Good morning.
And thank you all for coming out today for such a great event.
I'm Randy Conner, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management,
and I want to thank Mayor Brandon Johnson and Deputy Mayor Lori Lipson
for their leadership around flood mitigation in the city of Chicago.
I also want to thank President Steele for all the encouragement,
all the support that they've given us from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
and all the commissioners there as well.
I also want to thank our city partners and all of the underground private utilities
because coordination is truly key to delivering projects of this magnitude.
And to the DWM staff who have taken the daunting task of developing this project,
Brendan Schreiber, Anupam Verna, Pablo Martinez, and the entire Bureau of Engineering Services, the sewer section, thank you.
Communities cannot rely on yesterday's infrastructure to address tomorrow's weather changes.
And cities can't always wait for tomorrow to address today's issues
Adding infrastructure in dense urban neighborhoods is like putting pieces of a puzzle together
They have to fit precisely to complete the puzzle correctly
So that everyone who sees it can see the beauty as well as the complexity of what's being constructed
Sometimes it's a 10-piece puzzle that can be figured out in no time
but oftentimes it's a 1,000-piece puzzle that has to be assembled strategically
to ensure the largest benefit of its display, which takes a little longer.
Then that's what we have done here today.
It's what the Department of Water Management does on a daily basis,
making sure that all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly to ensure completion
to provide the necessary services for the citizens of Chicago.
The same way that Chicago is second to none,
our infrastructure can't be compared to that of any other places.
The Department of Water Management is committed to leveraging innovation and strategic engineering
to enhance the lives of the citizens of Chicago, especially when it comes to flooding.
And that is exactly what this project represents,
thinking outside the box to identify new tools for the toolbox and our fight against flooding.
We are fortunate to have a strong working relationship with President Steele
and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
This relationship has allowed us to cultivate the idea of an innovative way to alleviate urban flooding.
And the innovation led us to what we are calling wind storage tanks and installing here today.
Flooding isn't something that is new to any city in the United States.
But what is new is the unusual and exponential amount of flooding that we all are experiencing.
So if anyone thinks that climate change isn't real, to put it in perspective, we've received more rain over the 4th of July weekend than we have traditionally received in the entire month of July.
DWM identified two locations to pilot our wind storage tanks as a viable solution to mitigate flooding, and it only made sense to partner with MWRD to tackle the issue.
MWRD contributed half of the $15 million investment to fund the two pilot locations.
The first one on Maypole, Cicero de La Verne, which was completed this spring,
and the second one is this location, Le Moyne, from Luna to Laurel.
These underground detention structures will help reduce flooding
when local sewer systems reach capacity by holding excess stormwater and wastewater
until the sewer can accommodate it.
The way they function is actually pretty basic.
Sewers in the area will be connected to huge concrete tanks that are connected to each other and built in sections like the one we are standing in.
When the sewer reaches its capacity, it will begin to fill the tanks individually, and as those reach capacity, the additional water will be directed to an adjacent tank.
The water will then be contained until the main sewer is able to accommodate the water, and then it will slowly move into the sewer to be sent to MWRD.
Across both projects, we have created nearly 1.7 million gallons of additional stormwater storage
and flood protection for more than 2,900 homes, businesses, and buildings.
The benefit areas are over 100 football fields in size.
And across both projects, we have created nearly 1.7 million gallons of additional stormwater storage
that will benefit the west side of Chicago, but more especially, Austin, West Garfield Park, and Galewood.
And we aren't stopping there.
We will be doing sewer grid cleaning, piloting a downslide disconnection program,
strategically installing rain blocker devices during catch basin cleaning to be able to use the street as water retention as well,
installing low-flow catch basin covers during our capital reconstruction sewer projects
to slow the flow of water into the catch basins to decrease the chances of basement flooding.
At our new Sewer Flow Level Observation Program, the Sewer Flow Program will use real-time monitoring technology to track how water moves through the sewer system during storms, helping DWM make smarter, data-driven decisions to reduce flooding.
As you can see, this is a huge construction project, and we are standing in one of the 12 by 12, 48,000-pound sections, one of approximately 50 that were required to construct each block-long tank.
We hope that residents will be patient with us to see positive results, because these projects not only take time to design and build, but they also take significant funding.
Again, thank you to all of our partners, Mayor Johnson, President Steele, community groups, as well as our partners at other levels of government, who can actually grasp the vision and continue to partner with us.
We can't do this work without continued support from the Alders, like Alderman Mitch, who is not here today.
So I would like to bring up now the greatest freaking mayor of the greatest freaking city in the United States, Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner, and good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
It's grateful to be with you all today as we deliver on much-needed infrastructure that our communities deserve.
