Environmental Progress - Summer 2004

Basin Management Advisory Group Proposals to be Implemented

Emphasize watershed approach

The Kishwaukee and Green River watersheds in the Rock River Basin in northern Illinois will be the sites of pilot projects implementing comprehensive state and local watershed protection planning efforts recommended by an advisory group to the Illinois EPA.

The Basin Management Advisory Group (B-MAG), which included a broad range of stakeholders, has just completed its report and IEPA will now be implementing its recommendations, starting with the pilot "watershed teams" in the Rock River basin.

"Governor Rod Blagojevich asked the Illinois EPA to work with a broad range of interests and to rethink how we can protect our vital water resources, which are essential to both our quality of life and economic well-being, and I want to thank the B-MAG members for their vital work," said Illinois EPA Director Renee Cipriano.

B-MAG was charged with evaluating current watershed protection and planning in the state as well as evaluating how the "Facility Planning Area" (FPA) process, which determines where wastewater treatment and sewer facilities can be located, needed reforms.

B-MAG included representatives from agriculture, developers, industry, environmental groups and government bodies. The group concluded that FPA should remain in place while the pilot watershed process was underway but included in the pilot would be a more effective method for local governments to settle issues of growth and development consistent within a watershed plan. Separately, IEPA has proposed changes in the regulations for the Facility Planning Area process that would tie them more specifically to watershed planning and also authorize IEPA to halt approving an FPA proposal if another adjacent government jurisdiction objects.

While IEPA will develop river basin assessment plans and set up "watershed teams" for better coordination, the pilot, as B-MAG has recommended, will give local stakeholders, both government and non-government, ultimate responsibility for developing and implementing watershed plans.

In order to identify watershed protection issues and challenges in a variety of situations, B-MAG recommended the Kishwaukee River basin because of its rapid urban growth and the Green River was picked because it represents a rural community setting.

The IEPA will work with local stakeholders and local government officials to develop a River Basin Assessment for the Rock River Basin that will include information on flood plains, impaired waters, wetlands, open space and current and past planning processes.

IEPA will eventually provide such integrated assessments on a five-year rotation for all 14 watershed basins in the state, as well as the two Fox River sub-basins, as recommended by B-MAG.

The pilot projects will also implement a model program to test a more effective mechanism for local governments to settle growth and development disputes. Expansions under FPA would occur only if there are no objections and facility plans for wastewater facilities would have to be consistent with point source and non-point source pollution prevention strategies identified in the watershed plan.

The B-MAG agreed to meet at least annually to help IEPA evaluate the new watershed approach and evaluate how the results from the pilot projects impact on the future of the FPA program. A copy of the B-MAG report is available at www.epa.state.il.us/water.