse or blockage in the drain in the sewer.
And they'll leave private drain. They'll leave water in basement pamphlets that include things of instructions that the homeowner may have issues with their private drain.
The key for what our crews are trying to do and assess in the immediacy of all those calls coming in is to identify if there's any collapse or damage to the sewer itself that would need immediate repair.
Because that, too, is what results in then there's nowhere for that water to go for the homes that may be backed up.
And so we want to make sure that that that it does have somewhere to go once the sewer system itself catches up and can drain.
So that's the importance of the water and basement complaints are are, yes, in the immediacy.
What we're doing with those complaints is we are checking to ensure that we have flow, that the sewer is flowing.
The other point then, because what my group does is we analyze that data to identify where we have hotspots to then identify do we have systemic capacity constraints within that system?
And what can we do about that?
Alder Roman Tavares, I can I'm happy to through the chair also follow up with our commissioner to talk about that from the ward service piece,
because I know we sometimes struggle with the similar responses.
Okay, thank you, Chairwoman.
My other question is in regards to the sewer system.
Could you provide any information regarding any vulnerabilities in the sewer system that may contribute to increased flooding risk in certain neighborhoods and wards like the 23rd Ward?
And how can we improve that?
Well, that's part of what we do regularly.
So in terms of the results of the floods from 2025, we do have our team of professional engineers that specialize in hydraulic and hydrologic modeling,
looking at what those solutions could be.
That's where what's born from the floods of 23rd, we are moving forward with programming more storage.
And that's what we are zeroing in on these neighborhoods that certainly got hit extremely hard last year.
It's the idea that we're not going to pipe our way out of it.
We're going to need to look at these other programs that we haven't necessarily put as much effort into.
And that's something now that we have unveiled the storage projects.
That's something that we are intending to bring more citywide with a broader scope.
And that is what we do believe, along with expanding other programs, again,
keeping as much of the water where it falls in a way that doesn't cause the harm.
Because right now what's happening is where we have the most intense rainfalls that we can see through the radar and rain gauge data that we can get post-storm,
that's where we have the most devastating issues with water and basement, without a doubt.
And so we're using that information, you know, to further program and prioritize projects.
So we're not abandoning sewer projects, like the sewer capacity projects,
but we are in the midst of implementing a more broader-scale storage program.
So what would you say is the short-term goal that the Department of Water is doing right now to reassure residents that no more flooding?
What can we tell residents right now is going to be the short-term goal?
The best thing right now is restrictors in the catch-basin and downspouts disconnected.
And long-term?
Long-term are the larger-scale projects like storage, green infrastructure.
I want to go to the – thank you for that.
I want to go to the emergency management side.
OEMC is still here?
Okay.
My office got inundated with calls about flooding in their houses,
and they couldn't get into 311 to make that request.
In our office, the phones were ringing off the hook, too, and we were calling people back,
and we were working nights and weekends to call everybody back to document that.
This breakdown of the 2,705, how do we know – what's the breakdown in terms of how many water in the basement
and how many water in the street?
Is there a breakdown that our office can get?
We could get that breakdown.
I could report those numbers to the chair.
I don't have them in front of me right now.
You don't have them.
Okay.
Now, we were – we walked with OEMC.
My office, we were out there walking the neighborhood with OEMC, IEMA, FEMA, SBA.
We distributed flood kits from the Salvation Army, donated flood kits to residents.
And also, we got those from OEMC.
So thank you.
I know those were helpful.
But our residents need an understanding of what the city is doing in terms of water to fix this issue,
but also the budget issue, because residents cannot afford to spend any more money when there is rainfall in our city
that will impact their homes.
So I hope that when we have our budget hearings coming up that we can come to some understanding and ideas on how we can address that
and focus on that.
So with that, Chairwoman, that's all I have.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman.
Alder Lopez.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon, members of the committee.
