VRLB - Public Works Potable Water & Stormwater Management

Central Lake County Joint Action water Agency

The Village of Round Lake Beach purchases water from the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency (CLCJAWA). CLCJAWA is an intergovernmental cooperative, formed by the communities it serves: Grayslake, Gurnee, Lake Bluff, Libertyville, Mundelein, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, Round Lake Park, Vernon Hills and the County of Lake representing the unincorporated areas of Knollwood/Roundout and Wildwood.

Water is pumped from Lake Michigan in Lake Bluff. It is treated at CLCJAWA’s Paul M. Neal Water Treatment Facility. The standard treatment process is enhanced by additional treatment steps that make the facility unique in the Midwest. Water from Lake Michigan goes through a primary disinfecting step using ozone instead of chlorine. Ozone removes contaminants and deactivates disease-causing pathogens more effectively than chlorine. All treated water also passes through carbon filters to remove any remaining contaminants, particles and off tastes or odors. The water is then treated with chlorine, fluoride for dental health and a phosphate compound to protect your water from the metals found in your plumbing. To learn more about the treatment process please visit CLCJAWA’s web site at www.clcjawa.com.

Lake County Stormwater Management Commission

Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) provides technical assistance, local knowledge and problem solving skills to coordinate flood damage reduction, flood hazard mitigation, water quality enhancements and natural resource protection projects. SMC’s planning efforts currently focus on developing watersheds. The majority of stormwater runoff from the Round Lake Beach area is tributary to the Squaw Creek Watershed which is a sub-watershed of the Fox River Watershed.

A watershed management plan typically includes updated floodplain mapping and an action plan to reduce flooding and improve water quality of the natural drainage system from the impacts of development. Round lake Beach has been a Certified Community since the adoption of the Stormwater Management Commission’s Watershed Development Ordinance in 1992.

To learn more about the Stormwater Management Commission, you can visit their web site at www.co.lake.il.us/smc/.

Village of Round Lake Beach - Hook’s Lake

Basic Information:

Hook’s Lake was constructed as a regional stormwater detention basin. There are about 500 acres of urbanized development tributary to the Lake. The 200+ acre-foot detention volume is intended to restrict the flow of water to downstream areas to allow those areas to drain adequately prior to releasing water from the Lake. The available storage volume is large enough to have retained all of the runoff generated from the 1986 floods without having to release any water to the downstream area.

Hook’s Lake was named after the family owning the property that the Lake now occupies. The Village acquired the land for the primary purpose of creating a regional Stormwater Management Facility. In addition, the construction of the Lake provided an opportunity for addressing other Village needs such as a collector road between new developments and commercial districts.

The Problem:

The topography of the Rollins Road tributary area consisted of irregularly sloping land that generally drained southerly toward Round Lake. These land irregularities tend to form “depressional” pockets that restrict or impede surface runoff from flowing naturally to the Lake.

During the 1986 flooding of this area, the runoff from the 500-acre farmland north of Rollins Road was so great that it overtopped the road spilling into the single-family residential area to the south. The lack of a positive overland flow route resulted in widespread flooding over most of the area, affecting over 200 homes and inundated a 6 square block area for days. Fire trucks we required to pump out the area on an emergency basis.

The Village of Round Lake Beach directed the preparation of a Stormwater Management Plan to identify the problems and solutions to prevent further flooding.

The flooding reoccurred in June of 1993. By then the area north of Rollins Road had begun to develop. It was apparent that the 500 acres of tributary farmland would soon be urbanized necessitating the immediate implementation of the Stormwater Management Plan.

The Answer:

The solution to the 1986 and 1993 flooding was two-fold. Initially a 48-inch storm sewer was installed to provide a conveyance system to collect runoff generated through the depressional areas that existed and provide a positive drain to Round Lake.

The second part of the solution addressed the 500-acre tributary north of Rollins Road. Conceptually, the plan was to retain the runoff generated from north of Rollins Road until the rainfall had stopped and the area to the south had a chance to drain. This was accomplished by constructing a stormwater detention basin (Hook’s Lake) having a capacity in excess of 200 acre-feet. The discharge from Hook’s Lake is restricted to 10% of what is allowed by the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance. The downstream runoff conditions are electronically monitored and transmitted back to the Lake to signal when it is safe to increase the rate of flow out of the Lake. Pumps are provided to not only re-circulate the water but also replace the depressional storage that existed in the original farmland by drawing down the Lake level below the outlet.

Facts Regarding Hook’s Lake Project:

• Engineer: Devery Engineering, Inc.
• General Contractor: Lake County Grading Co.
• Construction Cost: $3,000,000
• Construction Start: October 1994
• Construction Completion: June 1996
• Surface Area at Normal Level: 35 Acres
• Surface Area at High Level: 42 Acres
• Total Detention Volume: 225 Acre-Feet
• Depressional Storage Provided: 35 Acre-Feet
• Release Rate:
• Wet Weather: 8 Cubic Feet per Second
• Dry Weather: 16 Cubic Feet per Second
• Volume of Earth Excavated: 750,000 Cubic Yards
• Depth of Lake: 8-12 Feet
• Wetland Mitigation: 7 Acres in 3 Locations
• Shoreline Length: 5,000 Feet
• Tributary Area: 500 Acres
• Spillway Capacity: 1,000 Cubic Feet per Second

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