Activities of the DuPage River Salt Creek Work Group in 2018

By By Deanna Doohaluk and Dennis Streicher

In 2004 a diverse collection of interested groups came together and formed the DuPage River/Salt Creek Workgroup. Membership in the DRSCW includes 55 municipal entities, 24 Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and 36 associate members. The River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club was one of the original members and has had a representative on the Executive board of the DRSCW since the beginning. The mission of the DRSCW is to work together to preserve and enhance water quality and stream resource quality in the East Branch DuPage River, West Branch DuPage River, Salt Creek, and their tributaries. The DRSCW seeks to implement targeted watershed activities that resolve priority waterway problems efficiently and cost effectively.

Highlights of work completed by the DRSCW in 2018 include:

• The DRSCW completed post-project sampling on Salt Creek at The Preserve Golf Club at Oak Meadows located in Addison. The DRSCW partnered with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, FPDDC (the owner of the golf club), to remove two low head dams and restore approximately 1500 feet of streambed and riparian shoreline. In the two years since the completion of the project, the mIBI (index of biotic integrity for macroinvertebrates and fish) has increased to 34.9 compared to a pre-project mean score of 23.6 (mIBI of 41 is considered good).  Additionally, eight new “high value” macroinvertebrate species have appeared on the site. Physical habitat at the site has also improved with mean QHEI scores increasing to 70 (QHEI of >60 is considered good). The DRSCW provided engineering expertise for the design and funded $2,225,000 of the cost for the restoration.

• The next high-profile project planned by the DRSCW is the modification/removal of the Graue Mill Dam at Fullersburg Woods in the Village of Oak Brook in DuPage County. The Graue Mill Dam is also owned by the FPDDC. The DRSCW finished a Public Opinion Research effort to solicit opinions on the modification of this Dam. The public opinion research effort included a telephone survey, electronic survey, one-on-one interviews, and a focus group.  Findings from the research indicated public support for modifying the Graue Mill dam as a means of improving water quality, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. The next step will be to explore design options for the modification of the Graue Mill dam. The DRSCW is offering to develop a master plan for the entire river course through the Fullersburg Preserve.

• Since its inception in 2004, the DRSCW has been doing extensive monitoring of all three rivers in DuPage County. That effort has continued to this day. In 2018, the DRSCW conducted continuous dissolved-oxygen monitoring during the summer months at 12 sites in the DRSCW study area and continuous conductivity monitoring during the winter months at five sites.  Additionally, fecal coliform samples were collected in Salt Creek for compliance with the MS4 permit requirements. 

• The 2004 Total Maximum Daily Load study in the DRSCW study area identified chlorides as exceeding state water quality standards and likely contributing to the river’s not meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act. In response, the DRSCW has undertaken extensive sampling of chlorides in the rivers and developed a detailed study of chloride concentration trends. In addition to the monitoring, the Workgroup has implemented a program of reducing the amount of road salt used in the winter months in the study area by developing a series of training seminars to help educate salt applicators on the best practices for deicing operations. All of the municipalities and a number of private salting operations in DuPage County have attended these seminars to learn the latest techniques on salt application and the newest high-tech equipment available for road-salting operations. The DRSCW hosted, in conjunction with DuPage County, a Parking Lots and Deicing Workshop on October 15, 2018, and provided training to 82 individuals responsible for snow and ice removal at hospitals, park districts, schools, and commercial properties. The DRSCW also hosted, in conjunction with DuPage County, a Public Roads Deicing Workshop on October 25, 2018, and provided training to 147 public road snowplow operators and Public Works staff.

• The DRSCW holds meetings every other month, and in 2018 hosted nine technical presentations at Membership Meetings and gave 15 presentations at Regional Conferences on innovative and timely topics in water quality, stream restoration, and nutrient management. 

Meet Your Local Pollinators: Illinois Pollinator Week June 17 – 23

By Lonnie Morris

Bombus affinis, Caroline Hlohowskyj

Has your garden gone quiet, the hum and buzz of busy pollinators a faint whisper? Do you remember summer nights driving through clouds of insects but now arrive home with a clean windshield? Do you miss the enchantment of watching the flash and glimmer of fireflies?

While we’ve been busy doing human stuff, pollinators and insects have been quietly disappearing. For years the decline went unnoticed. Insects are small, many live outdoors, and often the everyday human-insect interactions are annoying--ants in the kitchen, mosquitoes in the yard, yellow jackets threatening a picnic. Hard to miss something you want to avoid.

Though often overlooked, insects are the keystone of life, a pivotal connection between plants and animals. Our lives are being diminished by their decline.

