With the help of a $40,000 state grant, residents in Lake County may soon learn if the water runoff from conservation communities, such as Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, is cleaner than that of traditional subdivisions.
As part of the Bull Creek Watershed Baseline Information and Monitoring Program, the Liberty Prairie Conservancy will be conducting research to collect baseline information on the condition of three adjacent sub-watersheds of the Des Plaines River near Libertyville. One is in a highly developed community; one in a community with a combination of development and open space; and one in a development with considerable open space and restoration activity.
“We are trying to show that different types of developments have different impacts on water quality,” said Carol Sonnenschein, a project coordinator with the Wisconsin/Illinois Upper Des Plaines River Ecosystems Partnership.
The partnership has joined with the Liberty Prairie Conservancy and many other community organizations to help them apply for water quality grants.
“If it turns out that the water quality is much better in the conservation community it gives an argument for more conservation development,” Sonnenschein said. “Until now it has been hard to argue, since we have had no proof.”
The Wisconsin/Illinois Upper Des Plaines River Ecosystems Partnership-Liberty Prairie Conservancy is one of 30 private-public partnerships in the state that received grant money from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for natural resource protection projects under the Illinois Conservation 2000 program.
Conservation 2000 provides technical and financial assistance to landowners interested in improving the ecology in environmentally sensitive watersheds.
The program provides funding for habitat protection and restoration, environmental education, planning, and research projects proposed by the local watershed partnership organizations.
“Local citizens and private property owners working together are the keys to the success of Conservation 2000,” Gov. George Ryan said in announcing the grants. “These grants, combined with local matching funds and other support, provide important land management, habitat enhancement and resource conservation projects in watersheds throughout Illinois.”
Partnerships receiving grants will be matching the funding with $10.1 million, in-kind and other contributions. Other partnerships in Lake County that received Conservation 2000 grants are:
– The Chicago Wilderness Partnership-Village of Lincolnshire, which received $50,000. A river restoration project on the North Branch of the Chicago River will focus on improved water quality, re-establishing wetlands, reducing slopes of the river, eradicating non-native vegetation and planting native vegetation in Lincolnshire.
– Fox River Partnerships-Friends of the Fox River, which received $55,250 for the Fox River Monitoring Network. The group will use project funds for network communications, teacher training workshops, a teacher manual, school equipment for stream monitoring and other program support costs. The project will be based in Crystal Lake and will affect McHenry, Lake, Kane, Kendall, DuPage, LaSalle and Cook Counties.
