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Not just anyone can gain access to Lake Michigan’s pristine, saltless water. That’s rooted in the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement that governs how much water each state or Canadian province can withdraw from the lakes each day. With some exceptions, only municipalities located within the 295,200-square-mile basin (which includes the surface area of the lakes themselves) can get approved for a diversion to use Great Lakes drinking water. […]
“If you do not live in a straddling community, or you’re not a city in a straddling county, you don’t have a ticket to the dance. You can’t even ask for a Great Lakes water diversion,” said Peter Annin, director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College and author of The Great Lakes Water Wars.
“With the exception of the state of Illinois,” he added.
The Chicago exemption, as it is often referred to, has roots in the 1800s, when animal waste from the city’s stockyards would flush into the Chicago River, ultimately pouring into Lake Michigan. […]
Every day, Chicago had the right to use billions of gallons of Lake Michigan water to divert this water and dilute the pollution downstream. The state of Wisconsin began challenging the diversion in the 1920s, arguing that Illinois’ superfluous water use was depleting water levels in the lake. In 1967, the Supreme Court sided with Illinois, and now, Chicago can do whatever it wants with its 2.1 billion gallons per day.
[…]As it stands now, Joliet is set to become Chicago’s second-largest water customer through the formation of its six-community consortium, the Grand Prairie Water Commission. (Chicago’s largest customer is the DuPage Water Commission, which provides water to residents of DuPage County, west of the city.)
“The fact that Illinois is now making money on their special deal, or I should say Chicago is making money on their special deal, sort of rubs salt in the wounds for others in the Great Lakes region,” [Peter Annin, director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland] said. “But they can do it, and they are. [Chicago] has the water, and [Chicago] needs the money.”
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot struck a $1 billion deal in 2023 to supply Joliet and five of its surrounding suburbs with treated water from Lake Michigan starting in 2023.
* Tribune…
Lake Zurich officials held a community meeting on Monday about the ongoing switch to Lake Michigan drinking water and addressed any community concerns over the $154 million infrastructure project.
The project will take another four years to complete and, since last year, water rates have been creeping up — and will continue until 2028 — to pay for a debt the village will owe for decades. Yet, despite all that, in a room with about two dozen residents, nobody attending the meeting expressed any concern over the plan and all who spoke supported the move to lake water. […]
For Lake Zurich the move has come after the EPA reduced acceptable levels of radium in drinking water in 2000 and due to barium in the village’s drinking water sources. Those regulations plus the legal cap on water usage in Lake Michigan meant communities drawing lake water is capped — and if Lake Zurich didn’t make a move soon, the water rights would go elsewhere and already communities far afield are planning to use Lake Michigan water.
“Joliet is 70 miles from Chicago and they’re building a pipeline to the lake,” said Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency (CLCJAWA) Executive Director Bill Soucie, the head of the CLCJAWA. “They’re spending over $2 billion for that pipeline to get water to Joliet.”
The Oswego Village Board Tuesday will consider resolutions authorizing the execution of agreements to formally join the DuPage Water Commission as part of the process to switch to Lake Michigan water.
Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery decided in mid-December 2021 to change from relying on well water to Lake Michigan water via a connection through the DuPage Water Commission.
The Illinois State Water Survey has used projections showing the region could run out of ground water from the aquifer it currently uses in the next 20 to 40 years.
The planning process between the three municipalities began in 2014. The three communities have been on notice from the Illinois State Water Survey that the region’s aquifer is at “severe risk” of depletion, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in a report to trustees.
posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:00 pm
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This should be illegal, full stop. Everyone else has agreed to limited withdrawals to protect this increasingly precious resource. Chicago being the sole bad actor who’s working to ruin a common resource (that will only become more valuable in the 21st century) is embarrassing.
Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:14 pm
“Joliet is set to become Chicago’s second-largest water customer”
If they can get the local water pipe leakage below the 11% requirement to use Lake Michigan water.
When it was their own water, the rate of leakage in Joliet was around 35%. Meaning more than 1 out of every 3 gallons the city was pumping was just lost. Since 2017 they’ve been spending millions in additional work to fix their neglected infrastructure, and after an ongoing 90M project to replace water mains, the measurements in April of this year show it’s now down to… 31%. Not there yet.
The local attitude of waste led to severely substandard infrastructure for decades. Now that an outside authority will be setting the rules, the city is facing tens or even hundreds of millions in extra expenses just to meet these new absolute minimum standards of infrastructure.
While not likely, it’s also not impossible - a single Supreme Court decision could remove the exemption Illinois has been enjoying for decades.
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2024/04/12/90-million-joliet-water-main-replacement-project-shows-little-impact-so-far/
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:25 pm
The water deal has been settled since 1967
“The 1967 decree allots to Chicago (and several suburbs, via the Chicago water distribution system) a diversion volume of 3,200 cubic feet per second, or just over two billion gallons per day”
Better to focus on fixing the pipes, pumps, and infrastructure used in pulling the water from the lake and delivering it.
“Drop by drop, more than 25 billion gallons of water drawn from Lake Michigan was lost in the Chicago area last year, an analysis by the Chicago Tribune has found”
“https://graphics.chicagotribune.com/news/lake-michigan-drinking-water-rates/loss.html#:~:text=Drop%20by%20drop%2C%20more%20than,even%20turn%20on%20the%20faucet..
Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:26 pm
so Chicago has to cut itself off of selling off the water. which is a good idea money planning wise anyway as some seem to be going to other sources And, start teaching residents in Chicago to stop watering lawns, decrease the size of lawns by planting native plants. get a rain barrel.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:28 pm
This won’t stop at how far Chicago leaders will go to raise money for their bad budgeting decisions.
