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Barrington's Beauty and Growth

The Barrington region is a growing, prosperous area with a host of civic and conservation organizations that protect and represent your homestead. These groups work with local and regional government officials, developmental contractors, conservation teams and volunteers to make sure all possible avenues of how the land — above and below — are regulated in terms of future growth and preservation. When you come to Barrington and see the beauty of open land extending in natural settings, you must realize this is not by accident. The land-usage face of the Barrington area has stayed consistent for the past 35 years through planning and hard work. There is more open space in terms of agriculture, rural and estates acreage than that of urban and commercial development. This planned commitment to open land attests to Barrington’s solid political structure and its identifiable eco-awareness, resulting in the picturesque landscape we have come to adore.

WATER
No matter where you live, water is a vital part of life. The Barrington area’s awareness of this rests in its continuous effort at understanding water supply to better the quality of water we use and to preserve wetlands for its ecological benefits and beauty. Surrounding the Barrington region is the Flint Creek Watershed. This creek and its tributaries are 27 miles long, encompassing 37 square miles. It is a sub-watershed of the Fox River that flows into the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico. One effort to protect this waterway is the Flint Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP), formed in 2005. The Barrington Area Development Council (BADC), Citizens for Conservation (CFC), Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG) and the Village of Barrington are all original members of this partnership. BADC and CFC provided the initial startup funding for 2005/2006. Other concerned organizations dedicated to preservation, protection and improvement of the Flint Creek Watershed joined this partnership. In 2006/2007, the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) supplied additional funding with a Watershed Management Grant and in 2007, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) awarded the partnership a matching grant to update the 1994 Watershed Management Plan to current conditions and standards for federal grant eligibility. These federal grants help defray costs on such diverse restoration projects as water purification, limiting water entering the creek and the stabilization of streambanks/shorelines. With these types of restoration projects, the Barrington region is working to ensure a “wetter” tomorrow.

EDUCATION/RESEARCH
Educating the Barrington area community about watersheds is vital to future water supply and use. The main cause of flooding, riverbank erosion and poor water quality in Flint Creek is stormwater runoff. Instead of filtering back into the ground for removal of impurities, this runoff flows unchecked over impervious pollutant-laden development (roads, parking lots, rooftops and fertilized lawns) directly into the creek. Since 1992, detention basins have helped ebb this runoff and native-detention areas aid in the removal of pollution flowing into the creek. “Native plant life also plays an important role in helping channel water back into the ground,” said Patsy Mortimer, Flint Creek Watershed Coordinator. Citizens for Conservation (CFC) is active in restoring native plant life throughout the Barrington region with its volunteer pool of citizens.

“The Barrington area townships and municipalities have the unique power to support groundwater research too,” said Janet L. Agnoletti, BACOG Executive Director. Groundwater quality directly affects the water we drink. “Municipalities provide approximately 11,000 residents (Barrington and Tower Lakes) with public supplied water,” said Agnoletti. “The rest rely on private wells.” However, both public and private wells are interconnected and dependent on the same source for water — the shallow aquifer system or aquifers. These aquifers are water-saturated systems comprised of shallow bedrock, sand and gravel deposits. These natural glacial deposits contain water at depths of 50 to a few hundred feet in the sand and gravel, and in bedrock as deep as 350 feet below ground. Recharged by rainfall and snowmelt, water filters through the soil, sand and other materials until it reaches the aquifers. This replenishes the water in the aquifer and serves as an underground storage tank.

Through cooperation and shared responsibility, information about these aquifers — where they are located, how much water they contain and the sustainability our water supply — is all part of the planning issues being achieved by organizations that work together. Through the Flint Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP) and other combined efforts, the entire Barrington region will ensure it has a balance of ‘supply and demand’ for the future.

DEVELOPMENT
The Barrington region is growing — not only in the building of more homes, stores and roads — but in maturity. This maturity represents a realization of what went on in the past and a guide for the future. An affirmation of what worked for the area and what did not is imperative toward understanding conservation and development issues. Growing in knowledge with an acquired respect of area surroundings, it is a guide on how to keep the Barrington area in the best possible shape. As individuals, we learn that a balance of exercise and diet is the best way to keep our bodies healthy and functional, and communities deserve the same balanced maintenance. Too much of anything is never good. Unchecked land development deters the natural beauty of open land and hinders the cleansing process nature intended. “Horizon Farms, a 420-acre site, is a success story attributed to the restriction of land development,” said Mary Bradford-White, President of Barrington Hills Conservation Trust (BHCTrust). “If the land is ever developed, the restrictions on the property will allow eight homes to be built instead of 80 due to a conservation easement. Easements maintain our open space while generating tax incentives for landowners.” Conservation easements are optional legal agreements that help protect the environmental value of a property while retaining land ownership. This kind of balance keeps the community flowing in proper channels the same way balance works in each of us. It is a healthy growth aimed at the whole community — residential, commercial and political — with crossover partnerships working together on different platforms to help secure the balance needed for a fit-tomorrow.

PARTNERSHIPS
Throughout the Barrington region, the Flint Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP) is just one of many endeavors local organizations are actively working on to keep the Barrington area beautiful and environmentally sound. With organizations like the Barrington Area Council Of Governments (BACOG), helping to regulate land development; the Barrington Hills Conservation Trust (BHCTrust), working with landowners on conservation protection options; and Citizens for Conservation (CFC), who act as stewards of the land; the Barrington area transcends conservation obstacles that many other areas encounter.

• Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG), formed in 1970, is a regional planning organization encompassing some 90 square miles and representing seven villages and two townships in the Barrington area. BACOG develops regional comprehensive strategy for member governments and other area agencies through groundwater research and planned policy/action — dedicated to the balance of conservation, cooperation, preservation and development.

• Barrington Hills Conservation Trust (BHCTrust), founded in 2001, is dedicated to preserving quality open space, historic and natural resources in the community. Through education and assistance, the Trust informs property owners of conservation options available to them. It hosts quarterly roundtables that bring local area lawyers together in discussions on conservation and tax law, designed to educate the community as a whole. The Trust’s volunteer Conserv-ation Easement Agreements can protect the environmental value of property while retaining individual property ownership. The Saving Our Countryside program allows the Trust to purchase, on a temporary basis, property at risk of development until limited conservation development is completed or an appropriate conservation buyer is found.

• Citizens for Conservation (CFC), founded in 1971, protects open space for people, plants and wildlife. CFC maintains and restores native communities on its own land, municipal and school properties, forest preserves and park districts. Working with municipalities and homeowners, CFC protects environmentally significant land during the development planning process and with conservation easements. It also monitors local ecosystems for possible areas in danger. As an active member of the FCWP, CFC keeps the community informed on all eco-activity and offers classes and field trips to help educate both young and old.

Water awareness, community education, land development standards and co-diverse partnerships like these are the tools used in the Barrington region to protect its open land. These proactive partnerships, along with cohesive political alliances and legislature designed to work with homeowners, transcend village boundaries in a collective effort to keep all of the Barrington area beautiful, healthy and wise.

Additional information is available at the following websites:
1. Barrington Area Council Of Governments (BACOG): http://www.bacog.org
2. Barrington Hills Conservation Trust (BHCTrust): http://www.bhctrust.org
3. Citizens for Conservation (CFC): http://www.citizensforconservation.org

More information on the Flint Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP) is at:
http://www.citizensforconservation.org/downloads/FCWP_200607.pdf