MWRD Has a New Type of Stream

Press Release | October 9th, 2019

For those interested in watching one of the nation’s largest public works projects for water quality in action, simply visit the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD’s) website at mwrd.org/mccook-live. The MWRD is now live streaming the McCook Reservoir Stage I during daylight hours as it takes on billions of gallons of stormwater and untreated wastewater.

Part of the MWRD’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), the McCook Reservoir has proven to be a critical piece of infrastructure since it went into service in late 2017 to mitigate flooding in the Chicago area’s combined sewer systems, while also protecting the area water environment from pollution by containing water for later treatment. This untreated water, which previously overwhelmed sewers and flowed into local waterways, can now be pumped back to the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant for treatment.

The MWRD will be able to capture more water when McCook Reservoir Stage II comes online with a storage capacity of 6.5 billion gallons. Between the two stages of McCook Reservoir, the MWRD will be able to capture 10 billion gallons of storage, large enough to fill 200 million rain barrels. The McCook Reservoir in its entirety will be 6,400 feet long by 1,000 feet wide and 300 feet deep.

In February 2019, the MWRD and project partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District entered into an agreement on a federal funding plan to complete Stage II by 2029. Once fully complete, the McCook Reservoir will provide more than $143 million per year in flood damage reduction benefits to 3.1 million people in 37 communities, including Chicago.