I – you know, as I'm sitting here with old co-workers from Water Rec, I used to work there very briefly at the Stickney plant.
And I was what was in detail to what is known as the solid separator.
All you MWRDers know exactly what I'm talking about.
And that means you have to separate the number twos from everything else.
And this conversation today needs one hell of a separator because I've heard so much crap today that is patently wrong.
And that means you have to separate the number twos from everything else.
And that means you have to separate the number twos from everything else.
And that means you have to separate the number twos from everything else.
Bye.
our administration, our departments, and the failures therein, that it's mind-boggling to me
that we have been sitting here for three hours listening to this. If we could put that pie chart
back up, the one that was at the very beginning that showed five different sections of who's
responsible for what, I have to say thank you to MWRD because your presentation, spot on.
But when I sit here and I listen to water, when I sit here and listen to CDOT, and I listen to budget,
when the Southwest side as a whole didn't see 10,000 people, we saw nearly 12,000 homes impacted.
And to hear that we were 50% greater in need and in urgency than the West side, but everything for us
is a conversation. I go to budget meetings. There was no conversation about using $40 million in
housing bond money. That just magically happened because this administration decided that it had
to act. There was a $15 million cash assistance from streets and sand, excuse me, from family and
support services that we just learned about. Again, that was not a budget conversation. That wasn't a
committee decision. That was an administration decision. $55 million of city money went out the
door to help a community. And thank God it did because for three years, this administration ignored
when it happened in July of 2023. But the fact of the matter remains that to hear today that the
budget department says that we have to wait until next month or in two months to figure out how we're
going to spend bond money when the Johnson administration spends it like drunken sailors.
are you kidding me? That is an insult to everyone who's been waiting on the Southwest side where over
12,000 people from Chicago lawn, from literally almost from Western to Harlem, south of the Stevenson was
impacted. By comparison, we're talking about 8,300 people on the West side. Now we look at this
chart. And I'm assuming that all of these characters are involved in this in their various sections.
And let me just first start out by saying that alley program, cements in green, is an absolute failure.
The fact that we're not diverting water from our alleys into a sewer system that actually sends it back
into people's yards, sends it back into their properties. No amount of downspouts going to change
the fact that you've got hundreds of thousands of gallons of water from the alleys being pushed back
into people's homes. And yet CDOT, with Mr. Higgins, seated here today in July, sent an email stating that
of all of those cement alleys that you just referenced you got, most of us aren't getting them.
Actually, green alleys, you mean? The cement alleys. Well, it's both because we're all we're all
required to get one a year every year. The green alleys. So that's 50 a year. So when you look back
at 23, 24, 25 and 26, we should have had 200 alleys completed, chair. We have 160 alley backlog.
So to hear him say today we've got great partners, good capacity, that's another load of crap we could
push to the side because it's simply not true. And guess where those alleys mostly are? They're
missing on this map, which conveniently stops at 2023 and ignores the plight of what happened last year
on the southwest side. This whole region that's blank, you all provided, that's us, which is conveniently
not part of the data set provided to this committee.
I just want to clarify. I believe it's not that that data stops at 2023. That is a map of the 2023
flooding events. And I also just want to give a point of clarification.
Well, if it says water and basement heat map.
Yeah, it's the date and it's the 23.
It's the 2023 flooding events. And I want to I want to lift up and appreciate your frustration
from from from both of you, actually, for your constituents from the flooding events and
recognizing some of the folks that are who spoke in our audience who are from the west side,
who have been experiencing the same things from the 2023 flooding events and point out
we have large failures and how government from from White House to City Hall deal with
what are real emergencies. And we've we've heard the bureaucracy that that that's one of the
reasons why we did this hearing. Right. Hearing from neighbors impacted from 2023 flooding events
for years about how they're experiencing what your constituents are experiencing now as well
and still not getting the relief. But just as a clarification, I know the the 40 million dollars
through DOH and the 15 million through DFSS. I just want to make sure that, you know,
so all of the four hundred twenty six million is for the 2023 flooding events.
