Elk Grove Village residents are known for taking pride and working hard to keep their yards attractive and clean which has helped beautify the neighborhoods throughout the Village. The Residential Drainage Improvement Program was created to help residents solve rear yard drainage problems in order to keep their drainage swales functioning properly, and their properties and neighborhoods looking their best.

Over the years, some residents have improperly filled their rear yards and drainage easements with dirt, trees, shrubs, gardens, ponds, sheds, garages and other obstructions which block the drainage route for storm water. The drainage easements were intended to remain open to allow storm water to drain through the rear yards of the neighborhoods to a designated Village storm sewer. The Drainage Improvement Program can assist residential single-family property owners by reviewing drainage easements in their rear yards to determine if they are functioning properly.

If you feel you have a storm water drainage problem, please contact the Public Works Department at
(847) 734-8800 or complete a Drainage Investigation Form and fax it to (847) 734-8060 to set up an inspection of your property to determine what level of assistance the Village can provide to resolve your drainage concerns. Please include your name and your telephone number. 

For a residential single-family property owner to be eligible for Village assistance in constructing drainage improvements, the property must conform to ALL of the following criteria:

1. Standing water must remain in the drainage easement for more than forty-eight (48) hours after the end of a rain storm.
2. The standing water problem can’t be solved by conventional methods such as regrading portions of the rear yard or rear yard swale to provide positive pitch or removing objects that are blocking the flow of storm water.
3. The standing water problem must affect four (4) or more contiguous lots and the nearest available storm sewer must be two (2) or more lots away from the properties.
4. The standing water problem is not caused by sump pump discharge lines or downspouts.
In addition to the above criteria, the Village’s evaluation of an area will include a review of the intensity and duration of the rainfall event occurring just prior to the inspection, weather conditions immediately after the rainfall event and a review of the condition of the grass cover on the properties involved.

If it is determined that the standing water issue does not meet the criteria for Village funding of underground improvements, the Village will provide technical assistance to the homeowner(s) so that the problem can be corrected individually.

If it is determined that the areas of standing water meet the criteria for Village funding of improvements, Village staff will schedule the locations for field work to determine the best course of action to eliminate the areas of standing water.

Once the field work is complete, the Village will design a solution and the area will be added to the list of proposed construction projects.

Construction will include the installation of storm sewer/underdrains, inlets and restoration of the disturbed areas with black dirt and sod. The Homeowner will be required to water sod after installation.

Any obstructions in the easement such as shrubs, plantings, sheds, swing sets, landscape features, etc, must be removed by the homeowner(s) prior to the start of construction and cannot be reinstalled in the easement. Any obstructions remaining in the easement once work begins will be removed by the Village’s contractor and will not be replaced.

Fences will be removed and replaced as part of the construction.