Return to the past as Danada wetlands to be restored to original habitat

Cathy Janek for Chronicle Media

The landscape when looking north versus south at the intersection of Butterfield Road and Naperville Road is a striking visual contrast.

The land north is a shopper’s paradise—jam packed with stoplights and strip malls.

The land south on either side of Naperville Road is reminiscent of a different era.

Home to the former estate of Dan and Ada Rice, today the Danada Forest Preserve is comprised of 825 acres of wetlands, woodlands, prairies, and farmland.

A portion of this farmland is undergoing an intensive effort to restore the land to its former natural habitat, as part of the joint effort between DuPage County and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County,

The Danada Wetlands and Prairie Restoration project will restore approximately 21 acres of wetlands and 23 acres of prairie to improve the habitat for native wildlife—but also to allow the land to better accept, store, and clean storm water.

“We are recreating the habitat, because all of the remnant natural qualities are gone,” said Nick Fuller, a Natural Resource Project Coordinator with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. “The site was wiped clean, especially over the last 30 years when (the week killer) Roundup was used on crops.”

The return of a natural habitat creates a good environment for shorebirds, wetland birds, migratory water fowls, and insects that are specific to wetlands—species that you don’t see on farmland, Fuller said.

Reintroducing wetlands also would provide numerous benefits to improving the water quality of local rivers and streams.

Wetlands act like a large sponge through which a deep root system absorbs water and cleans it before it ever hits the river system.

Today, we have parking lots, buildings, and roads that do not absorb water, Fuller said.

“During heavy rains, huge pulses of silted, polluted water enter rivers and streams which are not healthy for the wildlife that live near those rivers or the waterways themselves,” he added.

In the early 1900s, Fuller said farmers, who tilled the land to make it suitable for farming, buried clay tiles to drain the wetter areas for crops and pastures.

In farming, tiles are buried strategically and used as a “highway for water” to get water off the site as quickly as possible, he added.

However, these tiles also remove the land’s wetland habitat.

As part of the project to restore the habitat, these tiles will have valves installed to help control the soil’s wetness.

“The long term goal is to totally disable the tiles by putting clay in the valves so it becomes a more natural hydrology,” Fuller said.

This is “a measure that would be considerably more cost effective than digging out the tiles. It is also more efficient,” Fuller added.

“This project is at the core of the District’s mission and will benefit native wildlife as well as DuPage County residents,” said Forest Preserve District of DuPage County President Joe Cantore. “We’re thrilled to see this project move forward. It will provide vital habitat for native wildlife and additional storm water storage.”

Jim Zay, chairman of of the DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee added:

“Several years ago, DuPage County and the Forest Preserve District reviewed areas in need of restoration that would offer both storm water management and ecological benefits, and Danada was at the top of that list.We’re so pleased to break ground on this important project and to utilize Wetland Mitigation Banking Funds to fulfill their intended purpose of cleaning our water and improving our environment.”

The entire cost of the project which equals $980,000 comes from the Fee in Lieu of Wetland Mitigation Banking Fund.

“None of the $980,000 for the project comes from taxpayers,” Zay added.

“When developers in the county build on a piece of wetland, they are permitted to build on the land; however, they must pay a fee do so,” he added. “As a result, we construct high-quality wetlands in other areas.”

Crews will also mow and remove weedy trees and brush, control invasive plants and re-introduce native vegetation to improve the ecology of the site.

Construction activities should be substantially completed by 2018 and initial maintenance activities should be completed by 2022.

Fuller said, similar work is being conducted at other DuPage County Forest Preserves including 200 acres at Dunham Forest Preserve in Wayne and a 300 acre project at the West Branch Forest Preserve in Bartlett.

All three of these projects are mitigation projects, he said. “At some point, someone destroyed wetlands.”

When that happens, the benefits to the ecosystem such as floodwater storage and filtering of water are also destroyed.

Cumulatively across the county, that has created flooding issues, he added.

Fuller said, a couple of years ago, massive flooding in the county occurred due to the large increase in so many impermeable surfaces–the water rushes into streams and then backs up and floods.

This project also is trying to alleviate some of those flooding issues, Fuller said.