Rainready Chatham

Phase One Report: RainReady Chatham PHASE ONE REPORT: RAINREADY CHATHAM | A FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CHATHAM, CHICAGO Phase One Report: RainReady Chatham A Flood Risk Assessment for Chatham, Chicago PREPARED BY THE CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY AND THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS OCTOBER 2015 ©2015 CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 RAINREADY CHATHAM 2 CHATHAM 3 FLOOD RISK 6 SOURCES OF FLOODING 8 CAUSES OF FLOODING 12 EXISTING PLANS AND PROGRAMS 15 NEXT STEPS 16 APPENDIX RAINREADY CHATHAM STEERING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Cheryl Watson Chicago Conservation Corps Richard Wooten Gathering Point Community Council MEMBERS Lorri E. Baldwin Lori Burns Ora Jackson ABOUT CNT RainReadySM is an initiative of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). As an award-winning innovations laboratory for urban sustainability, CNT is dedicated to taking on big challenges, starting in small places. CNT helps make neighborhoods, cities, and regions work better, for everyone. This work is generously supported with grants from The Boeing Company, Grand Victoria Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Prince Charitable Trusts, and the Surdna Foundation. PHASE ONE REPORT: RAINREADY CHATHAM | A FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CHATHAM, CHICAGO INTRODUCTION Chatham, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, The path forward for a RainReady Chatham will require has been susceptible to flooding since the area known solutions at multiple scales. Major investments are colloquially as Hogs Swamp was first developed in the needed to upgrade and maintain the sewer network (grey 1860s. Today, many Chatham residents and business infrastructure). Community-wide green infrastructure owners experience chronic basement flooding, which is is necessary for reducing the amount of stormwater caused by backups in the city sewer system and seepage runoff entering the sewer system. Individual homes and through below-ground floors and walls, both of which buildings critically need to be upgraded with plumbing, contribute to mold problems and structural damage. landscaping and building improvements to reduce Flooding is also common in yards and streets. their flood risks. This multi-level approach will require substantial educational and financial investment. Flood-related damages in Chatham are among the worst in Cook County. From 2007-2011, more than $50 The good news is that many of these solutions can million in damage claims were paid out to residents in bring wider economic benefits to the community: trees, the Chatham ZIP codes of 60619 and 60620. The ZIP parkway landscaping, and parks absorb water and code 60619 was found to have both the highest number improve quality of life. Through the RainReady process, of payouts and the largest dollar value of damage payouts flood victims, technical experts, and municipal leaders in the county (The Prevalence and Cost of Urban Flooding, are already working together to create a shared vision for CNT 2013). reducing Chatham’s flood risk. This report represents the first phase of this work. The Phase Two report, including One reason for this vulnerability is the neighborhood’s a RainReady plan of action that will guide residents and relative position in the sewer network. Chatham sits community leaders through implementation of the shared at the top of two distinct “sewersheds,” a network vision, will be published at the end of 2015. of underground pipes designed to collect and carry stormwater and household water to treatment plants The approach being taken by Chatham can be replicated located north and south of Chatham. This sewer across the City of Chicago, where hundreds of thousands configuration, combined with the neighborhood’s low of residents are at significant risk of flooding. Climate elevation and undersized infrastructure, makes Chatham change projections predict that this problem will unusually susceptible to basement backups during become more severe in the coming years, as Chicago big storms. Heavy rain in downstream communities can soon expect two to three times the number of heavy frequently overwhelms the aging sewer network, making precipitation events annually (City of Chicago Climate it difficult for water to get out of Chatham. Action Plan, 2008). Chatham’s process for RainReady planning can be a model for similar efforts across However, Chatham sewers have the advantage of not Chicago’s South Side and beyond. conveying water from any upstream communities. This configuration grants Chatham unusual control over its own flooding. The prevalence of basement backup can be reduced by increasing the amount of rain and snow that is absorbed into the ground using plants, trees, dry wells, and rain barrels. These types of solutions are collectively