The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and partners have completed work on the Arrowhead Lake Flood Control Project.

At a celebration event, officials and stakeholders cut the ribbon on the project, which has removed 70 homes and structures from the flood plain and improved trails and forest preserve amenities.

The $1.6-million project increases storage capacity by more than 13-million gallons to protect homes and save residents money on flood insurance. The work aims to both mitigate flooding and protect the water environment around the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s (FPCC) Arrowhead Lake.

“We are proud to make this investment to protect the Palos Heights community from excessive stormwater and give them peace of mind and cost savings for homeowners who were previously forced to pay mandatory flood insurance due to the threat of 100-year storm events that are occurring more and more often and causing devastating flooding,” said MWRD President Kari Steele. “Thanks to the collaboration with our partners at the Cook County Forest Preserves, the city of Palos Heights, and the Cal-Sag Watershed Planning Council, we will now have protection from flooding as well as new trails and an improved forest preserve to attract visitors to beautiful Arrowhead Lake.”

As part of the $1.6-million project, the existing dam and outlet culvert were demolished and replaced with a new concrete dam, outlet culvert and spillway. The additional stormwater storage is 40 acre-feet or 13,034,057 gallons, providing much needed flood storage for neighbors north of the lake.

Coinciding with the stormwater capacity improvements, the MWRD raised a bike trail on the north and east sides of the lake, resurfaced 2,675 feet of a multi-use pedestrian path with new asphalt and regraded and restored an eroded bank at the south side of Arrowhead Lake with native seed, plant plugs, and trees.

“This project is approaching 40 years in the making, and it was not until the MWRD started the Cal-Sag Watershed Planning Council meetings and began developing the Detailed Watershed Plan to study the area and work with Palos Heights residents that we began to resolve these flooding issues and flood insurance costs,” said Mayor Straz. “We want to thank the MWRD and our residents for their commitment to staying in their homes and the investments they have made in our community.”