I want to thank President Kerry Still, the Water Reclamation District, and all of the elected leaders that are here today.
This past weekend, Chicago experienced another rainy Fourth of July weekend, reminiscent of the 2023 storms that brought nine inches of rain and flooding to my community here on the west side.
We know that flooding has a profound impact on families.
The cleanup, the uncertainty, and the loss and the disruption can be overwhelming.
Tens of thousands of homes in Chicago's west and south side communities,
as well as the surrounding suburbs, face significant damage to basements, walls, ceilings, garages, and cars.
Many lost precious, sentimental items like photo albums and family heirlooms.
Sadly, many of those cannot be replaced.
We can only expect more storms to come as the effects of climate change hit Chicago's communities.
And, of course, they hit the South and West Side communities especially harder.
It is well past time to update and modernize our infrastructure and build a city that works for everyone.
Today is about delivering not just relief, but delivering long-term solutions that will ensure our infrastructure and communities are resilient well into the future.
The Maypole Storage Site, which was completed this spring and this location here in LeMoyne, are $12 million of stormwater storage projects that will reduce flooding on Chicago's west side by providing, again, approximate...
1.7 million gallons of underwater stormwater storage capacity.
They will serve nearly 3,000 homes, businesses, churches, and community spaces across the 28th and 37th wards.
And this pilot project will set the standard for future flood protection projects across Chicago.
We can expect to see more innovative, collaborative, and holistic solutions like this one,
invested throughout the city as we continue to fight to keep climate change at bay.
My administration re-established Chicago's Department of the Environment in 2023
because we know climate change is not a distant challenge.
It is a challenge affecting our neighborhoods and families here at home and today.
Under the leadership of Commissioner Angela Tovar,
and with strong partnerships across government and community,
we are investing in more resilient and equitable opportunities to serve the people of our city well into the future.
Our efforts include the Our Roots Chicago program to ensure that all communities enjoy the benefits of tree canopies,
such as reduced temperatures, cleaner air, and less flooding.
There's also the Climate Infrastructure Fund, which helps small businesses and nonprofits implement green infrastructure projects
that make our neighborhoods more resilient to storms and flooding and, of course, more beautiful.
We must take an all-of-the-above approach to flood mitigation,
recognizing that meaningful progress comes from innovation at every single level and at all scales.
Whether it's piloting neighborhood-based stormwater strategies
or investing in landmark infrastructure projects like the Area 4 Tunnel,
we must deploy the right solution at the right scale to make Chicago more resilient.
I want to thank again everyone who helped working to combat the effects of flooding
and have helped to make today possible.
Of course, the 37th Ward Alderwoman, Emma Mitz, who experienced devastating flooding
and used that experience to provide essential feedback that's shaping our work today.
Thank you to our Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure, Lori Lipson,
Of course, the Department of Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and President Kerry Steele, who also serves on the board of the Public Building Commission, CDOT, OEMC, our federal partners who provide much-needed funding for critical infrastructure projects, and all of the city workers, of course, that do the hard work.
These are the people who not just live in the city, but are working every day to protect our city.
So let's give it up for all of our workers.
Together, we are delivering the peace of mind that every Chicagoan deserves when severe weather is on the way.
Investing in more resilient strategies that protects everyone is my goal as we work to build the safest, most affordable big city in America.
Now, please welcome Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Kerry Steele.
Good morning, everyone. How are you?
Good morning. Wonderful. We're on the west side.
Is it hot enough?
Well, my name is Carrie Still, and I am president of the Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
And once again, I thank you all for being here at this very important occasion.
But first, I would like to introduce my colleagues on the Board of Commissioners.
I would like to acknowledge our vice president, Teresa Flynn, our chairman of finance, Marcelino Garcia.
Commissioner Precious Brady Davis, Commissioner Beth McElroy-Kirkwood, and Commissioner Sharon Waller.
I would also like to acknowledge or recognize our Executive Director, John Murray, and our Engineering Department,
who have been integral in advancing stormwater management projects throughout Cook County.
On behalf of the MWRD, we would also like to express our gratitude for the Mayor, Brandon Johnson,
Commissioner Connor and the Department of Water Management for their collaboration and shared
determination to confront flooding and protect our water environment. Additionally, I would also
like to just give a thank you to Alderman Mitts of the 37th Ward because her community, her ward
was definitely hit by flooding when we had that storm and she was out there advocating with water
reclamation and with her
fellow mayor and commissioners and aldermen to make sure we did something on the west side.
So her leadership and continued support for stormwater management issues is much appreciated.