We haven't been given any additional funds. I know that 2025 yet. No, I know.
So that money's not out the door yet, but they can only go, as Matt from budget said,
to people impacted by the 2023. So these other limitations. But continue. I just want to clarify.
Respectfully, Chairman, I'm not questioning that money because I understand where that comes from.
The part that I take issue with is the fact that that fifty five million dollar combined was city
money. That was an administrative decision that housing bond is not is not related to the federal
government. That is our billion dollar housing bond. Matt, do you have a clarification?
Yeah, just a point of clarification. Fifteen million. The cash assistance is federally funded.
And the 40 million. The 40 million is is your practice local bottom line.
Who made that decision since you want to bring it up? Who made that decision?
That decision was made as part of the planning process. By who?
By the city. Who's the city? Are we going to play this game? Really?
There is a lot of because you want you if you want to say the department, I think your point
is not by city council.
The point is that the administration, whether it is Commissioner Castaneda or Mayor Brandon
Johnson or OBM, they made a decision on who they wanted to help.
They picked winners and losers in terms of assistance out the door.
Now, we could play stupid all we want, but the fact of the matter is we know exactly how
this is happening. And I don't appreciate people trying to insinuate otherwise.
Now, when we look at what exactly we could do to change this, we talk about coordination.
We talk about the fact that people work in silos. This is a singular administration.
Correct? These departments report to one individual, if not two, the chief operating
officer and the mayor himself. This is not a venture for which to justify yet another government
operation because we should already have a department that handles coordinated efforts
between departments and particularly these three, water, CDOT, and environment, which would
be the Office of Underground Coordination, the OUC. They should all be able to figure this
out. This is not new.
And as we're looking at what we need to do, this council and members herein have produced
orders to include backflow mitigation, which uses gravity, the same gravity that sends water
out can work to our advantage to stop water from coming back into properties. Department
is fully opposed to it. $150 valve. We won't look at installing in residential properties
or helping people install because we'd rather see them see everything lost in their basement
because we don't have the will to act. We talk about the fact that you have to do these
wing storage and other things. We could do that now on the southwest side, north side, make
up the difference in where the TARP Area 4 system has zero coverage, which if we go to that
page, that's incidentally the entire southwest side. But we're not going to. And the fact
that we're not going to see any relief until 2028 is very, very concerning for me and all
of the people that I represent.
In short, when we look at what we can do, Chairman, what we should be doing is to stop
wasting each other's time pretending that we're trying to solve this issue because we're clearly
not. Our departments are failing to meet the moment. And the proof is evident because we
still see people struggling on the west side trying to get help. How many times did our colleague
from the 37th ward use every bit of energy she had to highlight the plight of the people
on the west side who had been forgotten about trying to turn on mold filled furnaces?
And yet here we are again, and we're still going to keep talking about the same thing for the next years.
No amount of downspouts, rain barrels, or coneflowers are going to save this city from 100-year storms that happen every other week.
We need to act with some urgency, and these departments need to pretend like they actually care about what's going on,
because otherwise all of this is just for show.
Thank you.
Thanks, Aldo Lopez.
Aldo Cruz.
Thank you, Chairman, and thank you to all the departments here.
Clearly, we want to talk about the urgency here.
All these things that have been shared with us are great, you know, the strategy, long-term, but we want to talk about now.
I mean, we're experiencing more rainfall than ever.
Rain is coming as fast as we can move.
So for us is what can we do now?
And I want to echo some of the sentiment from my colleagues from the south side, but as well is what are we doing now?
And one of the – it could be so simple.
So when we – although we went about this, talked about the 311s, when some of these 311s get closed so fast that we don't even know if they're –
if we're inspecting sewers, if we're inspecting homes, like, why are we closing?
So who in the water department looks at 311 reports and see why are we closing these tickets so fast?
