08-21 r
Resolution No. 08-21
RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING THE PAYMENT OF THE CITY OF ELGIN LOCAL SHARE
FOR THE DRAFT TYLER CREEK WATERSHED PLAN
BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS,
hereby authorizes the payment in the amount of$25,000 to the Conservation Foundation for the
City's local cost share to prepare the draft Tyler Creek Watershed Plan.
s/Ed Schock
Ed Schock, Mayor
Presented: February 13, 2008
Adopted: February 13, 2008
Omnibus Vote: Yeas: 7 Nays: 0
Attest:
s/Diane Robertson
Diane Robertson, City Clerk
Tyler Creek Watershed Plan - 2007
Executive Summary
Watershed Characteristics
Tyler Creek is a medium sized, high quality tributary of the Fox River. The stream drains
generally to the southeast from southern Rutland Township toward the northwest side of
Elgin, where it joins the Fox River. The Tyler Creek Watershed encompasses about 40.4
square miles and includes the small tributaries of Pingree Creek, Sandy Creek, and North
Plato Ditch. The eastern half of the watershed is heavily urbanized, the central region of
the watershed is rapidly urbanizing and the western edge of the watershed will experience
extensive development in the future, according to current comprehensive land use plans
set forth by the municipalities in the region. The governmental stakeholders in the
watershed that will have the most impact on the future Tyler Creek are the City of Elgin,
the Village of Gilberts, and the Village of Pingree Grove.
Stream/Water Quality Ratings
Tyler Creek was listed in the IEPA's 303(b) Report as being in Full Support of its
Aquatic Life Designated Use, however it was determined in 2006 to be Non-supporting
of it's Primary Contact Designated Use due to excess fecal coliform, listed as coming
from urban runoff, stormsewers, and runoff from forest/grassland/parklands. The IEPA
also identified fish consumption, secondary contact and aesthetic quality as designated
uses for Tyler Creek, although the ratings for these uses were classified as "not assessed".
Below its confluence with Tyler Creek, however, the Fox River is listed as an impaired
waterway for pH, silt, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, total suspended solids, habitat
and flow modifications, excessive algae, PCBs, and methoxychlor.
Impetus for Updated Watershed Plan
The original watershed plan for Tyler Creek was completed in January 1996 by
Openlands Project with input and guidance from the City of Elgin, Village of Gilberts,
Kane County Forest Preserve District, Kane County, and the IDNR. Funding was
provided by the IDNR Office of Realty and Environmental Planning. The plan provided a
summary of watershed history, physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the
watershed at that time, and an outline for establishment of a watershed greenway plan,
general watershed protection guidelines, and recommendations for restoration/protection
of specific sites of concern/interest in the watershed's sub areas.
In 1997, the City of Elgin completed the Tyler Creek Management Plan, which focused
on stormwater management and natural resource protection in the lower 1/3 of the
watershed within the municipal limits of Elgin (current as well as proposed city limits at
that time). This plan was born out of the City's need to insure the creek through the
lower, already developed, portion of the City would not experience additional
degradation due to further development upstream following municipal expansion. This
plan identified stormwater management strategies for future development, stormwater
retrofit projects, stream corridor restoration/ stabilization projects, and wetland banks as
part of a plan to improve water quality and reduce flooding. In 2000,the City took this
plan a step further and prepared an EPA 319 grant application that included preliminary
design plans and cost estimates for implementing several (12-13) of the projects
identified in the 1997 Tyler Creek Management Plan. To date, two of these projects have
been constructed/undertaken by the City of Elgin.
In 2005, the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, with guidance from several local and state
natural resource agencies and conservation groups, identified Tyler Creek as a high
priority watershed for preventative planning due to the extensive development plans
being considered by the municipalities within and adjacent to the watershed. Analysis of
the municipal comprehensive land use plans for the region indicate that nearly the entire
watershed will be "built out" with suburban development far more extensive that the
development suggested by the Kane County 2030 Land Use Plan. Without careful
planning and a fundamental change in the way in which land development is designed
and implemented, the likelihood of losing the irreplaceable natural resources of the Tyler
Creek Watershed is eminent.
