'Flooding Puts Rain Readiness in Spotlight,' Slaybaugh Substack Blog

September 1, 2026

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At a Rainstorm Ready Workshop earlier this summer, officials gave away a rain barrel, wildflower seed packets and pledge cards asking people to limit their time in the shower.

They also urged residents to turn off the water while brushing their teeth and to wash only full loads of laundry and dishes.

Despite street flooding, basement backups and even manhole geysers in Chicago this year, about as many officials as members of the public participated in the workshop at Roosevelt High School.

The handful of residents who attended sounded most concerned about protecting their basements - something they were told could cost a household around $10,000 for peace of mind.

"We can't control the weather; we can't stop the rain or where it falls," said Carl Camacho, an assistant to Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis, one of two MWRD commissioners at the workshop. "But we can … help prepare for the next flood that continues to come with climate change."

That includes installing low-flow showerheads and limiting showers to five minutes or less.

"Depending on your showerhead, reducing your shower by three minutes can save between eight to 22 gallons of water," MWRD spokesman Patrick Thomas told me after the workshop.

Although water conservation is critical during flood events, it also matters during dry periods.

"We all know how we should recycle plastics, glass and paper, but we must also remember that water must be recycled also," Thomas said. "All the water on Earth is all the water we are ever going to have."

About 27,000 subscribers have signed up to receive Overflow Action Day alerts from the district when heavy rain is expected. Those emails and texts remind subscribers to delay showers and baths, flush less and wait to run the dishwasher or washing machine.

Another 40,000 people subscribe on social media, and the total number of subscribers has steadily increased since the program launched.

"But it's still a drop in the bucket - no pun intended - (of residents) that we would like to reach," Thomas said.

The number of alerts issued each year averages about 11. But this year, "we have seen increasing amounts of rainfall, and as a result we have issued 15 alerts, tying 2022 for the most in a year, and it is only (mid)-August," he said.

More than 3.7 million people in the Chicago area are served by combined sewers - pipes that carry both stormwater and sewage to treatment plants.

When the system of pipes, tunnels, locks and reservoirs fills during heavy storms, sewage can overflow into waterways, streets can flood, and basements can back up.

Camacho had a back-check valve - also known as a non-return valve, one-way valve or backflow preventer - installed at his mother's house to prevent sewer backups.

"It didn't happen all the time, but when it did, it was just a pain," he said. "You've got to throw everything out, clean everything. It's like a week."

Unfortunately, the cost to install devices to prevent reverse flows is around $10,000 a household.

"You can spend ten grand now or when it floods," Camacho said. "It's not a good decision to make either way."

He noted that standard insurance almost never covers rising water or sewer backups. For that, you need a rider.

At the workshop, a homeowner asked Camacho whether it hurts others on the block if one homeowner installs a backflow preventer and others don't, perhaps because they can't afford it.

As with disconnecting downspouts from sewer lines, "it's nice if it's done collectively," he answered. But "it's really a matter of protecting your home. Unfortunately, it's cost prohibitive to some. It's a tough question."

He said he was unaware of any funding to help homeowners obtain back-check valves.

He also noted that the South and West sides of Chicago "get hit probably five times harder" by floods because of how the storms come and the age of the infrastructure.

Bette Rosenstein and her husband, John, of Ravenswood Manor, did not attend the workshop but already have been practicing much of the advice that was given - for decades.

In their backyard, the couple maintain a native wildflower garden that has roots much deeper than standard grass and is better at absorbing stormwater. They have a rain barrel, which they received for free two or three alderpersons ago, to catch the first 55 gallons of rain that falls from the roof of their bungalow.

"It fills quickly," Bette said.

When their second rain barrel fills, the water drains via a garden hose to a basement stairwell floor drain.

During a downpour, their gutters can also overflow. But the basement no longer floods, not since they installed backflow prevention and a pump in 2009.

They went all in, installing a double backflow device, or "a check on the check." The one-way plumbing system, serviced annually, has been "fabulous," she said.

Before it was installed, their basement was prone to flooding with sewage-contaminated stormwater. Cleanups included bleaching.

Bette uses the rain barrels to water potted herbs and other plants and hasn't needed a garden hose once all summer.

The couple also have disconnected their downspouts so rainwater flows into their yard instead of the sewer, a practice MWRD urges everyone to adopt. The water, however, needs to be directed six to 10 feet away from the foundation of homes.

The couple's reason for conserving water is to serve "the public good," including not contributing to human disruption of the water cycle.

The water reclamation district has distributed about 175,000 rain barrels in the past decade.

At the workshop, Camacho said the city deliberately allows streets to flood to act as temporary reservoirs and help protect basements. But if a street remains flooded for 48 hours, he said, residents should report it.

The district also asks people to avoid driving through flooded streets when possible, because doing so can create a mini-tsunami, pushing water toward garden apartments.

Another way to reduce flooding is to replace concrete and asphalt with permeable surfaces, such as interlocking pavers, that allow stormwater to percolate into the ground.

But Ald. Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, another official who attended the workshop, noted that even one "green alley" can be cost prohibitive, costing about $500,000. That's a third of the discretionary budget her ward receives annually for local infrastructure projects, including streets and sidewalks.

Camacho reminded the workshop attendees that "we are all connected in many ways," including our sewers, by which "we are all connected: homes, high-rises, businesses and industrial, all connected to the same pipes."

Get involved

Albany Park Flooding Community Meeting

How can we better prepare Albany Park for urban flooding? Join the North River Commission and Center for Neighborhood Technology to learn about local initiatives, share your input, and explore long-term solutions. Wednesday, Sept. 2, from 6-8 p.m., at Movement on Montrose, 2951 W. Montrose Ave.

Building Resilient Neighborhoods in a Changing Climate

Can natural infrastructure - trees, rain gardens, native plants - reduce flooding, increase biodiversity, make our neighborhoods cooler, cleaner and healthier? Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 6 p.m., Sulzer Regional Library. Speakers from Openlands, Save Your Ash, MWRD, 47th Ward Green Council, Ravenswood Neighbors, 40th Ward Green Council, and Indivisible Lincoln Square.

Virtual tour

Join a live virtual tour showcasing the Chicago region's water infrastructure and rich history, Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 2 p.m. MWRD. Registration required.

Editor's Note: (ChatGPT copyedited this article, but the news gathering, including attending the meeting, interviews, research and photography, is my own).