​​​W3-1 Conduct, or hire a consultant to conduct a stormwater management study exploring full range of methods of stormwater management including permeable pavements, bioswales, rain gardens, biochar amendments in soils with high clay content, and flood-tolerant plantings. Establish a recommended percentage goal of stormwater from local government​ controlled impervious surfaces with sustainable stormwater strategies by 2030. Findings of study to be integrated into updated appropriate local government plans with recommended implementation projects.

W3-2 Educate and incentivize reduced home, business, and local government fertilizer usage​, increased use of locally-sourced compost, improved agricultural soil health, and upgrades to wastewater treatment facilities to reduce and eliminate water runoff capable of causing water quality impacts on the community's surface water (such as algae blooms and hyp​oxia, low oxygen levels, which harm fish)

W3-3 Prioritize managing stormwater before it enters the sewer system through a combination of overland flow, detention, and infiltration strategies (for example, permeable surfaces)

W3-4 Install rain gardens at local government facilities and encourage them at other public agency sites, including parks and school districts.  Identify and support programs promoting increased on-site storm water management such as rain gardens and impervious surfaces as well as commercial, institutional, and residential sites.

W3-5 Support collaboration in watersheds that cross public entity jurisdictional lines.  Work with partners to create accessible and useful environmental impact statements (EIS) for residents and businesses.  EISs to include a climate change impact, and the options for development available within them need to be widely accessible and easy to adopt.

W3-6 Conduct, or hire a consultant to conduct a comprehensive study to determine the value of existing arable and open lands for water reclamation, deep, and shallow aquifer replenishment so as to better understand and preserve optimal sites against careless development.

W3-7 Involve land managers to develop management approaches to conserve and restore riparian zones​ along tributaries that lead to the Fox River​

W3-8 Promote native landscaping, restore and conserve habitat; encourage rain gardens on private property, avoid turf grass, and convert publicly-owned space to include stormwater absorption features. Tree selection should consider those on the “Adaptive Planting List” which will thrive in our future local climate (refer to Chicago Botanic Garden’s “Trees for 2050”)

W3-9 Develop a program to provide incentives to property owners for improved stormwater management to be paid for in part by a stormwater utility fee assessed based on the amount of stormwater generated by a property. Include an evaluation of a stormwater utility fee on lower- and moderate-income residents and property owners

W3-10 Identify areas for restoration to increase and improve stream and wetland protection, identify preferred restoration strategies appropriate for target areas, and establish an implementation plan and a funding strategy.

W3-11 Establish a Sustainable Development Incentive to encourage developers to implement sustainable practices including increased greenspace, wetlands, riparian and wildlife corridors, natural drainage-ways, and low-impact stormwater management like installing permanent infiltration or collection features (e.g., swale, culvert outfall, rainwater cistern) that can retain 100 % of the runoff.

W3-12 Assess the need for a Stormwater Utility Fee based on impervious surface and stormwater runoff calculations, including a Stormwater Credit for properties which implement strategies to meet or exceed stormwater retention and runoff reduction.