Could Chicago build a pipeline to the Western States, where they’ve already depleted the Colorado River?
Where are all the Mayor’s friends, from the Sierra Club and the IEC, raising hell that the City is depleting Chicago’s most valuable natural resource?
Comment by Frida's boss Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:28 pm
Chicago’s sordid environmental history is the only reason for this exception. I do not think we should renegotiated water deals already made, but there needs to be limits on how much we can draw from Lake Michigan.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:35 pm
—Could Chicago build a pipeline to the Western States, where they’ve already depleted the Colorado River?
They are asking, but the reality is building a cross continent water pipeline would face hurdles that would be easier solved by desalinization. Oh, and growing crops besides corn and beans in the Midwest so the Central Valley isn’t our primary source of other crops.
More importantly, people just need to use less water–lawns and such are silly to waste it on–get a rain barrel.
Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:41 pm
The amount of water in Lake Michigan has been above historic levels for sometime. While it’s always important to protect natural resources, taking and selling water to the Chicagoland area is a literal drop in the bucket to the lake and the entire system.
https://lre-wm.usace.army.mil/ForecastData/GLBasinConditions/LTA-GLWL-Graph.pdf
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:47 pm
“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 12:48 pm
When loudly confronted for snoring by other hunters at deer camp, my Uncle would loudly deny it…after four or five others confirmed his snoring, he would turn over while claiming that IF he was snoring it was because someone had put water in his Whiskey.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 1:01 pm
“Joliet is 70 miles from Chicago”
How did I miss this the first time.
Joliet to Chicago is 46 miles by road, and 34 miles by a straight line. And that’s downtown to downtown.
Nearest border of each city to the other, is 16.25 miles.
The person who said 70 miles, holds a director position of an agency. Lets hope he’s a little better with numbers where it actually matters.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 1:09 pm
I think the Illinois exemption is much more complicated than the story lays out. When Chicago reverse the flow of the river, specifically to protect the Great Lakes from pollution, a big chunk of the Chicago region was artificially removed from the Great Lakes drainage basin. Being in that drainage basin is what qualifies a municipality for water rights under the compact. Also, Chicago does have a cap on how much water it can divert — that’s why there are locks where Lake Michigan drains into the Chicago river.
Comment by Roman Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 1:22 pm
A few excellent resources on this topic:
The Illinois State water Survey: https://www.isws.illinois.edu/illinois-water-supply-planning/northeastern-illinois
This story map is especially informative: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6a8ff45c39134e168da93b45626fef36
For a deep dive on the history and recent negotiations on Great Lakes water, this is an excellent book: https://www.greatlakeswaterwars.com/
Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 1:22 pm
Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery should have followed Aurora’s example…use the Fox River!
Comment by Retired SURS Employee Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 1:49 pm
That whiskey / water quote was beaten to death by Pat Quinn.
Comment by Give Us Barrabbas Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 2:33 pm
Where to start?
Oswego’s water supply is threatened because of the overpumping of the aquifers in the Joliet area. While it will take years to recover, Joliet’s end to groundwater pumping will mitigate threats to other nearby groundwater supplies.
The City of Chicago is allowed to use 3,200 cubic feet per second (or about 2.1 billion gallons per day) of Lake Michigan water. Only fairly recently, after the locks were repaired on the Chicago River and the canals into Lake Michigan, was there any water left of the amount. The leaky locks had amounted to about 1 billion gallons of water per day flowing down the Illinois River. When the locks were repaired, the City had excess water to sell.
The Chicago allocation is, by the way, a limit on Chicago’s withdrawal. It is more of a limit, some would say, than any other party to the compact has under the current circumstances and future potential for water needs.
The Great Lakes Compact is an agreement among all Great Lakes states and Canada. Each party has veto power over any new withdrawals. This does not apply to the Chicago allocation. None of them are interested in shipping water any further west than, oh, maybe Rockford. (That’s a wild guess/mild snark.)
Unaccounted for flow (UFF) - also referred to as non-revenue water troubles all water systems. 30-35% UFF is nuts to me. “25 billion gallons per year” lost by Chicago comes to about 3% UFF (using a round 2 billion gallons per day used by Chicago). This is a very rough calculation, but UAF isn’t anywhere near Joliet’s in any system that I’ve been told about.
The water level in Lake Michigan was historically low around 2013, only about 5 years before returning to typical and now high current levels. This is no basis for water policy.
Pleasant Prairie WI was the first city to be allowed to use LM water outside the watershed of the lake. It agreed to return effluent to the watershed so it built a return-flow system for treated water and precipitation.
In closing, if you’re really interested in this topic, read Mr. Annin’s book. A recent update includes all the details about Pleasant Prairie.
Comment by Lefty Lefty Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 2:46 pm
Ha - haven’t read the book in a while. Waukesha was approved, not Pleasant Prairie. The entire city is outside the watershed so it had to build the return flow system.
Comment by Lefty Lefty Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 3:01 pm
===Lets hope he’s a little better with numbers where it actually matters. ===
You must understand. People from Lake County simply do not go to Joliet. It is quite unfashionable. To even know the relative distance from Chicago to Joliet or to find it on a map would be quite the embarrassment.
/snark
Realistically, Joliet is probably 70 miles from where ever that guy lives which is absolutely not in Chicago, but he still tells everyone outside of Illinois that he is from Chicago.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Sep 30, 24 @ 5:47 pm