The Lower Des Plaines Watershed Group is focused on three main project areas – the bioassessment monitoring program, the development of the Nutrient Assessment and Reduction Plan, and coordinating the Time-Limited Water Quality Standard for Chlorides implementation and reporting.
Staff also provides assistance with NPDES permit renewals and discussions with Illinois EPA, presentations to boards and answering questions related to program or permit requirements. Below is a short description of each program area, click on the links at the bottom for more detailed information about each program.
Work Areas
The Bioassessment Monitoring Program provides the science and data driven backbone to our other programs.
The Identification & Prioritization System Model provides a restorability measure that indicates the relative difficulty or ease of restoring a segment of stream.
The Time-Limited Water Quality Standard for Chlorides focuses on reducing the amount of chlorides reaching waterways through the use of best management practices.
The development of a Nutrient Assessment and Reduction Plan is an NPDES Wastewater Permit Special Condition requirement.