I also like to thank the Westside Long-Term Recovery Group, the Northwest Austin Council,
Build Chicago, and so many other community groups who have also made a commitment to addressing
flood reduction. It is an honor to be with all of you today to celebrate the completion of one
project and give you an inside look on another winged storage tank that builds capacity for
stormwater storage and reduces flooding. I met with many of you in the summer of 2023 to discuss
problems that we are addressing today, and it is amazing to see solutions come to fruition.
on july in 2023 2023 our west side was decimated with nine inches of rain we all attended meetings
listened to stories of devastation property damage displacement and costly cleanups as painful as
that may have been your community's feedback is what helped us helped us focus on flooding hot
spots in your community. As a result of those meetings, together, we implemented unique
solutions to collect and contain more stormwater and to add more infrastructure to tight streets
and small spaces, and we came up with this innovative idea of wing storage. Part of this
12 million dollar investment on display today as commissioner connor explained is underground
storage that will capture storm water in our streets it was also stated that this project
will hold the capacity of about 1.7 billion gallons of water so just to put that in perspective
1.7 billion gallons of water is about equivalent to two and a half olympic size swimming pools
So that is a lot of water that we are keeping out of those unwanted places.
So in closing, in recent years, we've been challenged with more intense and unpredictable rain events, as you all know.
And to meet those challenges in older American cities, we must be creative in our efforts to mitigate the damage of future storms.
Every forecast tells us to expect more rain in the future.
Our response is not wait for the storm, but we're going to prepare for it.
The district remains committed to working alongside the City of Chicago's Mayor Johnson, your alderman and your community, and Commissioner Connor to address our infrastructure with projects like these underground storage tanks.
For 137 years, we have met every challenge from reversing the flow of the Chicago River to the deep tunnel
and will continue that legacy as we confront impacts of climate change.
We understand more storms are coming and we are committed to partner on more stormwater management projects in the future.
In addition, we also understand the challenges of the west side of Chicago.
and we understand the challenges that the west side of Chicago have endured
and today represents a meaningful step in that direction.
Thank you and at this moment I will turn it over to our Mayor, Brandon Johnson.
Thank you, President Steele.
Good morning everyone.
Can I ask reporters to make their way over here for Q&A?
Right here?
So today the pilot program is being unveiled, as well as the water storage units,
but the program is not working yet.
Is that correct?
When will it start functioning?
Thank you for that question.
So the first one we have put in place, and it is functioning.
We're in the process now of studying to see what that's going to look like, how it's working.
We're hoping to have very valuable data within the next six to nine months.
to actually understand how well it's working.
Hi, this is for the mayor.
The 2023 flood showed that, you know,
deep tunnel couldn't save the west side from devastating destruction.
And then just yesterday we learned that the deep tunnel is almost full.
Can you just talk about the urgency of some dramatic changes in infrastructure
and this kind of, you know, innovative sort of, you know, moves on flooding?
yeah you know again i i do want to thank all of the you know the residents
who were actively pushing for innovation and transformation.
As I said a couple of years ago, three years ago now,
that these 100-year storms were going to become more and more regular.
And so this approach is to help build for the future.
As we know, the infrastructure here in Chicago has not had a significant upgrade in decades.
And so this is just proof positive that having this collaboration with President Steele and the board members of Water Reclamation District,
working with our state and federal partners, all of us have to work in tandem to ensure that the people across the city won't feel the negative impact of climate change.
mayor good morning could we also maybe discuss just what additional projects are already in the
works to upgrade infrastructure especially when it comes to you know our sewer systems not just
here but across the city because as you've mentioned the sewer systems are just don't
can't handle the capacity and i'm sure this is just part of a much larger effort that will take
several years to implement um absolutely so again you know i appreciate that question it's a very
important question um one of the things that the mayor has uh challenged us with is to find more
innovation and how to hold more storm water to alleviate flooding especially given the situation
that the city of chicago is in again our infrastructure isn't like any other city
we have the unique uh problem of having our utilities in the ground with us so we have to
be able to come up with innovative ways of upgrading the sewer system, sometimes we can
upsize them, sometimes we can't.
So that's why we have projects like this, and we will continue to do projects like this
until we get to a point where we've tried to leave it as much stormwater flooding as
we possibly can.
Each year, the mayor's challenged us to increase our infrastructure, our sewer projects moving
forward so we can be able to reduce flooding.
We're also, again, like I stated before, looking to install more low-flow sewer covers, which will use the street as retainage as well.
The adage is that the water is better on the street than it is in your basement, right?
