Crystal Lake Is Higher

Two days after the rain pretty much stopped, Crystal Lake is still rising.

It is twelve inches above the spillway of the little dam at Crystal Lake’s outlet, according to Park District Director Kirk Reimer

One can only wonder what would happen if McHenry County College and other developers in the lake’s watershed north of town get their way in covering 50% (or all, as the proposed watershed ordinance says would be possible on the last line of the last page) of their property with impervious roofs and asphalt.

The experts have said that the only difference that will occur once the watershed has
been turned from open space to stores, a baseball field and parking lots will be that the runoff will come faster.

That will mean faster flooding for many Crystal Lake area residents.

How high was the water?

Ducks were swimming across the end of the pier where we dock out boat.

The pier at Lakewood’s Gate 7 was covered with water.

You can see the two boys splashing to a truncated end.

A leatherback turtle was sunning itself at Gate 3’s pier. It was huge.

My son once found a baby leatherback that we took to the Nature Center.

This one was a big one. I hope the picture I got allows you to see it. I didn’t have time to put on the long lens before the turtle slid into Crystal Lake.

The Main Beach had water up to the concrete wall.

A lifeguard were cautioning of the possibility of e. coli. The beach manager told me the McHenry County Health Department will test tomorrow morning and he expects to have results, which will be posted on the Health Department’s web site, this afternoon.

With everyone on septic tanks around Wonder Lake, I can understand why people wouldn’t want to go swimming there after a lot of rain.

Crystal Lake has gotten rid of most of the septic tanks, however.

Naoki Kamijima Park across from the Country Store was even wetter.

Wood chips had floated beyond the fence toward North Avenue.

Water covered the sidewalk.

I took my shoes off to walk from where I parked to North Avenue and back.

The outlet at the Main Beach was about three-quarters full.

My wife says she remembers the water running over Lake Avenue because the capacity of the culvert beneath the street was insufficient. That was about the time we were married…what 17 years ago.

In my advancing stage of memory loss, I can’t remember that.

Lakewood’s Broadway was flooded in the Grafton Township portion.

The south side of the road was blocked off several places.

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All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. The one of the water surging into Cress Creek is something I have never seen before…probably because I just started looking.


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