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Community Corner

River flooding, ice jam threat melts away

By Anastasia Tuskey

            JOLIET – A combination of gradually warmer weather, minimal new rainfall, and some help from a special warm water siphon system worked together to remove thick ice that potentially could have caused flooding and damage to homes along the Kankakee River.

            The harsh winter conditions resulted in ice, as much as 30 inches thick, to accumulate along the entire length of the Kankakee River.  As temperatures rose, run-off from snowmelt began to cause the ice to break up, threatening to flood homes or damage them with ice chunks pushing up onto the shoreline.   At one point, ice built up against Warner Bridge at the border of Will and Kankakee Counties, forcing its closure for nearly three weeks.

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            “These are conditions not seen in at least 30 years,” said Harold Damron, Will County’s Emergency Management Director. “Several homes were flooded and damaged by these huge pieces of floating ice.”

            The agency worked with other local, county, state, and federal agencies for several weeks to fine-tune their emergency response plans.  Fortunately, those plans were not needed.  Favorable weather conditions helped the ice to melt and move downstream gradually.

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            Another important factor that helped alleviate the ice jams was a special siphon system operated by the county in cooperation with Exelon’s Dresden Generating Station.  The siphon draws warm water from Dresden plant’s cooling lake into the Kankakee. 

            “The siphon helped to clear ice at a critical point on the river where ice jams formed,” said Damron. 

            Because of the extreme weather conditions, Will County Executive Larry Walsh made a

direct request to obtain approval from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to use the siphon for an extended period. Throughout the operation, Will County, IEPA, and Exelon representatives monitored the siphon operation and communicated on a daily basis.

             “We are grateful for the cooperation with the IEPA to allow us to use this system to its fullest capacity to protect residents and their property, while ensuring the environment is protected too,” said Walsh.  “This is a great example of government and the private sector working together to maintain the safety of our residents.”

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