West Branch Forest Preserve Wetland, Fen & River Restoration

DuPage County, Illinois

This multi-year project involved the restoration of a 350-acre preserve. It included a one-mile section of the West Branch of the DuPage River, 90-acres of wetlands, a 34-acre fen and an adjacent prairie.
Project goals included improving stormwater management, enhancing aquatic and terrestrial habitat and replacing invasive species with native communities.
The river restoration posed a daunting challenge, requiring a solution that involved diverting the existing river while accommodating 100-year storm event volumes.
V3 restored the river in phases, building three 40-foot-wide by 20-foot-deep lined diversion channels along the length of the river.
The material excavated for the channels was stockpiled out of the floodplain prior to being placed back in the channels and restored.
River enhancements included placing 3,500 linear feet of root wads and 5,000 boulders along the shoreline and river bed to address erosion issues and stabilize the banks.
Strategic areas of the site were regraded and structural berms constructed to enhance wetland hydrology.
Because of its highly sensitive environment, the 34-acre fen had to be cleared by hand.
V3 installed 150,000 native plants and seeded more than 200 acres with native plants.
Construction was followed by three years of ecological maintenance and monitoring.
In addition to the County, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County also directed work related to the enhancement.