Illinois Residents Grapple With Urban Flooding
By Britton Struthers-Lugo
This article was originally published by the Latino News Network
Original reporting took place in March 2025 and mentions have been updated as the publishing of this version from “Alderman-elect” to “Alderman” to reflect the swearing in of the now current Alderman as of May, 2025.
Murky waters cover a basement floor; the smell of sewage fills the room. Once it’s drained, the laborious clean-up process begins. This burdensome cycle is something that some residents of Berwyn, an urban suburb just outside Chicago’s southwest neighborhoods, are familiar with.
“It was one of our historic 100-year rain events. June of 2023, about 8 or 9 inches of rain,” recalls Joshua Bowman, one of Berwyn’s newly elected Aldermen. “That’s what had FEMA come knocking on our door. You had people with feet of water in their basements. Cicero was hit really hard. Berwyn, as well. And people were just wrecked.”
The flooding event in June of 2023 was some of the most severe flooding Berwyn had seen in over a decade (previously, 2012 was the last federally-declared flood disaster in the area). However, flood water has not disappeared entirely from the streets, or the homes, in Berwyn; as patterns of severe weather increase, climate experts predict flood levels will continue to rise.
What is the problem?
Urban flooding, or excessive water that pools in developed areas, is of increasing concern to residents and infrastructure in Berwyn, Illinois.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, urban flooding is caused by rain that falls on non-porous surfaces (think concrete, asphalt, and other water-resistant materials) that inundate the local stormwater, sewage and drainage systems. It is linked to urbanization and out-of-date stormwater infrastructure, and unfortunately, as extreme weather events occur more frequently across the U.S., climate scientists foresee urban flooding as an increasing problem.
“We’re going to continue to see increasingly more severe rain events, just like the one we saw in July 2023,” said Climate Resilience Program Lead at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Kate Evasic. According to Evasic, Chicago needs to be aware of these climate concerns and prepare the city infrastructurally, “so that we’re able to withstand not just the storms that we’re experiencing today, but the storms of the future.” However, tackling Chicago-land’s century-old sewage system is no easy feat.
One of the main culprits for urban flooding throughout the greater Chicago area, as is the case in Berwyn, is the city’s combined sewer system. A combined sewer system is one where the sanitary sewage and stormwater use the same lines to flow out to the city’s water reclamation plants.
According to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago,“Most of these local sewers are required to carry much more water today than they did when they were first put into service, and as a consequence, they can exceed their flow capacity, causing backups.”
Provided by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, this chart illustrates what a combined-sewer system looks like in the Greater Chicago area. Source: MWRD
These backups, often riddled with sanitary hazards, remain stagnant in the streets or drain into people’s homes.
“When you have flooding, especially if it's in a combined sewer, then you have the extreme health concerns related to raw sewage in your flood water. But then there's also all kinds of contaminants on our roads and on other properties,” said Evasic.
Aside from being frustrating to deal with and potentially expensive to repair, these rising waters pose a real health risk to those who experience them.
How residents are impacted
“It’s kind of a horrifying thing,” said Alex McKinley, Berwyn resident and volunteer at the Berwyn Tree Canopy Initiative, who has dealt with flooding in his home multiple times over the past few years.
“The first time it happened,” McKinley recounts, “I was in the basement and I was tipped off by a horrid smell, which was the sewer gas being forced up the drain. And then, sure enough, it started pouring out in the laundry room.”
Before his campaign as 1st ward Alderman of Berwyn, Micah Caldwell’s basement experienced several flooding events in 2021. Photo courtesy of Micah Caldwell from 2021.
Berwyn resident and 1st Ward Alderman Micah Caldwell has also been subject to the frustrations of basement backups and urban flooding in Berwyn. Caldwell recalls one incident that occurred shortly after he and his wife moved into their new home in 2021:
“We probably had about 3 inches of water and sewage that was coming from the sewer line. You know, it wasn't seepage. It was coming from the sewer line that was just going straight into our basement.”
Caldwell said that his basement has flooded two more times since that first incident. Aside from first-hand encounters, flooding reports illustrate community members’ frustration with water invading their homes and their inability to control the flow.
A resident who lives along Wesley Avenue reported 4-6 inches of rain in their basement at the end of January:
“The only time we have this unpleasant and unhealthy problem is when the City of Berwyn main sewer line is full and outflow from our property has nowhere to flow but to back up into our basement,” the report reads.
This is the Urban Flood Susceptibility Index created by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. According to Kate Evasic, the index identifies “areas of the region that are more susceptible to urban flooding based on a history of past flooding claims and then different characteristics of those places.” Berwyn (left of Cicero) ranks among the most susceptible communities in Northeast Illinois. 2018.
Residents’ frustration is clear, the problem is visible and persistent; however, a permanent solution would most likely require modernizing the entire sewage and stormwater drainage system in Cook County.
“What's said a lot in stormwater is that there's no silver bullet that's going to solve these flooding issues,” said Pedro Ortiz, a Senior Civil Engineer with the MWRD.