Watershed Protection Goals
Goal 1: Maintain the Quality of Tyler Creek
o Obj 1: Protect,through acquisition or conservation easements, existing
High Quality and High Functional Value ADID Wetlands.
o Obj 2: Adopt a "Green Infrastructure Plan" for the watershed to guide
the preservation, restoration, and management activities of
watershed stakeholders.
o Obj 3: Develop partnerships between private landowners, developers,
local natural resource agencies, and local not-for-profit land
protection organizations to restore/enhance existing and/or
former wetland areas.
o Obj 4: Work with NPDES Phase I dischargers to insure that the highest
quality treatment is achieved before wastewater effluent is
discharged to any water course in the watershed.
o Obj 5: Implement a BMP program to reduce stormwater quantity
and/or improve stormwater runoff quality wherever possible in
the existing developments in the watershed.
Goal 2: Prevent Further Negative Impacts of Land Use Change on the
Watershed's Natural Resources
o Obj 1: Minimize increases in stormwater runoff flow rates AND total
runoff volume for new developments.
o Obj 2: Prohibit negative changes in water quality from new
development.
o Obj 3: Discourage development activities/encroachment within the
Green Infrastructure Areas.
Goal 3: Reduce Flooding and Flood Damages in Existing Developed Areas of the
Watershed
o Obj 1: Work with those landowners experiencing flood damages to
assist them with seeking planning & design guidance and
funding sources develop mitigation plans to reduce the
magnitude and frequency of recurring flood damages.
o Obj 1: Minimize increases in stormwater runoff flow rates AND total
runoff volume for new developments.
o Obj 2: Increase total required retention volume required for new
developments.
Goal 4: Create an effective and lasting watershed stakeholder organization.
o Obj 1: Organize an active and engaged stakeholder group to
1.) Promote the Tyler Creek Watershed Plan,
2.) Track, monitor, and report on the success of implementing
the recommendations of the plan, and
3.) Serve as a forum in which all parties in the watershed can
communicate their ideas, concerns, and seek more
information on how to maximize the protection efforts in the
watershed.
o Obj 2: Coordinate annual comprehensive reviews of available water
quality and biological data collected in the watershed as another
way to measure plan success.
Existing and Future Watershed Protection Challenges
Overall, the health of Tyler Creek today is good. Previous water quality and biological
data collection studies over the last 8 years indicate that Tyler Creek is a highly valued
resource. The two highest quality areas in the watershed are Tyler Creek between Big
Timber Road and Randall Road and the Pingree Grove Wetland in the Pingree Grove
Forest Preserve. But Tyler Creek is in a state of rapid flux. While the land immediately
adjacent to these high quality areas is largely protected from development, the vast areas
upstream of each high quality site are planned for extensive land use changes (residential
/commercial /office / light industrial developments). These drastic land use changes,
even when implemented according to the current development & stormwater regulations,
will have a profound impact on the remaining high quality natural areas downstream, as
current development practices almost always increase total runoff, small storm peak flow
frequencies (that impact stream stability), as well as provide additional pollutant loading
into the stream system, especially nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen.
Plan Organization
The Tyler Creek Watershed Plan is organized into seven sections:
1. Watershed Overview
2. Project Purpose and Scope
3. Subwatershed Assessment, Analysis, Problem Identification & Recommendations
4. Green Infrastructure Plan
5. Public Education & Outreach Programs
6. Framework for Measuring Watershed Plan Success
7. Appendices— Supporting Data & Information
To facilitate easier dissemination of the findings & recommendations,the Tyler Creek
Watershed is divided into six subwatersheds.
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Global Recommendations for All Parts of Tyler Creek Watershed
Recommendation G1-1:
• Establish a Tyler Creek Watershed Coalition. The Tyler Creek Watershed
Coalition should be comprised of watershed stakeholders who are committed to
work together to preserve and protect the water quality and natural resources of
Tyler Creek. The mission of the organization will be to bring together a diverse
coalition of stakeholders to protect the unique and irreplaceable natural resources
of the Tyler Creek Watershed through cooperative partnerships, smart land use
decisions and sensible growth. Stakeholders must include private landowners,
homeowner associations, municipal staff& officials, county, state, and federal
agency staff charged with natural resource/water resource protection,
representatives from umbrella conservation organizations (i.e. Fox River
Ecosystem Partnership and the Fox River Study Group, Inc, Fox Valey Land
Foundation, The Conservation Foundation). The Coalition's mission will be
achieved by seeing to it that the plan recommendations are implemented by the
responsible parties, and by communicating and coordinating with municipalities,
developers, and private landowners to insure that resource management is not
compromised by rapid, hastily planned development.
