On August 3, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the Urban Flooding Awareness Act. The new law forms a working group with representatives from state, federal, and local agencies and other interested parties who will review and evaluate the latest research, policies, and procedures regarding urban flooding. The group will then submit a report by June 30, 2015 to the governor and General Assembly with recommendations on how best to prevent and control urban flooding.

“Urban flooding is an equal opportunity problem,” said Ryan Wilson, stormwater program manager at the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based nonprofit focused on sustainable cities. “Our own research shows that urban flooding can happen anywhere, not just in floodplains. The legislation Governor Quinn signed today will help Illinois communities better understand urban flooding, and identify innovative stormwater solutions that can protect our homes, our investments, and our environment from the threat of increasingly frequent and severe storms.”

On July 23, Governor Quinn also signed Senate Bill 2780, which expands his Clean Water Initiative to include stormwater and green infrastructure projects. And in 2013, he signed Senate Bill 1869 giving Illinois municipalities greater ability to build and invest in green stormwater management infrastructure to help mitigate stormwater-related damages.