A growing number of studies confirm insects are declining in abundance, with a number of species in danger of extinction. Insects in general are declining, but the ones commanding the most attention are pollinators, a group that includes bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, ants, and flies. Pollinators in Peril, a report prepared by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2017, found that 24% of native bees are imperiled, and population declines are occurring in 52% of native bee species. In Illinois, the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network has found a 30% decline in butterfly abundance since 2000.

Bombus griseocollis, Gerald Davidson

The spotlight has been on honeybees for years. It’s THE bee that comes to mind when discussing pollinator decline, likely because of their strong connection with people. Honeybees perform essential pollinator services for several food crops, they make honey, and their picture had been featured on a popular breakfast cereal box until it was replaced by a ghost-like silhouette to highlight honeybee decline.

The honeybee’s celebrity has eclipsed the contributions native bees make to a healthy eco-system. The honeybee is distinctive in several ways, setting it apart from other bees. It is social, while most bees are solitary. It has been managed for so long, its typical home is a hive box; most native bees build modest nests in the ground or hollow stems and twigs.

We’re familiar with adult bees, tiny creatures flying from flower to flower, but the majority of a bee’s life is spent out of sight, in a nest undergoing the early stages of its life cycle. The bee’s developmental stages are the same as a butterfly’s: an egg hatching into a larva (grub form), then pupating before becoming the adult we recognize.

Many pollinators have unique skills equipping them to perform specialized tasks required for pollinating certain types of plants. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, blueberries, and cranberries have tightly packed pollen that isn’t readily accessible and needs to be released with a good shaking. Bumblebees clasp the flower then engage their flights muscles, producing a vibration strong enough to unleash the pollen. Honeybees are not capable of this particular pollinating technique, called buzz pollination.

Some pollinators, like the squash or cucurbit bee, specialize in the pollen of a particular plant or family of plants. Illinois grows the majority of pumpkins in the US, a plant that relies heavily on pollinators. Maintaining a supply of Halloween pumpkins and pumpkin pie depends on a healthy population of squash bees.

All pollinators, all insects are necessary and essential; they’re the ingredients of the wondrous diversity of life that sustains us. 

Pollinators Need our Help

Bombus vagans, Carl Strang

Human activity has created the conditions negatively impacting insects. The causes are known: primarily loss of habitat, widespread pesticide usage, and changing weather patterns. Each one of us can be part of the solution.

World-renowned biologist Jane Goodall said, “Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved.”

Helping begins with understanding.  One of the best ways of understanding the natural world is to spend time in it, looking closely, listening carefully, being curious, noting changes, asking questions, and finding answers. Eric Simons, an editor for Bay Nature, a science magazine based in San Francisco, says,

“You can go for a walk outside and just pay attention to what’s around you.” It sounds simple, but Simons says that noticing your surroundings is the first step to noticing changes. “The natural world needs witnesses, now more than ever.”

Your garden and yard are the closest places for observing and helping pollinators. Which trees, shrubs, and flowers are hosting a lively gathering of insects? Are there different types of visitors, butterflies, and bees, or an assortment of bees?

Gardening practices make a difference

Bombus auricomus, JoAnn Monge

From plant selection to tidiness, what you do in the garden can make it more inviting to pollinators.

A tidy garden erases many nesting sites. Skipping much of fall clean-up and delaying spring clean-up until it’s warm enough for bees to leave the nest are ways a garden becomes habitat.

https://savvygardening.com/spring-garden-clean-done-right/

http://nativeplantherald.prairienursery.com/2017/09/meaningful-maintenancefall-clean-up-with-positive-impact/

Pollinators need nectar and pollen from early spring to late fall. Plan for a succession of blooming plants, including the native species many pollinators prefer. 

https://www.ecobeneficial.com/2014/04/planning-pollinator-garden-native-perennials-bees/

Caterpillars can be picky eaters; some, like monarchs only eat one type of plant, milkweed.  Swallowtail caterpillars eat fennel, parsley, dill, and Queen Anne’s lace, all of which are excellent additions to ornamental and vegetable beds.   Additional host plants: http://help.monarchwatch.org/kb/article/38-larval-host-plants-by-butterfly-species

Keep pollinators in mind when replacing or adding trees and shrubs. Some are more supportive of insects, such as oaks, cherries, and basswood.

https://arbordayblog.org/treeplanting/want-bees-plant/

Pesticides don’t just kill pests but beneficial insects as well.  Minimize or eliminate pesticide applications in the yard and garden.

https://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/safety-source-on-pesticide-providers/what-is-integrated-pest-management

Support pesticide-free agriculture by buying organic when possible.

Not a gardener? You can help by educating others, volunteering your time with local groups, donating to environmental organizations working on behalf of pollinators, and advocating for legislation protecting pollinators.

