As communities across the country struggle with the ability and funding to update their water infrastructure, there are times when innovative ideas, partnering with the right firm and thinking outside the box is all it takes to put them ahead of the curve. The Village of Ludlow in north-central Champaign County, Illinois, with a population of fewer...

Municipal leaders face difficult decisions every day. With limited budgets, they must choose which infrastructure improvements are most critical. That’s especially true in smaller communities. The Village of Tilton, Illinois, needed to make improvements to its wastewater infrastructure, specifically their Wastewater Treatment Plant, and financing t...

Developing a Watershed Plan for a community can have a ripple effect. Improving and protecting our most important natural resource is important, and Watershed Plans do both. At Fehr Graham, we believe everyone should have access to clean and safe water. As a new engineer at Fehr Graham, I’m helping develop a Watershed Plan for the City of Loves Par...

States, counties, cities and towns of all sizes spend billions of dollars each year to improve infrastructure. As the budgets get tighter and the to-do lists get longer, it becomes more important to ensure the projects chosen each year are completed properly. Having someone on site to check the contractor’s work is one way to provide that assurance...

In a previous post, I explained how communities are funding stormwater utility programs through user fees, like water and sewer utilities. Regardless of your funding method, reviewing flooding problems and planning improvements in your community can be a complicated exercise. Water has a habit of showing up in unwelcome places during heavy rain, an...

Too many nutrients in our water streams can mean large environmental, social and economic costs. Wastewater treatment plant effluent is a common point source that discharges these nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, into receiving streams and waterways. As many states move to regulate nutrients in discharge, there are many wastewater t...

  Brownfield redevelopment transforms blighted, deteriorated and contaminated properties into community assets. The hope is to remove eyesores and entice development – everything from new parks, homes and retailers to commercial and industrial parks. To better understand brownfield redevelopment and its benefits, here are answers to some commo...

Communities in Illinois have increasingly turned to a user fee system for funding stormwater programs. But why now? The history of this funding tool and the factors that drove its popularity have taken shape over the last 20 years.  Stormwater as User FeesTypically, the stormwater program is paid for with local taxes. Stormwater is the only ma...

Present in every stream and lake is something invisible, necessary and good. That something is nutrients – chemical compounds that are essential for sustaining aquatic life. However, too much of a good thing can be bad. When nutrient removal isn't considered, treated wastewater discharge into streams and lakes can cause elevated nutrient levels in ...

Did you know that some changes to the standards for using aerial lifts may affect your business? The team at Fehr Graham is here to help. Updates to the standards for using booms, scissor lifts and under-bridge inspection machines will go into effect on Dec. 10. The new standards issued by the American National Standard Institution (ANSI) will affe...

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful tool that combines the information in your operator’s head, the data in your filing cabinet and real-world locations, such as aerial photography and field survey shots, and combines them into one computer program.    GIS is much more than a mapping program. Not only is the map a visual re...