Joliet pursues regional commission for Lake Michigan water

Joliet is talking with 13 potential partners for a regional water commission that would share the costs of bringing Lake Michigan water to communities that now rely on aquifers.

The potential partners in the the water project are a combination of local municipalities and industrial water users, Utilities Director Allison Swisher told the Joliet City Council in a workshop meeting on Tuesday.

The city plans to finalize the membership in the regional water commission by December 2021.

"At this point, it's really too premature to say with any certainty which ones would be participating," Swisher said.

The city is exploring whether to buy water from the city of Chicago or build its own pipeline to Lake Michigan at a spot on the Indiana shoreline with costs ranging from $600 million to $1.1 billion depending on which option is chosen.

Council members told the team of city staff and consultants developing the Lake Michigan plan to move ahead with the formation of a regional water commission.

"If the feedback we get from the committee is that we have some form of commission, I think it's reasonable that we go that way," Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said.

Joliet is seeking Lake Michigan water in light of forecasts from the Illinois State Water Survey that its aquifer will no longer meet peak demand by 2030. The city plans to have Lake Michigan water piped into Joliet that year.

Swisher said other communities are going through the same process of trying to determine how long they will be able to rely on groundwater.

"Joliet getting off the aquifer does not solve the problem for the region," Swisher said.

Joliet uses about a third of the water drawn from the deep-water aquifer that supplies area wells, she said. Another third is drawn by neighboring communities. And, the final third is drawn by industry.

"We have not only municipalities but also industries that could be regional water partners," she said.

The potential partners were not identified, although Frankfort was mentioned during a discussion of building a treatment plant at a location closest to the easternmost member of the future commission.