Title
Pond Stewardship and Management
History
Over the years, the Village has accepted a number of ponds and detention basins that comprise the stormwater management system for the Village. There have been varying levels of stormwater basin maintenance and management performed by differing departments and contractors and a comprehensive strategy has not been developed. Included in these efforts have been shoreline plantings, re-plantings and aquatic vegetation improvements.
In an effort to develop a sustainable maintenance and management plan for the ponds that comprise the Village’s stormwater management and pond system, Public Works has been conferring with the Parks Department and Village Administration over the past couple years. As the functionality of the ponds is directly related to the stormwater sewer system that is maintained by Public Works, the responsibility for maintenance and management of the ponds has historically resided in Public Works. The funding for the pond related work is contained within the Village’s Water & Sewer Fund.
After several isolated projects with varying levels of success were undertaken over the past several years to improve select ponds and shorelines, what has become evident (specifically during 2010) is that neither Parks nor the Public Works Departments possess the requisite skills or resources to systematically develop and maintain ponds and the associated shorelines to acceptable levels of quality throughout the Village.
Detention Basin Maintenance Program
There are over 550 ponds in the Village that are part of the larger stormwater management system. Approximately 172 ponds throughout the Village are maintained by the Village. Staff is proposing a pond management strategy that relies on a categorization of each pond based on the following broad goals:
1. Establish a comprehensive Village-wide approach.
2. Provide consistency in expectations among all stakeholders.
3. Utilize the right resources at the...
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