Durbin Meets With MWRD To Express Continued Support For McCook Reservoir
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to express his continued support for the construction and funding of the McCook Reservoir Project. Durbin, along with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) recently pressed the Army Corps for strong and continued support for the construction of the McCook Reservoir Project in a letter to Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Douglas Lamont.
“The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s work is critically important for the water quality in our rivers and waterways and the thousands of residents and businesses who are in areas prone to flooding,” said Durbin. “Given the McCook Reservoir’s regional significance, I will continue to work to ensure that MWRD has the federal funding and resources it needs to meet their critical deadline for Stage 1 completion.”
The McCook Reservoir, when completed, will hold about 10 billion gallons of storm water and sewage. The first phase, with a capacity of 3.5 billion gallons, should be completed by 2017; and the second phase, with a capacity of 6.5 billion gallons, should be completed by 2029. The reservoir helps with combined sewer overflows that cause flooding and watercourse contamination in Chicagoland and benefits Chicago and 36 suburbs, including 1.5 million structures and five million people.
Senator Durbin also discussed the Administration’s delay of the Brandon Road Study with the MWRD members, a report that they support. The study was set to be released on February 28th and will offer recommendations to keep invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. In January, Durbin and eleven other bipartisan senators from the Great Lakes region wrote to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy asking the Army Corps to complete the Brandon Road Study.