The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (abbreviated TARP and more commonly known as the Deep Tunnel Project or the Chicago Deep Tunnel) is a large civil engineering project that aims to reduce flooding in the metropolitan Chicago area, and to reduce the harmful effects of flushing raw sewage into Lake Michigan by diverting storm water and sewage into temporary holding reservoirs. The megaproject is one of the largest civil engineering projects ever undertaken in terms of scope, cost and timeframe. Commissioned in the mid-1970s, the project is managed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Completion of the system is not anticipated until 2029, but substantial portions of the system have already opened and are currently operational. Across 30 years of construction, over $3 billion has been spent on the project.
History
19th century
The Deep Tunnel Project is the latest in a series of civil engineering projects dating back to 1834. Many of the problems experienced by the city of Chicago are directly related to its low level topography and the fact that the city is largely built upon marsh or wet prairie. This combined with a temperate wet climate and the human development of open land leads to substantial water runoff. Lake Michigan was ineffective in carrying sewage away from the city, and in the event of a rainstorm, the water pumps that provided drinking water to Chicagoans became contaminated with sewage. Though no epidemics were caused by this system (see Chicago 1885 cholera epidemic myth), it soon became clear that the sewage system needed to be diverted to flow away from Lake Michigan in order to handle an increasing population's sanitation needs.
Gavine Newsom, who is promoting plans for the construction of Sites Reservoir and a proposed $20 billion water tunnel in the Delta, praised the new framework as an important step toward improving ...
Under this plan, the water would then be directed down the Spokane River into a proposed tunnel under Spokane’s Cannon Hill, and then directed via miles of canals and tunnels to the arid center of Washington.
... the environmental effects of two proposed infrastructure projects — Sites Reservoir and the Newsom administration’s plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel — both of which the groups are fighting.
They said the expected losses in the system's capacity show a need to invest in projects intended to boost supplies, such as the state's plan to build the new Sites Reservoir and a water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
They said the expected losses in the system’s capacity show a need to invest in projects intended to boost supplies, such as the state’s plan to build the new Sites Reservoir and a water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
It built a tunnel linking the river to the SookeLakeReservoir in 1987, but it has never been used. According to the CRDRegionalWater Supply 2022 master plan, the tunnel is expected to come into service by 2042.
plans to rehabilitate Grizzly Dam, Grizzly Reservoir’s outlet works, and the headgate that controls the flow of water into Twin LakesTunnel... Most of the water in Grizzly Reservoir will be drawn down by taking it through Twin Lakes Tunnel.
Advocates for protecting the fish argue that the state’s plans for infrastructure projects such as Sites reservoir and a proposed water tunnel in the delta would further imperil the species.
Advocates for protecting the fish argue that the state's plans for infrastructure projects such as Sites reservoir and a proposed water tunnel in the delta would further imperil the species.
Restoring the health of the river has required a multipronged approach, Frisbie said, starting with the enforcement of a 2029 deadline to complete the Tunnel and ReservoirPlan—a system of deep ...
The complaint claims Amtrak never seriously considered a “no-build” plan that would have involved restoring the existing tunnel beneath Bolton Hill, a whiter and wealthier neighborhood that abuts ReservoirHill.
The river is wrapped into statewide water management plans like the Sites Reservoir and DeltaTunnel water right orders, Bay-Delta Planning phase 2 and the Central Valley Project Reinitiation of Consultation.
... for swimming as a result of the Tunnel and ReservoirPlan, which drastically reduced the number of combined sewer overflows, and sewage effluent disinfection, which removes bacteria and pathogens.
Bradner said the tunnel plan is inherently safer than surface levees ... The Newsom administration is moving ahead with the tunnel project while also fast-tracking plans to build Sites Reservoir, which would divert water from the Sacramento River.
Baltimore Sun
03 May 2024
Baltimore Sun
03 May 2024