MWRD: Buffalo Creek Reservoir

(Satellite, 3,479 photos)

MWRD
"The Buffalo Creek Reservoir Expansion Project increased storage capacity to alleviate flooding for downstream communities, while at the same time improving public recreation amenities at Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve. The $9.7-million project increased the existing Buffalo Creek Reservoir's volume by approximately 180 acre-feet to account for an additional 58.6 million gallons of flood storage. Seven new timber boardwalks were installed and pedestrian paths were relocated and reconstructed to remove them from inundation during the 10-year storm event."

MWRD
The MWRD planted 850 new trees, 200 shrubs, an upland prairie and wetlands. Then the local forest preserve will be responsible for maintenance.

Since this expansion was about 60m gallons, the expansion done in 1988 created a reservoir that could hold 240m gallons.

1:10 video @ 0:27

I didn't go through many of the 3000+ photos, but I did catch this. The culvert in front will allow water to go downstream during and after a storm while the spillway will release water if a storm exceeds the 300m storage capacity.

Michael Needham, Apr 2021

Given the above photo, I looked for that control structure.

Street View

"Recent work by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago is increasing the reservoir's capacity to nearly 60 million gallons" [estormwater] This article was written by two MWRD PR specialists. They should have written: "Recent work by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago increased the reservoir's capacity by about 60 million gallons to more than 300 million gallons." 

They raised the trails and boardwalks to keep them out of the water during a 10-year storm event. In 2014, the state of Illinois expanded the MWRD's authority to manage storm water in addition to waste water. [estormwater]

0:49 drone video flyover