Recommendation G-2:
• Draft and adopt revised Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances which implement the
Tyler Creek Watershed Plan's Green Infrastructure Plan.
Recommendation G-3:
• Coordinate with and City Council of Elgin, and Village Boards of Gilberts and
Pingree Grove to endorse and adopt the Tyler Creek Watershed Action Plan as a
resource to help them address how they, as municipalities and the major
stakeholders in the watershed, can protect the watershed resources as part of
managing their existing jurisdictions as well as when considering future
development proposals and plans.
Recommendation G-4:
• Coordinate with all municipal governments to mandate conservation design
practices for land planning and stormwater management design to be used in all
new developments to maximize groundwater recharge and maintain water quality
in the watershed's streams.
Recommendation G-5:
• Work with the Fox River Study Group (FRSG) and Illinois State Water Survey to
update and revise the FRSG's Tyler Creek Watershed model with more detailed
landuse and water quality observations and use this model to provide an accurate
assessment of water quality in the watershed for predicted land development
scenarios and prioritization of BMP implementation.
Recommendation G-6:
• Complete detailed floodplain mapping for all streams/drainage ways currently
mapped as FEMA Flood Zone A or unmapped with a drainage areas equal to or
greater than 1 square mile.
Recommendation G-7:
• Develop an outreach and incentive program to encourage landowners to de-
channelize select stream reaches (tributaries & main stem Tyler) on a voluntary
basis. Encourage this practice to be incorporated into the design and planning of
all remaining developments proposed on land where Tyler Creek or it's tributaries
have been channelized.
Recommendation G-8:
• Work with education & outreach organizations and local school district staff to
create and coordinate a watershed education program into local elementary
schools and middle schools in the watershed.
Protecting the Tyler Creek's Green Infrastructure
What is a Green Infrastructure Plan?
Green Infrastructure is a watershed's natural life support system. It is the network of
parks, forest preserves, conservation easements and greenway corridors with natural
features that support native flora and fauna, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain
air and water resources, and contribute to the health and quality of life of for the people
who live and work in the watershed.
The purpose of a Green Infrastructure Plan is to clearly define those areas that must be
preserved, re-connected, and integrated into our developed landscapes (whether they are
agricultural farm fields, pastures, or suburban development).
We know that development and land disturbances (such as agriculture, mining, etc.) all
generate pollution that is washed off the landscape and into our streams, lakes, and
wetlands. The excess runoff that comes from the new pavement and roof tops creates
highly unstable conditions in the streams, causing channel incision (down cutting), and
accelerated stream bank erosion. These impacts contribute to the sediment pollution in
streams,threaten public infrastructure such as bridges and culverts, cause safety concerns
for adjacent property owners, and are aesthetically unappealing.
We also know that the natural systems such as wetlands and prairies are extremely
capable of reducing runoff through infiltration and evapo-transpiration and are very
efficient at removing pollutants from the runoff that passes through them.
A Green Infrastructure Plan is divided into two components—the first is the protection of
existing high-quality natural areas and the second is the preservation and expansion of
natural landscape systems to buffer the high quality natural areas from future
development. Where existing development has already occurred in or immediately
adjacent to high quality natural areas (such directly along the banks of Tyler Creek
against an ADID wetland), the Green Infrastructure Plan can be used as a guide to
promote the installation of modest sized buffers to protect those sensitive areas.
Where development is yet to be built, the green infrastructure boundary indicates the
areas where the existing land features should be preserve and perhaps enhanced (if
currently agriculture or dominated by invasive species) to receive and transport runoff
much as it did in it's natural, pre-development/pre-agriculture state.
