Lake Renwick East

Lake Renwick East is a part of the larger Forest Preserve District of Will County's (FPDWC) land holding that includes the Lake Renwick Heron Rookery and Turtle Lake access area. Prior to the approval of the Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund (MSCSF) grant the majority of the Lake Renwick East site was in row crop agriculture.

The main goals for the FPDWC were to restore site hydrology, establish native plant communities, and to potentially increase foraging habitat for the herons and egrets nesting at the Lake Renwick Heron Rookery. (Download full project description here:  Wetland Restoration Projects Lake Renwick East (24.16 kB).)

Location: 23144 W. Renwick Rd., .5 mile east of Route 30, Plainfield, IL

Funding source: Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund (MSCSF)

Owner & land manager: Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC)

Size of project site: 105 acres

Project date: 2000

Partners: Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC), Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Openlands (formerly CorLands), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Action: Inventory of drainage tiles and drainage features, hydric soil mapping, hydrologic restoration, redirection of subsurface water flow coming in from off-site, planting of native plant seeds and plugs, mowing, hedgerow removal, and installation of pedometers.