Do we talk to these individuals?
Who manages these individuals?
How are we ensuring things are being done?
And who is responsible from the water department to ensure that it's some sort of accountability that these tickets are being completed
and not just being closed because we need to have less tickets on file?
I don't want to misspeak.
It's outside of where I – of the group that I oversee and manage.
So if I can get that – the process and procedure through the chair.
Okay.
I would like to know.
That is just so simple.
Those are the things that we can manage and we can hold employees accountable as well.
When we talk about green alleys, I want to echo something, Chairwoman, you shared with us is – is there any – so when we look at this data,
so as I'm looking through all this data in 2023, which is where my ward experienced the most flooding, and also 2025 with other wards,
do we analyze this data and say, okay, how we can bring additional resources when it comes to green alleys to this ward?
Are we making the decisions based on that?
How are we providing relief to those who – us, that we're suffering with a lot of flooding?
And, you know, in this report, Chairwoman, you have a quote from a resident from Belmont Cragen, which was one of the hardest areas in my ward that got hit, as well as Portage Park.
But how are we ensuring that we're doing additional for those wards that, again, they're clearly experiencing more damages?
So that will be for water, CDOT.
Bill Higgins, again, from CDOT.
I do know that in – I don't know the particular wards off the top of my head, but the ARPA funds that we were – that we received for stormwater,
for the flooding response, are being targeted to the wards that were hit the hardest,
and they're getting additional green alleys through that program.
Beyond that, it's a matter of resources.
We'll – you know, we need funding to build green alleys.
It's not coming from CDOTs.
And I know that's something that we will address during budget as well.
I know – one of my questions is we talked about earlier in the presentation regarding the deep tunnel, the reservoir,
and how, you know, there's a plan to make it bigger.
And I just want to – for clarification, right now, how many – I know we're talking about the billions –
how many gallons or how big is the reservoir now, and what is the plan to make it bigger?
I know that it holds about – I believe the plan is to get it to 10 billion gallons.
That's right.
It's planned to be 10 billion gallons when we're done, and it's currently 3.5 billion gallons.
That's the McCork Reservoir that you're talking about.
So when is – when was the decision made?
When was the decision made to, okay, we got to make it bigger than what we have?
When was that decision made?
That was in the late 90s, I believe.
In the late 90s.
And when do you expect to be done – to meet the 10 billion gallons?
2032.
We expect to be operational.
And so right now, I believe also based on the presentation this year, that we have met almost full capacity this last summer.
Is that correct?
The McCork Reservoir, seven times this summer we've approached capacity.
There's the Thornton Reservoir that serves south of 87th Street that finally reached capacity for the first time since 2015.
So what would be the plan to make it – to ensure that we expedite the deadline so we're not waiting until the deadline during sooner?
Because, again, we are experiencing way more rain than the years past.
So is there any way we can make it, you know, to be concluded sooner than later?
What is the plan?
It's really a physical constraint of mining this hole that is driving the schedule right now.
So the plan is to – for MWRD at least – is to work with the City of Chicago and several others to kind of work on other projects more local in scale to reduce the amount of water going to the sewer system.
But when we talk about urgency and how we talk about it, we're trying to move faster again.
This year was a clear – 2023 and 2025 a clear indication.
Is there something that – what are some of the challenges?
Are you facing challenges through the city to get this job completed?
No, we're not.
It's just a matter of – it's a rock quarry, basically, that is going to become the six-and-a-half-billion-gallon hole that we'll be able to fill with additional water.
And our contractor has to complete the mining to allow us to then turn this hole into the reservoir.
And the physical ability to take rock out of there is what's kind of driving this schedule to take so long.
If I may, and just for clarification, because you're being so smooth and understated over there, I think it's hard for us to imagine.
And maybe – sorry, Gina.
Could you put the NWRD, I believe – was it MWRD or – there you go, NWRD slides.