referred to here as green infrastructure. ©2015 CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY i PHASE ONE REPORT: RAINREADY CHATHAM | A FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CHATHAM, CHICAGO RAINREADY CHATHAM In January 2015, the Center for Neighborhood We also completed a review of existing planning Technology (CNT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers documents and programs designed to reduce flood risk in (USACE), and a group of neighborhood flood victims the community. This included the following materials: joined together to launch RainReady Chatham. To • City of Chicago Capital Improvement Program (2014-2018) determine the scope and primary sources of flooding • f City o Chicago Rain Blocker Program (2015) in the neighborhood, USACE completed a flood risk assessment. The analysis included a review of the • f City o Chicago Basement Flooding Program (2015) following materials: • Cityf o Chicago Green Stormwater Infrastructure Strategy (2014) • RainReady community survey, administered March-May 2015 (Center • f City o Chicago Department of Transportation Sustainable Urban for Neighborhood Technology) Infrastructure Guidelines (2013) • Citizen-reported flood data from the Gross Gatherings of 2013 (Center • Illinois Department of Transportation Storm Water Management Plan for Neighborhood Technology) • MWRD Phase II Study Area – City of Chicago Project Overview • The Prevalence and Cost of Urban Flooding (Center for Neighborhood Technology 2013) • 8th Ward Sewer Flow Map (2015) • Topographic maps (United States Geological Survey) • 8th Ward Sewer Capital Improvement Program (2008-2015) and Sewer Cleaning Program (2011-2015) • 311 non-emergency calls to the City of Chicago • f City o Chicago 87th/Cottage Grove Redevelopment Project Area Plan • Historic development 1938-2009 (2002) • LIDAR Flow Path data (City of Chicago) • Our Community and Flooding, Resource Coordination Policy • Tunnel and Reservoir Plan and Sewer Interceptor Map (Metropolitan Committee (1998) Water Reclamation District of Chicago) • Greater Chatham Initiative (DRAFT 2015) • Soil Map (USGS, 1938) • State Street Complete Streets Project Overview (2015) • Building stock and rates of vacancy (City of Chicago) This report provides a summary of the initial flood risk assessment, as well as an overview of existing policies and programs. Photo ©2015 CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY 1 CHATHAM Chatham occupies a special niche in the regional of 6.2%. The median household income is $36,910, economy of Chicago’s South Side, serving as a long-time compared to the Cook County median household income home to middle-income African American residents of $54,548 (2010 U.S. Census). Community leaders and businesses (Greater Chatham Initiative 2015). The believe Chatham is at a critical moment in its trajectory, vitality of this community has suffered in the wake of the and residents and civic leaders must join together to 2008 recession, the housing crisis, and the ongoing flood bolster the economic, cultural, and infrastructural vitality emergency. Since 2008, the unemployment rate has risen of the community and become a “beacon for the South to 15.32%, more than double the Cook County average Side” (Greater Chatham Initiative 2015). 2 PHASE ONE REPORT: RAINREADY CHATHAM | A FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT FOR CHATHAM, CHICAGO FLOOD RISK The scope and severity of flooding in Chatham is well- Indeed, several publically available documents depict documented. In an analysis of flood damage payouts from extreme vulnerability to flooding in Chatham. The Great private insurance companies and federal disaster relief Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study suggests a funds, the Chatham ZIP code 60619 ranked the highest 10-year flood risk in portions of Chatham, and a 25-year among all 169 Cook County ZIP codes, both in the level in the rest of the neighborhood (USACE 2014). number of claims paid out and the total value of damages Chatham’s flood risk is among the highest in Chicago. paid to residents. The neighboring Chatham ZIP code Residents report flood incidents widely across the of 60620 was ranked fourth and ninth in claims and neighborhood without any apparent geographical payouts, respectively. In these two ZIP codes, more than concentrations. In a RainReady survey completed by $50 million in damages were paid out from 16,790 claims 208 Chatham residents, 84% of respondents reported between 2007-2011 (Prevalence and Cost of Urban Flooding, flooding on their properties (Figure 1, red circles). At Center for Neighborhood Technology 2013). CNT’s Gross Gathering, a 2013 event for flood victims, In 2013, the year floods caused Cook County to declare community members reported street and structure a Federal Disaster, at least 465 claims were paid to flooding across the neighborhood (Figure 1,

Load more