The boundary for the Tyler Creek Watershed's Proposed Green Infrastructure Plan was
delineated using the following guidelines:
• 100 Year Floodplain as mapped on FEMA's Digital FIRM Floodplain Map
• Kane County Forest Preserve District Properties
• Minimum 50 foot buffer along all streams identified in the stream channel
network.
• Minimum 100 foot buffer around all ADID-identified High Quality Habitat and
Natural Open Water Wetlands.
• Minimum 50 foot buffer around all ADID-identified High Functional Value and
other, lower quality wetlands.
• ADID-identified Farmed Wetlands (no buffer)
• Utilize hydric soils as connecting corridors between isolated wetlands larger than
5.0 acres to provide habitat and natural drainage connection between these areas
and the perennial stream system.
• Removal of existing developments and dwellings from the green infrastructure
boundary.
January 18, 2008 -4-
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Olufemi Folarin, City Manager -
Tom Armstrong, Principal Planner
ti
SUBJECT: Draft Tyler Creek Watershed Plan
PURPOSE
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the Mayor and members of the City Council for
informational purposes with the draft Tyler Creek Watershed Plan and to authorize payment of
the City of Elgin's local cost share to prepare the plan.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council authorize payment of Elgin's local cost share in the
amount of$25,000.
BACKGROUND
In 2004, the City of Elgin made a commitment to provide local cost share matching dollars to
update the watershed plan for Tyler Creek. Primary funding for the project has been provided by
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) on a 60/40 cost share basis. Additional
commitments for local cost share were provided by The Conservation Foundation and the Fox
Valley Land Foundation. An executive summary of the recently completed public review draft
of the Tyler Creek Watershed Plan is attached. The planning process has been coordinated by
the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and The Conservation Foundation, with technical
assistance from Watershed Resource Consultants, Inc. and Fluidclarity, Ltd.
The update to prior watershed planning efforts along Tyler Creek is structured to meet the
USEPA criteria for implementing non-point source management programs in accordance with
Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Watershed plans meeting these requirements are eligible
for Section 319 grant funds administered through the IEPA to undertake recommended actions to
mitigate non-point source pollution in the watershed. Section 319 funding provides a 60% cost
share. In many circumstances, other funding sources can be tapped to provide the 40% local cost
share match.
The Tyler Creek Watershed Plan addresses one of the goals of the 2005 Comprehensive Plan and
Design Guidelines, which is to "Protect, enhance and manage all water-based natural resources
in the Elgin Planning Area." Many of the projects and recommendations outlined in the
Tyler Creek Watershed Plan
January 18, 2008
Page 2
watershed plan are identified in the Tyler Creek Stormwater Management Plan, which was
prepared by Hey and Associates for the City of Elgin in 1998. Participation in funding the Tyler
Creek Watershed Plan does not obligate the City of Elgin to undertake any or all of the projects
and recommendations outlined in the plan. Should the City Council desire to adopt the
watershed plan as an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, public notice and a public hearing
would be required followed by action by the City Council.
Funding for the project was provided by a grant from the IEPA Section 319 Program, with a
commitment for local cost share matches and/or contributed information and staff time from
other partners/contributors. The City of Elgin committed a local cost share of$25,000 towards
the completion of this project.
COMMUNITY GROUPS/INTERESTED PERSONS CONTACTED
The Conservation Foundation, Kane County, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Kane-
DuPage Soil & Water Conservation District, Friends of the Fox River, Fox River Ecosystem
Partnership
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The City of Elgin has been invoiced in the amount of$25,000 by the vendor, The Conservation
Foundation. There are sufficient funds budgeted ($25,000) and available ($25,000) in the Tyler
Creek Fund, account number 378-0000-795.92-32, project number 337714, to pay the invoice.
LEGAL IMPACT
The plan addresses nine required components of a watershed based plan in order to meet USEPA
guidelines for implementation of non-point source management programs under Section 319 of
the Clean Water Act.
ALTERNATIVES
1. The City Council may choose to authorize payment of the local cost share in the amount
of$25,000.
2. The City Council may choose not to authorize payment of the local cost share in the
amount of$25,000.
Respectfully submitted for Council consideration.
TJA/ta
Attachments