Financial restraints, in addition to the burden of time, are both reasons why a one-stop-shop solution is very unlikely in the near future.
“Everyone knows that the needs far outweigh the money that's available,” said Evasic, “So that's why I think that we're not going to be able to build our way out of this problem.”
Rather than look for permanent solutions, said Evasic, “the shifting goalposts of climate change really mean that we have to figure out what it's like to live with flooding as a continuous threat, but try to reduce the losses as much as we can.”
So, how can the City of Berwyn best prepare to weather the storm?
Sudden Storms Sweep the Streets of Berwyn: Residents Grapple with Urban Flooding (pt. 2)
Solutions to Berwyn’s Urban Flooding Issue
Basements filled with murky storm and sewer water, or back alleys riddled with standing water. These are some of the images that Berwyn’s urban flooding problem brings to mind for residents needing to deal with it. What is local government doing to help residents protect their homes from rising waters? And how can residents take control to mitigate damage from excess runoff and sewer backups?
Mitigation efforts and setbacks
As made clear by the 2018 Stormwater Plan, there are many approaches Berwyn’s local government can take to mitigate urban flooding for its residents. One of the effective ones has been green alleys. As opposed to regular alleys, green alleys are built with sustainable materials, such as pervious pavements. Green alleys allow for better stormwater drainage, as standing water is more likely to sink into the permeable ground rather than drain into someone’s basement.
a green alley located at the 3700 block of Cuyler after heavy rain (L) and an alley at the 3700 block of Lombard after the same rainfall (R). Credit: Joshua Bowman
While green alleys can improve standing water in Berwyn, and this is something local government is looking to continually implement, they’re expensive and time-consuming to construct.
“Berwyn has 655 alleys,” said Robert Schiller, Berwyn’s Director of Public Works. “Not all of them will qualify for a green alley.”
This is because a green alley can only be implemented somewhere with permeable soil that will allow for water absorption, and it’s up to Schiller and his team to test that. Soil testing isn’t the only hurdle to implementing more green alleys.
“The cost for a green alley is about $360,000, and that's one 600-foot alley. So, yeah, it's a very long and slow process going through and applying. You apply for a grant, you get maybe a million dollars or a million three or something to that effect. Then we have our match. So we might get four, maybe five alleys done,” said Schiller, “To have the funding to be able to go through and do all that you need to do would be great, but it's unrealistic to expect to get, you know, $70, $80, $90 million, $100 million for a community of 57,000 to install green alleys.”
This doesn’t mean green alleys are a dead end; members of local government, such as 2nd Ward Alderman Joshua Bowman, are looking to find ways to overcome these challenges, and of course, the MWRD will still work in collaboration with Berwyn to provide funding for these types of projects.
“We consistently and are constantly applying for grant funding for various types of stormwater mitigation,” Schiller confirms.
In the meantime, local government has given agency to the individual homeowner to mitigate flooding in their homes with the Residential Flood Mitigation Shared Cost Program. This program provides a grant to homeowners who wish to install a flood control system - this can come in several forms, such as a backflow prevention device or check valve. The program is designed to reimburse the costs of installation with a city grant that covers up to $3,500.
However, these flood control systems are often much more expensive than a few thousand dollars to install.
“There's a lot of concern from people that the overall cost is going to be so high that even with the offsetting grant that they can't absorb the cost,”said South Berwyn resident Karin Nangreave.
Micah Caldwell, Berwyn resident and 1st Ward Alderman, said he spent around $15,000 to install an overhead sewer system, one of the options for homeowners who take advantage of the program.
However, now may be the best time to take advantage of the Shared Cost Program, as the American Rescue Plan has recently dedicated $500,000 to subsidize the program.
This means that, through the Shared Cost Program, a resident can receive an upfront grant of $4,000 to install a flood mitigation device.
“If it’s a backflow prevention device with a sump pump, electric discharge bypass pump, they would get $4,000 credit through the ARPA funds from the grant. And then after that, you take the balance of what’s owed and you get 50% of that up to $3,500 from the city,” said Schiller.
However, city officials understand that, despite these extra funds incentivizing the program, the Flood Mitigation Shared Cost Program may still be too expensive for residents to pursue.
So, where is middle ground? Something that is cost-friendly and sustainable long-term.
A green solution: trees and native species
Graphic from the Urban Tree Canopy : This image shows how an urban tree absorbs water and helps reduce flooding and improve water quality. It starts with precipitation, which is intercepted by the tree canopy. The canopy softens the impact of raindrops, preventing erosion. Leaves on the ground and the tree’s roots reduce the volume and speed of runoff, while also helping water soak into the soil.
“Trees are the simplest solution, and the cheapest,” said Alicia Ruiz, former 6th Ward Alderman and Aldermanic Co-Chair of the Department of Public Works.
To specify, the impetus is on planting more native species around Berwyn to help mitigate flooding. Even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests trees and native species as a viable method to reduce runoff (while also removing harmful pollutants in water at the same time).
“Should the Program not commence by or before March 31, 2025, the parties (and each of them) shall have the option to immediately terminate this Agreement and withdraw from the Program and this Agreement.”
