At the January 23, 2006 Community Development Committee meeting, City Council discussed the draft West Branch DuPage River Watershed Plan prepared by the DuPage County Stormwater Management Department in conjunction with Christopher B. Burke Engineering.

On November 14, 2005, representatives of DuPage County and Christopher B. Burke Engineering attended Warrenville's Finance and Personnel Committee meeting to provide an overview of the various restoration activities and environmental enhancements being considered for the section of the West Branch of the DuPage River corridor located in the City.  As a follow-up to that presentation, City Council directed staff to forward comments about the plan to the County.

Recently, the County published an official public notice inviting public input on the draft Watershed Plan.  According to the notice, the public comment period ends on February 2, 2006. Therefore, at yesterday's Committee meeting, City Council authorized staff and Council representatives to review the full draft of the most recent West Branch DuPage River Watershed Plan in order to update and re-issue the City's official input on the draft plan.

According to the public notice, the focus of the plan is to provide an outline of various engineering and environmental projects within the West Brach watershed. These projects are intended to improve water quality, expand natural areas, introduce and/or restore wildlife habitat, and provide an educational setting as it relates to the enhancement of the West Branch DuPage River watershed.

Paper copies of the plan are available at the DuPage County Stormwater Division's office, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187 or at their website, www.dupageco.org/dec/. Comments can be mailed, faxed to 630/407-6701, or emailed to wbriver@dupageco.org. Questions can be directed to Angela Bendinelli at 630/407-6805.