Hours before heavy rainfall inundated Chicago and Cook County suburbs on July 2, the $3.8 billion flood-control project in the region seemed prepared to handle the storm runoff. Records from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District indicated that the Deep Tunnel’s large sewers, capable of holding 2.3 billion gallons, were nearly empty. The McCook Reservoir, over 20 times larger than Soldier Field, was only 17% full of raw sewage and runoff waiting to be safely treated. However, the first signs of trouble emerged around 8:30 a.m. when a mixture of runoff, human waste, and industrial waste started pouring into the Des Plaines River from an overflow pipe in Lyons, a southwestern suburb. This was followed by similar incidents in Wilmette and Chicago, where waste flowed into the North Branch of the Chicago River for nearly a day. Ultimately, sewage overflows from multiple overflow pipes occurred across the county, causing basement flooding in many homes. The overwhelmed local sewers and Deep Tunnel led to the opening of a sluice gate and locks, releasing over 1.1 billion gallons of contaminated waste into Lake Michigan. Leaders of the flood-control project have been criticized by suburban leaders for not taking action earlier.

The Deep Tunnel project, initiated in 1975, was originally meant to keep pollution out of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. However, increasingly intense rainfall, driven by climate change, has challenged the system’s capabilities. Recent storms have demonstrated that stormwater tunnels cannot handle runoff fast enough, resulting in sewage overflows and flooding in significant parts of Chicago and Cook County.
Climate change has caused warmer temperatures and increased moisture in the atmosphere, leading to more intense rainfall during storms. Scientists predict that rainfall triggering sewage dumping into Lake Michigan will increase by 50% by 2039, with a potential 160% increase in major storm events. Since 2008, approximately 40 billion gallons of runoff and waste have been released into Lake Michigan, significantly more than the previous two decades.

While officials from the Water Reclamation District claim that the Deep Tunnel is functioning as designed and has prevented even worse flooding, critics argue that it is insufficient to handle future catastrophic disasters. In compliance with a settlement with environmental groups, the district plans to expand the McCook Reservoir to accommodate larger storage. However, the consequences of chronic flooding, including basement backups and significant financial losses, disproportionately affect low-income communities.

The region’s geographical location exacerbates flooding issues, as it was built on swamplands. Managing stormwater has become increasingly challenging due to changing weather patterns and climate change.

 

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