Robert Schiller clarified that while the City has still not received the $75,000 to begin planting, the agreement is still intact. We reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on numerous occasions, but the only response to date refers [publication] to its floodAs per the U.S. Forest Service’s guidance, there are four main ways in which increased canopy can reduce runoff:
“1. Through evapotranspiration, trees draw moisture from the soil ground surface, thereby increasing soil water storage potential. 2) Leaves, branch surfaces, and trunk bark intercept and store rainfall, thereby reducing runoff volumes and delaying the onset of peak flows. 3) Root growth and decomposition increase the capacity and rate of soil infiltration by rainfall and reduce overland flow. 4) Tree canopies reduce soil erosion by diminishing the impact of raindrops on barren surfaces.”
In short, native plants have very deep root systems that permeate the ground and can better absorb rainwater. There are several other benefits to planting native species, such as improving air quality, mitigating erosion and maintaining local ecosystems, to name a few.
In fact, Berwyn resident and founder of Spoke Pockette Farm, Julia Klee, has witnessed the benefits of native species firsthand. Klee noticed a pattern of excess water built up in a cement alley that sits between her and her neighbor’s house.
“When we got a really bad rain,” Klee said, “It almost went into my neighbor’s window.”
In reaction, Klee built a pocket forest in her yard. A pocket forest is a densely planted collection of trees and shrubs; they have a host of benefits, including carbon sequestering and runoff reduction. As it exists now, Klee has around 25 native trees in her forest.
“That's keeping water out of the alley. Anytime it rains and floods, there's zero flooding right there.”
Klee now manages her business, Spoke Pockette Farm, and helps her neighbors and clients plant gardens with more native species.
“I want to make sure this is accessible for people,” said Klee. “The cost of labor and just the work of doing the install is prohibitive for a lot of people right now.”
Affordability is key in successful mitigation plans for urban flooding, especially in places where green infrastructure often gets sacrificed to reduce funding burdens. The Berwyn Tree Canopy Initiative recognizes this and has been encouraging residents to take advantage of Berwyn’s free tree-planting program.
“What we’re trying to do is get the city to plant more trees as part of a flood mitigation strategy,” said McKinley of the BTCI. “They [the city] already have a free tree planting program, but it relies on resident requests, and it’s not advertised terribly well.”
McKinley believes that the City of Berwyn should be more proactive in their native species planting mission, especially where it concerns city-owned land and new construction projects.
In fact, in August 2024, the City of Berwyn and the Township of Berwyn signed an intergovernmental agreement that allocated $75,000 toward the Tree Canopy Restoration Program.
information page online. Inaction to increase canopy coverage in Berwyn is potentially due to a lack of desire for more trees.
“There is a high percentage of residents in the community that are anti-tree,” said former 6th Ward Alderman Alicia Ruiz.
Schiller attributes some of the anti-tree sentiment to the fear of the large and deep roots that native plants grow. The fear residents maintain, Schiller said, is that these root systems will grow down to the sewer systems looking for a water source, and cause damage to the pipes - an expensive repair.
“Whether they’re on their property, the city’s property, the neighbor’s property, the tree roots will eventually get to those lines. And for those reasons are why some of these people say no, they don’t want a tree in their front yard, in their parkway, any of that.”
These fears are not completely unrealistic. CMAP’s Climate Resilience Program Lead said damage from large root systems happens and is potentially expensive to fix.
“Yeah, there could be some negative tradeoffs. But I think on the whole, trees can reduce flooding to a degree,” said Evasic.
While trees may not prevent major flood disasters such as the one in July 2023, experts agree that their benefits likely outweigh the maintenance costs. Decades-old studies have continually proven that increasing tree canopy decreases runoff after a storm. A 2014 study conducted in Wilmington, North Carolina found an 80% reduction in runoff using trees in combination with Silva Cell (a stormwater management deep root system). A similar study Manchester, UK found a 58% reduction in runoff during the summer seasons and 62% in the winter.
The EPA completed 17 studies showing how trees (on a large scale) greatly reduced financial and physical burdens on America’s stormwater systems.
In its report, the EPA cited Minneapolis, Minnesota, as one of its case studies. In 2010, Minneapolis committed to planting 173 trees using a structural cell model, resulting in a 10% reduction in peak flows to the city’s stormwater management system. To this day, Minnesota uses this model in its construction efforts to aid stormwater control and management.
While long-term investments into green-based solutions are largely reliant on local government initiatives, requesting a tree in Berwyn is a small step individuals can take to begin to mitigate the risk of floods, especially as rainy season looms. This, in tandem with other measures such as disconnecting downspouts and investing in a rain barrel, may hopefully keep Berwyn residents a little safer (and drier) from urban flood and stormwater.
This story is made possible through the Berwyn Collaborative: Understanding Community Needs, led by News Ambassadors in collaboration with local news outlets, including Illinois Latino News, click HERE.
Britton Struthers-Lugo is a reporter with the Medill News Service at Northwestern University, a freelance journalist, and a photographer.
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