Public Input Sought in Woods Creek Watershed Plan

Area government officials are looking for the public's input on ways to address the degrading water quality of Woods Creek Watershed.

The Woods Creek Watershed drains approximately 9 square miles to Crystal Creek.

Large portions of the watershed include subdivisions of homes, commercial/industrial centers, farmland, gravel mining operations, area schools, and recreational facilities primarily in the villages of Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, and city of Crystal Lake, according to a village of Algonquin press release.

The watershed also contains streams, lakes, wetlands, and upland prairies, savannas, and woodlands.

Stakeholder Meeting Tuesday

The village will hold a stakeholder meeting on Tuesday, May 22 from 9 a.m. to 11 at Algonquin Village Hall, 2200 Harnish Drive in Algonquin.

The meeting will focus on a water quality monitoring update, green infrastructure network, ecologically significant areas, sensitive aquifer recharge areas, objectives for the goals of the watershed plan and a presentation on ecological restoration.

Individual landowners along the watershed, organizations and government agencies are sought to provide input and work together to understand the watershed as well as initiate projects to improve water quality, enhance natural resources and open space, according to the news release.

The May 22nd meeting will be the fourth stakeholder meeting. The stakeholder meetings will be held every month for one-and-a-half years as the plan progresses.

Urban Sprawl Leads to Declining Water Quality

Intense urban sprawl in southeast McHenry County over the past 15 years is believed to have caused the deteriorating water quality in the watershed.

Degraded water quality originating from Woods Creek is thought to have a negative impact on Crystal Creek and the Fox River just downstream, according to the news release. 

Impacts to designated uses are primarily the result of phosphorus, total dissolved solids, chloride, fecal coliform and mercury originating from municipal point sources and urban runoff/storm water sewers.