Posted on March 3, 2021
The Carol Stream Park District’s Armstrong Park North Parking Lot project has been selected for funding through the FY2021 DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant. The maximum funding amount is 25 percent of the related projects costs. The DuPage County Stormwater Management Planning Committee approved funding for the Armstrong Park project is no more than $40,395 for qualified costs, which equates to a 25 percent reimbursement.
The Armstrong Park North Parking lot, located off Idaho Street, is identified in the recently approved Klein Creek Watershed Plan to replace an existing asphalt parking lot with permeable pavers and a vegetated swale system. It is an excellent project for Water Quality Improvement Program funding as it incorporates two Best Management Practices (BMPs) that will contribute to the pollutant load reduction of the Klein Creek Watershed. Specifically, this project will reduce two pollutants of concern from the 303(d) list for the West Branch DuPage River: phosphorus loads will decrease by 65% and sediment by 90% for the project’s drainage area of 53.7 acres. Incorporating these BMPs into the north parking lot will also encourage stormwater infiltration, groundwater recharge, and provide an educational awareness of the importance of reducing non-point source pollutants, as well as improve aesthetics of the area. Further, the proposed project improvements have been identified as a specific project to be completed in the Klein Creek Watershed Plan. The project will be completed by fall of 2021.
DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee Chairman Jim Zay said, “The projects we selected to partially fund will not only greatly benefit the DuPage waterways but will also serve as examples to the public of projects that can be undertaken on a smaller scale at area homes and businesses.”
