Issues
PRESERVING & IMPROVING
WATER QUALITY
Normally, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) routes sewage and rainwater through treatment plants to remove large debris and grit from sewage until it is safe to be released into the Chicago River. When the sewer system becomes overwhelmed during heavy rainfall, however, sewage and rainwater bypass treatment plants altogether–as a result, untreated sewage is released directly into the river. While the river doesn’t normally flow into Lake Michigan, every time it rains, the river is at risk of flooding. To prevent this, the MWRD sometimes opens the barrier between the lake and the river–this results in untreated sewage also polluting Lake Michigan.
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Green spaces can absorb rainwater where it falls and hold the water instead of immediately sending it into the sewer system. By alleviating the burden on the sewer system, we can reduce or eliminate discharges of untreated sewage into the river. As a result, water quality would improve and move us closer to our goal of making the river swimmable, while also protecting the water quality of the Great Lakes, which contains one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water. Green space also has other co-benefits for communities, including a cooling effect and mental health benefits.
The map to the left is from the MWRD site. Click on the map to follow the link to learn more about these outfall locations.
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FLOODING &
WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT
Many of the sewers in Cook County accept both wastewater and rainwater. When it rains, the sewers get backed up and many people experience basement and street flooding because the combination of rainwater and sewage has nowhere else to go.
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Sarah grew up in a home that flooded every time it rained. The loss of reliable space and storage meant something to her family. Eventually, the finished basement where she once pulled books off built-in shelves and did laundry had to be torn down, and the foundation of the house needed additional reinforcement. Flooding can destroy cherished positions, require immediate and sustained attention and take a toll on people’s bank accounts. We cannot let basement backups be our back up plan.
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“In a house full of kids, the loss of reliable space and storage meant something to my family.”
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Green spaces can absorb rainwater where it falls instead of sending it into the sewer system. We must strategically distribute these projects across the county in such a way that they alleviate basement and street flooding in all areas, with a focus on areas with a higher propensity for flooding. Flooding is hyper local, and green infrastructure is also hyper local as well as scalable and available in a range of cost levels.
(Click the picture to go directly to the Center for Neighborhood Technology report.)
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AGENCY TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY
MWRD board meetings are held in the middle of a weekday in a neighborhood without street parking. Before the pandemic, constituents could only make public comments if they attended the meetings in person. It took a pandemic to change this. During COVID, the MWRD live-streamed meetings and allowed for remote public comment. Once the pandemic was declared to be over, the MWRD shifted to allowing remote public comments to be submitted in writing, and the comments would be read aloud during the meeting. Then, the policy shifted to allowing public comment to be submitted but the comments no longer read aloud during the meeting.
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As a commissioner, Sarah would supplement the monthly meetings with evening and weekend events in Cook County communities because the MWRD should meet community members where they are. Remote public comment should be easier to access.
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While significant updates have been made to the MWRD website in the last five years, it still appears to be in transition. The website should be easier to navigate, including on a mobile device.
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Sarah has identified good governance principles in environmental agreements, pursued compliance with a transparency provision of the municipal separate storm sewer system permits issued to municipalities in Cook County as a Sierra Club volunteer, and championed public participation in various non-profit groups from the role of a board member. Sarah would apply these experiences to working with the MWRD.
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COMMUNITY EDUCATION & OUTREACH
An agency with a $1.4 billion budget and nine elected commissioners should be widely known and understood, yet many county residents are unfamiliar with the agency and confuse the MWRD with drinking water agencies.
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Sarah has done public education and outreach as part of her non-profit board experience, ranging from teaching about water pollution using the watershed model pictured on the right to creating a pamphlet explaining the role of government in drinking water and storm and waste water management. She also has a podcast about local climate solutions. As an organizer, Sarah has the skills to connect with residents, and as commissioner, she would continue to draw on these skills.
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Climate change curriculum could complement the climate change mitigation and adaptation happening in school yards across the county. A bill passed in recent years mandated climate change curriculum in Illinois schools. This bill is an opportunity to teach students and community members about wastewater and stormwater. The MWRD is investing more in the Space to Grow program, which transforms flood-prone concrete playlots into green spaces where children can play. Sarah would support that investment.
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