So we're seeing – we see this, and I just want to highlight your answer to our committee and Elder Woman Crews.
This is a generational mining project, right?
So when we think about, like, works projects, when I'm thinking about, you know, the manual and even machine-added labor of mining this,
a decision was made to expand in the late 90s, and the completion is expected for 2032.
And what you said was that the reason it's taking this amount of time is because that's how long it takes to mine a hole in the ground through a rock quarry to do this.
So this isn't – some of our – and I think some of our colleagues – sometimes we have bureaucratic holdups, and sometimes we don't have the money.
But I want to be clear, this is literally a giant project that is going to take this long because it just takes that long to mine rock.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
Thank you.
It is – we do have all the funding in place, and that is certainly not the delay.
Okay.
And that's why I asked if you have any obstacles from the city.
Perhaps there's something that we can change, processes.
So we were just trying to make sure we clarify that there is not other things that are perhaps holding you back from moving faster to complete this project.
Yes, President Steele.
Thank you.
I wanted to jump in and just add to what was stated by Kevin Fitzpatrick.
What we can do short-term now – and I was trying to get this out when Alderman Tobias spoke about the 23rd Ward
and to Alderman Lopez as well.
This is why we need collaboration for more projects, whether green infrastructure or smaller gray infrastructure projects,
to support us with stormwater management while we're waiting for McCook Stage 2.
As stated by many of us, there's no silver bullet for any of this.
We all have to work together and do multiple things.
So one thing that I'm hearing that would be beneficial for water reclamation to help the city
and to work with you all is one for us to make sure we stay in constant communication and share information.
So the handout that they spoke of about the areas that were hit with this last storm,
if we can have that handout, that would be awesome because we can start looking at that information as well.
And then let's just definitely stay consistent with our communications and decide what we could do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Reminded me so much of Emma Mitt's three years ago when we were here and we were thinking, like, what are we going to do?
And we had to be innovative and come up with something, and we did come up with something.
So we have to put our, you know, we got to put our minds together and come up with something for that area as well, just like we did for the west side.
And then also the rain barrels, everyone please don't downplay disconnecting the downspout for your rain barrel.
That really could help.
And if you go through the areas that you have on that list, I'm wondering how many of those blocks still have the downspouts in the ground.
That's, I mean, that's a major thing that could go a long way.
So let's not downplay disconnecting the downspouts, adding a rain barrel to your home.
Let's encourage everyone to do it because, as we said, we need multiple solutions for this, and every little bit helps.
I agree.
And I want to say that your commissioner has been great with my office, providing rain barrels, and us also providing them to our residents.
So thank you for bringing that up.
That's it, Chairman.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Cruz.
And I just want to highlight, President Steele, you mentioning that these are some things that we can do in our ward.
So I would encourage, I need you to hang on for one more moment or else we cannot adjourn.
I'm so sorry.
You'll just be here indefinitely.
But I'll wrap it so we can do this.
But these are things that we can do in our wards, right?
We can do these infrastructure reviews.
We can reach out to MWRD.
We can reach out to our departmental partners.
And so we've got a few through-the-chair requests.
I want to thank all of our guests in the box.
We'll do some follow-up, I think, to try and help push us to more meet the moment, because I hear the urgency.
We have flooding.
And in that map about that, Mr. Shriver, you shared, I looked at the 49th, 48th, 46th, maybe down to the 44th Ward is all very susceptible in that,
I think, one-year to two-year flooding range.
We certainly get a lot of that.
So we have work to do.
So thank you all for being here.
Thank you for the work that you do.
I know you don't get enough appreciation and thanks, even though maybe we're not meeting the moment.
But I know it's not because of a lack of effort or intention or hard work.
So I appreciate you all.
With there being no further business before the committee, may I have a motion to adjourn?
Alder Cruz, so moves.
All right, 110, we're done.
Take our family photos.
Hey.