City Rolls Out Stormwater Storage System On West Side After Near-Record Rainfall Strains Reservoirs

AUSTIN — After another round of storms flooded streets and filled up the area’s resevoirs, city officials are piloting an expanded rainwater storage system to fight flooding on the West Side.

City officials on Tuesday unveiled Wing Storage, an underground stormwater storage system that can hold around 1.7 million gallons of stormwater and protect nearly 2,900 homes on the West Side.

The pilot project, expected to finish construction this fall, builds on recovery efforts sparked by the 2023 flooding that disproportionately affected the West Side, officials said. It is a joint project by the city’s Department of Water Management and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

“Communities cannot rely on yesterday’s infrastructure to address tomorrow’s weather changes. Cities can’t always wait for tomorrow to address today’s issues,” Randy Conner, commissioner of the Department of Water Management, said at Tuesday’s announcement event at 5500 W. LeMoyne St. “This project represents thinking outside the box to identify new tools for our toolbox in the fight against flooding.”

The storage system consists of holding tanks that sit below neighborhood streets, according to the city. During times of intense rain, the storage chamber will hold water and gradually release excess stormwater into the sewers, alleviating stress on the system.

The first tank, which completed construction this spring, is on Maypole Avenue between Cicero and Lavergne avenues, a four-block stretch in Austin. The second tank is being constructed on LeMoyne Street between Luna and Lorel avenues, another four-block stretch in the neighborhood.

For scale, city leaders at Tuesday’s announcement stood inside a portion of the massive concrete walls that will make up the second storage tank.

“This pilot represents an important investment in resilient infrastructure that addresses the impacts of climate change while delivering long-overdue improvements for West Side communities that have experienced repeated flooding,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

The system is designed to protect nearly 3,000 homes and businesses across the 28th, 29th and 37th wards, according to the city. The focus on the West Side comes from community feedback to address “flooding hotspots” following the devastating flooding of summer 2023, said Kari Steele, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Thousands of West Siders saw their homes flooded during record-breaking storms in July 2023. Up to 9 inches of rain blanketed the West Side and western suburbs in 24 hours. Nearly one in four Austin homes experienced severe flooding, and many residents continue to speak out for additional assistance for their homes.

This past weekend — nearly three years exactly since the 2023 floods — the city saw near-record rainfall, including the second-most rainfall on the South Side since records began in 1928. Notably, Chicago’s Deep Tunnel, a system of underground stormwater retention tunnels and reservoirs, nearly filled for the first time following last weekend’s rain.

The Thornton Reservoir, which was completed in 2015 and is the largest combined rainwater-sewer reservoir in the world, was 95 percent full as of Tuesday morning, according to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. The reservoir’s previous record was set in 2019, when it was 54.5 percent full at more than 7.4 billion gallons. The McCook Reservoir, which serves central Chicago and 36 municipalities, was full as of Monday morning, with 3.6 billion gallons of water.

The new pilot project hopes to alleviate stress on the reservoir system by providing more than two Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of holding capacity that otherwise would further add to Deep Tunnel’s capacity, according to the city. The $12 million project is supported by both the city and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. For more information, visit the district’s project webpage.