Construction Season in Full Swing

Last Friday, I went out to see the progress being made on a creek crossing at a subdivision in Johnsburg. TLC is supposed to be taking a conservation easement on the creek and associated buffers sometime this spring, and I wanted to see the construction activity for myself.

The site is a mess - with all this rain we have had, there is mud everywhere. Deep ruts in the access lane, piles of topsoil heaped in various places. But, the creek water was clear.

Despite the fact that it was raining when I was out there, and it had rained heavily just two days before, the creek water was clear, and I saw minnows (or darters) swimming in the cool water.

The visit got me thinking about construction sites in general. They are a mess. There is no getting around that. The question is always whether the mess is being contained to appropriate locations on the property so that it doesn't spill over onto neighboring properties, onto the public roads, or into natural areas.

To manage the mess, most developers use silt fencing to contain the mud that wants to run-off of the site each time it rains. For larger sites, the silt fences should be combined with things like sediment traps, straw bale dams (to slow flow heading down hills), and even stabilization through seeding with a "cover crop" such as annual rye grass.

Construction sites that disturb more than one acre of soil are required to have a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Inspections related to these permits are performed by the McHenry County Soil & Water Conservation District in Woodstock. Additionally, most construction projects of any size are covered by the Stormwater Ordinance for the county.

If you suspect that a construction site isn't doing enough to prevent damage to surrounding properties, or to safeguard wetlands and streams flowing through the construction site, please contact the Soil & Water office at 815-338-0099 x3. If the project is in a municipality, contact the Village Hall about the problem. If the project is in an unincorporated area of the county contact the County's Planning and Development department 815-334-4560.