The Churchill Woods project is a cooperative project involving the DuPage River Salt Creek Work Group (DRSCWG), DuPage County Stormwater Management and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. The proposed project will begin in August 2010 and involves the removal of what is commonly known as the Churchill Woods Dam, the placement of two upstream riffles, and the restoration of approximately 13 acres of wetland plant communities and approximately 1 acre of mesic prairie.

The purpose of the Churchill Woods dam modification and wetland restoration project is to improve the ecological health of the East Branch by altering the existing dam. Project goals include elevating dissolved oxygen levels and minimizing diurnal fluctuations; restoring native wetland plant communities and their related ecological functions; eliminating the upstream impoundment where sediment is trapped, higher water temperatures occur, and excessive algal biomass is produced; improving sediment transport within the river segment and eliminating barriers to fish and mussel dispersion.

The project will remove the Churchill Woods Dam and install a reinforced riffle to control the water surface elevation (WSE) upstream of Crescent Boulevard. The two rock riffles will be installed approximately 2,000 ft upstream of the dam. Each riffle will have a top of rock elevation below the existing normal water level in the impoundment. The southern riffle will also be designed with a thirty-foot wide low flow notch to maintain a defined baseflow path. The riffles have been designed to avoid any temporary or permanent direct impacts to the adjacent wetlands.

The result of the dam modification will be a smaller impoundment downstream of the riffles. Upstream of the proposed riffles, the normal water level will be reduced, exposing some areas that are currently submerged. Approximately 9 acres along the north and south banks of the East Branch downstream of the proposed riffles will be exposed. These banks will be stabilized with native vegetation to prevent bank erosion. The lower reaches of the existing impoundment (downstream of the riffles) will remain a pooled area, preserving the existing islands.

All areas with less than 6 inches of water depth at base flow will be planted with various types of wetland vegetation to prevent bank erosion. Work is due to begin on the project in 2010.

For more information, please review the Fact Sheet.