Lower Fox River Watershed Discovery Report

The Lower Fox Watershed lies entirely in Illinois and covers significant parts of Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, and DeKalb Counties. The watershed boundary also touches Cook, Lee, DuPage, Will, and Grundy Counties. The objective of this project was to investigate flood issues in the Lower Fox Watershed, acquire relevant information through a series of meetings with stakeholders, and prepare a report and maps that communicate the information and data collected. There are a number of flooding issues in the Lower Fox Watershed, and analyses of available data were performed to determine where there are combinations of potentially unverified engineering data, high risk, and community concerns. Prior to the Discovery meetings, a draft Discovery Map was created displaying, where possible, the data identified.Watershed stakeholders from a variety of disciplines were invited to four Discovery meetings held in November 2010, one each in DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, and LaSalle Counties. The objectives of the meetings were to present and verify information about flooding in the watershed and collect additional information from watershed stakeholders on flooding issues and mitigation interest. The Discovery Map (and associated geospatial database) was updated with the information gathered at the meetings and through subsequent follow-up contacts. The following report documents the data collected, community input, and areas of interest for possible additional study.