Dive Brief: - Chicago is building a $12 million pilot project that will capture and temporarily store nearly 1.7 million gallons of excess stormwater in an underground detention system during heavy rainfall and gradually release it into the sewer system as capacity becomes available. - The Wing Storage project — a partnership between the Chicago Department of Water Management and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago — will be installed beneath city streets and attached to existing sewer infrastructure on Chicago’s West Side, where major storms caused severe flooding in 2023. - Wing Storage is part of Chicago’s broader strategy ”to advance climate resilience and environmental justice through equitable infrastructure investments,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a news release. Dive Insight: Deep Tunnel, Chicago’s system of more than 100 miles of underground tunnels and reservoirs designed to hold floodwater, was nearly at capacity for the first time in the city’s history last week after more than 3 inches of rain — nearly a month’s worth — fell over the July 4 weekend, according to WBEZ. The likelihood of heavy rainstorms that can dump more than 8.5 inches of rain in 24 hours has increased more than sevenfold in Chicago over the past century, but the city’s sewers can handle just 2 inches of rain before flooding is likely, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “We can only expect more storms to come as the effects of climate change hit Chicago’s communities,” Johnson said during a July 8 news conference. “And of course, they hit the South and West Side communities especially hard.” The Center for Neighborhood Technology found that 87% of flood damage insurance claims in Chicago between 2007 and 2016 were in communities of color on the city’s south and west sides. The Illinois Institute of