Resources:

https://pollinator.org/

https://xerces.org/

https://monarchjointventure.org/

Lonnie Morris is the coordinator for the DuPage Monarch Project, a partnership organization of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club, The Conservation Foundation, and Wild Ones Greater DuPage Chapter.  More information about DuPage Monarch Project at dupagemonarchs.com

How do your legislators rate on the environment?

L-R - Linda Sullivan, Frank Orto,
Rep. Terra Costa Howard, Jeff Gahris

By Linda Sullivan

Last fall some 50 River Prairie Group volunteers turned out to canvass and phone bank for candidates we hoped would be environmental heroes. We will take some credit for a bumper crop of freshmen legislators elected in DuPage!   

But have those candidates fulfilled our hopes that they would support the environment? The answer is yes!  For instance, a law that prevented the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency from dealing with climate change, somewhat confusingly called the Kyoto Protocol Law, was quickly repealed with all of our endorsed candidates voting for repeal.  Freshman Sen. Laura Ellman (D-21), who we worked especially hard for, introduced and was the chief sponsor of that bill. She also hosted a Clean Energy Town Hall along with Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-41), a refreshing bipartisan effort! 

To the Sierra Club, the real measure of environmental heroes is whether they cosponsor Sierra Club’s four priority bills. Cosponsoring means that a legislator puts their name on a bill as a sponsor long before the bill comes up for a vote. Most bills get negotiated with opponents. The more cosponsors a bill has, the more likely we are to get a good bill.

Legislators hesitate to cosponsor bills because the minute their name appears on a bill, well-paid lobbyists from industry come into their office, sometimes more than once a day, arguing with them to take their name off the bill. It’s a problem most legislators wish to avoid.

One of our freshmen, Rep Terra Costa Howard (D-48), has cosponsored all four bills, almost unheard of!

So, what are the Sierra Club’s priority bills and who are the heroes from the RPG area who have cosponsored them?

Our most important bill is the Clean Energy Jobs Act. This bill will ramp up renewable energy to 100 percent carbon free by 2030 and 100 percent renewable by 2050. It has deep social justice components, such as job training for solar and wind farm installation for people returning from the prison system and graduates of foster care.

In the Senate, CEJA is SB2132. Sen. Ellman, from the Naperville/Warrenville area, has cosponsored it. 

In the House, CEJA is HB3624. The following representatives have cosponsored: Representatives Terra Costa Howard (D-48), Deb Conroy (D-46), Anne Stava Murray (D-81), Karina Villa (D-49), Grant Wehrli (R-41), and Kathleen Willis (D-77).  All of the freshmen endorsed by River Prairie Group have cosponsored!!

Another priority bill is Clean Water Jobs for All (HB3349), a bill that provides job training to remove and replace lead service lines. Two of our freshmen have cosponsored: Costa Howard and Stava Murray, plus veteran Rep. Kifowit.

Sierra Club is pushing a resolution that calls for money in the capital bill for open space, HR 185.  Deb Conroy is the Chief Sponsor. Costa Howard has cosponsored.

The last Sierra Club priority bill is a bill removing toxic BPA from receipts. Rep. Karina Villa is the Chief Sponsor, and Costa Howard and Kifowit have signed on as cosponsors. 

The Sierra Club election and lobby work have paid off for the environment!  Elections matter!

Green Trivia Night

This is our first joint event with the Prairie Food Co-op - for your enjoyment!

 Grab a few of your brainy, earth-loving friends and join the Sierra Club and Prairie Food Co-op for an evening of trivia focusing on the environment, food, and other earthy topics! This event, planned by our Membership and Outings Team in conjunction with the co-op, promises to be a blast.

Come for the trivia, but stay for the locally crafted Dry City brew that will be available for purchase should you choose to partake as you show off your mad trivia skills.

We’ll also provide snacks, prizes for the top three winners, a split-the-pot raffle, and more! 

Check out the details through the link below and RSVP today!

Monday, June 3, 7-9 pm, at Dry City Brew Brew Works, 120 North Main St, Wheaton.  http://www.prairiefood.coop/trivia

Sierra Club Supports Solar Power Hours

By Christina Uzzo, CUB, and Jeff Gahris, River Prairie Group

Cook County, Will County, DuPage County, and Kane County have partnered with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) to coordinate a solar group buy in these counties. The DuPage Clean Energy Coalition, of which the River Prairie Group is a partner, is supporting this effort. The advantage of a group buy is the power of volume purchasing, which can significantly reduce the up-front costs of installing solar on your home or business.

Dozens of solar group buys have been completed across the country in cities like Portland, Milwaukee, and Chicago, and in states from California to Vermont. Common elements that lead to the success of these programs include competitive contractor selection, community-led outreach with a trusted community partner, and a limited-time offering.

If you are interested in installing solar energy for your home, you are welcomed to attend an educational Solar Power Hour near you.  See the schedule here.