History
After the 1996 flood, a group of individuals and local agencies met to make a plan that addressed their concerns over flooding, water quality, escalating development, and the consequent impacts on the quality of life in Blackberry Creek watershed.

After several years of planning, they released the Blackberry Creek Watershed Management Plan. This document contains forty recommendations that target these concerns. The group approached The Conservation Foundation to help it implement the plan. The Conservation Foundation hired Ksenia Rudensiuk to be the Blackberry Creek Manager and she is now working to implement these recommendations the your watershed.  (See link to Blackberry Creek Report newsletter below)

The Blackberry Creek:

Is 32 miles long and empties into the Fox River in Yorkville.

Has a watershed that encompasses more than 73 square miles of land (46,720 acres) and includes 4 nature preserves and 5 Illinois natural area inventoried sites.

Is a home to state-threatened and endangered plants and animals.

Received 17” of rain in less than 24 hours in 1996.

 
This map in a pdf file
The Blackberry Watershed Implementation Council  (with its three committees) consists of community members who are putting to work the 40 recommendations of the Blackberry Creek Watershed Plan. The Council meets twice yearly.

In addition, there are three working committees that meet more frequently and address specific projects and recommendations. Please become involved on one or more of these committees: 

-The Community Support Committee focuses on ways to bring resources and local decision-makers together to implement the Plan.

-The Education Committee's focus is on increasing awareness of the Plan itself to the broader public, and on the recommended best management practices within the Plan.  Currently, most of the work of this committee is helping with this semi-annual newsletter.

 -The Technical Information Committee is following the progress of the projects and studies being done in the watershed, and is available to comment and provide support on issues as they arise.

To participate in any of these committees, contact Ksenia Rudensiuk, the Blackberry Creek Watershed Manager, at (630) 553-4175, or via e-mail: krudensiuk@theconservationfoundation.org.
The Blackberry Futures Analysis Project
Throughout the region, communities just like those in the Blackberry Creek  Watershed are now seeing huge changes - or they’re looming on the horizon. The Blackberry Futures Analysis Project will allow community planners to "see" beforehand what these changes might look like — and what impact these changes will create. It will illustrate the effects of various "build out" choices so that municipal leaders can better choose the kind of communities they want to create.

 The illustrations will include conventional development as well as conservation-based development that protects surrounding resources. The illustrations will be grouped around the water-shed in various arrangements. Over the next two years, the illustrations and arrangements will be evaluated for the impact that future use options would have in enhancing or degrading the natural resources of the watershed. These findings will be distributed to community leaders to be used as a guide in future community planning.

 



Spring 2003 issue in pdf file

Spring 2002 issue in pdf file