So at least if it's on the street, we know exactly how to contain it so that the citizens of Chicago can enjoy their homes.
Good morning.
Good morning.
With this project, is it at all expected to kind of impact or alleviate the water flowing into the TARP reservoirs, which have been pretty full the last few days?
Yes, and thank you for that question.
It will definitely alleviate when this project is complete or lessen water going into TARP.
But just to hit back on, you know, the conversation about stormwater management and what we need to do in the future,
there's no one silver bullet to address flooding and stormwater management in Cook County.
It's going to take a combination of green infrastructure projects like this, I mean gray infrastructure projects like this, green infrastructure, and TARP is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
We were able to keep 13 million gallons of water out of people's homes over this past weekend.
As you see, Thornton Reservoir is completely full, which has not happened.
So not only are we making history in stormwater management, but we're keeping a lot of water out of those unwanted places.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Are projects like this, is the approach to have a more localized way to store water,
the solution to keep things, to keep water from tarp in the greater system?
Are you finding that because the storms tend to hit certain pockets more than others that you need to kind of keep it local?
It's both and, right?
I mean, I think to President Steele's point, there's not one single development that will ultimately, you know, alleviate what is essentially unprecedented at this point.
As what was said earlier, we had more rainfall within a couple of days than what we've experienced historically over the course of a month.
And so it's the full force of government approach. It's the multilayered approach. Clearly as hyperlocal as we can be, that's intentional. But, you know, we're talking about decades old infrastructure.
I put forth an infrastructure bond, $830 million, last year.
We're going to continue to find creative ways to work with all of our partners.
Matching these resources with the Water Reclamation District is just one way in which we are
taking a more innovative approach to how we even put forth these projects.
So it's going to take all of us, but it's both and.
It's localized, but it's also.
system-wide, and that's something that is going to be ongoing over the course of the
next several years. Good morning. A couple of clarification questions.
I believe $1.7 billion was just said for the capacity, but our press
release has said $1.7 million. Can we just get an answer on that?
It's million. Okay. All right. Thank you. And then also, Carrie,
you just said Thornton is full. Yesterday we heard it was about 95%, so is it now
full today? President Steele? Yes.
it's at 95 percent but me being extremely cautious and a chemist that's fool to me when
you're thinking about water overflowing and getting into people's homes but yes you're
correct 95 percent okay just checking and then lastly a maypole you said is done the project
here on le moyne what's the estimated completion time for that um right now estimated completion
is the fall of 2026 given there are any any more rainstorms that are going to slow us down
So it's in the fall of 2026.
And one question.
Can you just explain to me how this works?
Will this portion be laid flat?
Will it be stacked?
How tall will it be once it's finally stacked?
I knew that question was going to come.
Absolutely.
So that's a great question.
So the way that it's designed is that they are standing up.
And what happens is that these will be filled from the – so the typical sewer system fills from the bottom up.
Once we put these in place, they will fill from the top down, right?
So what will happen is we'll slow the water going into the main sewer system.
So that way, as these fill up, then it will flow out of the bottom to be able to go into the main sewer,
which will eventually make it out to MWRD, which system-wide will help the TARP system
as well as the rest of the city of Chicago system.
Correct.
Mayor, just wanted to get you to weigh in on off topic since everyone else has touched on topic.
Another candidate has jumped into the race for mayor.
There's others that are awaiting the wing.
When are we going to hear from you a decision on your future?
And is this kind of infrastructure development the kind of thing that you want to signal to voters that you indeed will be running for re-election?
Well, you know, what I'm signaling to the people of Chicago is that I'm committed to building safe and affordable communities.
That is the only signal that I believe the residents require right now.
As I've said repeatedly, the politics in Chicago will do what politics does.
I'm going to do what the people elected me to do, which is to invest in our communities.
I had not been mayor for more than two months when this devastation happened.
And we showed up on the ground immediately, clearing out space, working with our federal partners.
I want to thank our federal leadership, particularly our local congressman who is retiring,
Congressman Danny Davis, that worked with me and President Steele and Alderwoman Mitz to secure the resources that we needed
to begin to help people recover from that storm.
These challenges that we are experiencing to a great extent are unprecedented.
My leadership in this moment has been very clear about investing in the west side.
In fact, in these first three years since I've been in office,
we've invested more than $2 billion on the west side, $2.6 billion on the south side.
But the signal that I'm going to continue to send to the people of Chicago,
they deserve a leader who's willing to keep their work.
And I said that we're going to invest in people, and that's exactly what we're doing.
Thank you for the questions, everyone.
I'm hearing you more.
All right, thank you all.
Appreciate it.