Natural Resources News
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
Does your home or business suffer from a wet basement or flooded backyard? You’re not alone! Whether or live in Cook County IL, 
or somewhere else in the nation, we want to hear your story. We’re aiming to get 200 stories, along with data on the cost and stress it caused you, to help make the case for action at state and national level. Your information on costs of stormwater damage in your basement and backyard will also be used to help us design the nation’s first wet weather ‘Wetrofit’ service.
Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2013
CNT’s pioneering program, ‘Smart Water for Smart Regions’ and its practical focus on designing strategies to help communities alleviate costly water leakages and property damage from flooding, is attracting national attention. Our program staff have been appointed to national and state committees, and invited to speak at national events about this initiative. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
“Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Flickr Creative Commons”
The insurance company, State Farm, has renewed its support for CNT’s “Smart Water for Smart Regions” initiative.
State Farm was a core supporter of the initiative in 2012, along with the Joyce Foundation and Surdna Foundation. Funding is being used to help communities develop strategies to alleviate costly water leakages, as well as property damage from flooding. Organizational supporters include the American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, Alliance for Water Efficiency, and the Great Lakes Commission.
Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, January 17th, 2013
Governor Quinn’s announcement of a new $1 billion Clean Water Initiative to overhaul the Illinois’s “aging water infrastructure” left one thing out—stormwater. But don’t worry! CNT has good news for communities seeking to improve water quality and reduce urban flooding, according to our inquiry to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, stormwater is included.
Since the Governor has ordered that this money should be invested in local and regional projects through the State Revolving Loan Funds, now is a perfect time for local governments and counties to apply for low interest loans (1.93%) for their water supply and stormwater projects that will prevent leaks, improve water quality and reduce urban flooding.
Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, January 10th, 2013
Integrated resource planning, or IRP, is a comprehensive form of water planning that considers all aspects of water resources planning – water supply, wastewater and stormwater – and the interrelationship between them. Its ultimate objective is to establish long-term, least-cost goals that sustainably support a community’s needs and ensures water resource protection.
As communities continue to grapple with budget shortfalls, mounting water infrastructure needs and overwhelming stormwater pollution problems, we need to ensure we are making the best water infrastructure investment decisions and utilizing funds the most efficiently. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
CNT is pleased to announce the release of “Upgrade Your Infrastructure”—a new guide for helping cities set and meet annual goals for installing green infrastructure retrofits. The guide is part of a joint initiative between CNT, American Rivers and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, with a grant from U.S. EPA Region 5.
Polluted stormwater is one of the greatest challenges we have to clean drinking water and surface waters in the Unites States. In highly urbanized environments, more than 90% of rainwater may run off impervious surfaces and enter sewer systems. When the combination of sewage and runoff exceeds the stormwater system’s capacity, untreated raw sewage discharges directly to surface streams resulting in Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) or Separated Sewer overflows (SSOs). Cities in at least 32 states are affected, with older communities in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions some of the most affected. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
Community members work together to make room for the Bowman Community Garden.
Volunteers working together—children and adults pushing wheel-barrows and carrying shovels—bring the words care, community, and cooperation to mind. Thanks to the support from the Prince Charitable Trusts, CNT helped create three new neighborhood open spaces. Each of our community partners—the Albany Park Community Center, Bowmanville Community Organization, and the United Church of Rogers Park—brought local volunteers together with CNT to reduce urban flooding in their neighborhood. The result: accessible community open spaces that reduce stormwater run-off in backyards and basements, and engage community members through hands-on participation. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
Since March of 2012, CNT has been a leading participant in a workgroup facilitated by the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) to develop specific recommendations for statewide post-development stormwater standards for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The effort stems directly from the “Green Infrastructure Study” required by the Illinois General Assembly and completed in 2010, which recommended the adoption of such standards. CNT was a member of the study research team and helped prepare the recommendations as well.
Members of the public have until November 30, 2012 to provide comments on draft recommendations for state-wide stormwater standards in Illinois. Read more »
Posted in Natural Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, November 8th, 2012
The parking lot at Our Lady Gate of Heaven Church (about 20 miles south of Chicago) had frequently been filled with up to two feet of water after large storms. Now instead of remaining flooded for about three days, the bioswale soaks up rainwater and the lot is usable within a day.
A week after Sandy, another storm is brewing along the U.S. East Coast bringing more rain and flooding to communities that are still struggling to recover. As mass evacuations are ordered, we are reminded of the obvious: nature knows no boundaries when it comes to flooding. Every property owner is at risk.
The statement may seem obvious now, and yet it is so easy to forget. Here in Chicago, the region was pummeled by Hurricane Ike in 2008, with severe storms and flooding in July 2010 and then again in July 2011. Damage is not restricted to cataclysmic events—CNT’s interviews with property owners tell a tragic story of ongoing damage when it rains. Elizabeth Rafferty’s South Side Chicago home has flooded four times in the last two years; flood damage to Jim Vinci’s home in Des Plaines cost him $150,000; and Darlene Crawford estimates that she’s been flooded around 30 times in the last four decades. People told us of the stress they suffer whenever it rains; of days off work, and of the problems tackling mold and dampness. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources, Our Lady Gate of Heaven | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
The neighbors’ rain garden straddles their front yards and serves both homes.
On a quiet tree-lined street in Rogers Park, two neighboring households have devised an elegant way to manage stormwater – they built a shared front yard rain garden watered by its own “river.”
Rob Hansen and Kristi Piccolo live next door to Richard and Ami Herzon. After responding to the CNT’s flood reduction survey and visiting with a CNT auditor, both families decided to reduce the threat of flooding by directing roof runoff water away from their single family homes. They also wanted to keep their yards free of standing water.
Over the course of two weekends earlier this summer, Rob and Kristi and Richard and Ami worked together to curtail neighborhood flooding and keep polluted water out of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. As a bonus, they now have a lushly decorated yard. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
