“I prefer to think of us as a laboratory. We’re going from theory to practice here,” said village Trustee Rich Sustich, who has had a long career in water-related issues.

In simple terms, the effort will combine issues regarding drinking water, stormwater and waste water into a single integrated water resources.

“There’s never been a cohesive integrated plan of how this works together,” said David Heyden, the village’s public works director.

When complete, the village and the region would have a blueprint of how to conserve supplies, reduce costs and guide future decisions.

Although much of the discussion about climate change impacts has focused on increases in temperature and the rise in sea level, changes that impact our nation’s water resources could have the greatest impact on society. A quick glance at recent newspaper headlines—heavy spring rains leading to massive flooding of the Mississippi River, historic drought covering large parts of Texas, and extensive wildfires spreading across Arizona—provides more than enough evidence of how vulnerable we are to water-related extreme events. 

While these events have led some to ask whether they are caused by climate change, this question misses the mark. Individual weather events are not “caused” by any single phenomenon—and climate change’s contribution to individual events will not be resolved cleanly in the years to come. What virtually all climate scientists agree on, however, is that the climate is already changing, all weather events now form under different conditions than they used to, and this change is increasing the probability of extreme weather events happening. It makes sense to learn what we can from actual events and avoid getting caught up in an irresolvable debate about why a particular event happened. We would be better served by learning more about what is at risk from extreme events and what we can do to better manage and minimize those risks....

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Minimum Requirements : BS with a minimum of 8 years experience with strong focus on stormwater field inspections. The minimum qualifications for this position include: CPWSC , CESSWI or CISEC certifications with ability to get QSP certified. The candidate will be knowledgeable in: • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) • Local regulatory permits and ordinances • Compliance inspections for County municipal projects • Construction and post-construction Best Management Practices (BMP) inspections • Client Interactions Knowledge of: Building and grading codes and regulations, modern building materials, terminology, and practices; the principles of environmental enforcement inspection procedures and methods;...

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