More work ahead for Kendall County towns to join DuPage water system

Yorkville, Montgomery and Oswego residents “definitely” will be drinking water from Lake Michigan by 2030, but there is plenty of work that needs to be done first.

That’s the assessment from DuPage Water Commission Operations Manager Terry McGhee, who said that the next step is for the three municipalities to obtain a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to receive an allocation for Lake Michigan water.

The Illinois General Assembly recently approved legislation allowing the three communities to join the DuPage water system.

The bill, yet to be signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, was approved on nearly unanimous votes in both the House and Senate.

The legislation will provide the communities with two representatives on the DuPage Water Commission, which is currently made up of 13 members.

One representative would be appointed by the DuPage County Board chairman, McGhee said, while the other is to be appointed by a majority vote of the mayors of the three municipalities.

McGhee noted that the “territorial municipality” composed of the three communities could be expanded if others seek to join the DuPage system.

Meanwhile, the three municipalities are negotiating with the DuPage Water Commission over the terms and conditions of its membership. One thing that will not be up for negotiation is the rate paid by the municipalities.

“All of our members pay the same rate,” McGhee said, which is $4.97 per 1,000 gallons, about 133 cubic feet.

McGhee said he expects construction to get underway within four to five years and the work to take two to three years to complete. He expressed confidence that the expanded system will be operational by 2030.

The connection to the existing DuPage system would be made from Naperville, McGhee said. The route of the pipeline into and through Kendall County will depend on a number of factors, including population growth projections.

“We have to see where the demand is going to be,” McGhee said.

The communities also will need to comply with a city of Chicago requirement to have enough storage capacity for a two-day supply of water, in case of supply disruptions.

The capital costs, including the pipeline extension and the additional storage tanks, will be expensive.

Yorkville, for example, is estimating its cost of connecting to the DuPage system at $96 million.

The Yorkville City Council plans to phase in water rate increases that will double those paid by residents.

The typical Yorkville household currently pays $47 per month for water. By 2030, that monthly bill is expected to be about $100.

Meanwhile, the three municipalities are working on an intergovernmental agreement to split the cost of extending the pipeline from the DuPage network.

After months of investigation and deliberation, all three of the municipalities decided late last year to connect with the DuPage system, rather than tapping into the Fox River or to use other sources to bring Lake Michigan water to their communities.

The new water source is needed because the aquifer supplying the wells now used by the three communities is rapidly being depleted.

The Illinois State Water Survey reports that without taking action, the three communities would be at “severe risk” of meeting water demand by 2050.

By that year, the population of the three communities is projected to have reached 143,000.