April 23, 2024
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Construction of Joliet-area pipeline to Lake Michigan to start in 2024

Costs now estimated at between $592 million and $810 million could go up

By Bob Okon
Lake Michigan and the Chicago Department of Water Management can be seen on an enlarged map Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, during a public forum on the future source of Joliet's water at Cantigny Post 367 VFW in Joliet, Ill.

A map displayed at a 2019 public forum in Joliet showed the potential pipeline routes for the Lake Michigan water project.

Joliet and other communities involved in the Lake Michigan water project will meet with contractors Wednesday as they prepare to start building the pipeline in 2024.

The project involves a 60-mile pipeline that at one point will cross under the Des Plaines River, four pump stations, water storage tanks and more.

Costs have been estimated at $592 million to $810 million, although that could change under a financial reanalysis expected to be done by the end of this year.

Joliet initiated the project, but has since joined five other communities in forming the Grand Prairie Water Commission to share the benefits and costs of bringing Lake Michigan water to towns now dependent on an underground aquifer that is not expected to meet peak demands for water by 2030.

Other municipalities in the commission are Romeoville, Crest Hill, Shorewood, Channahon and Minooka.

romeoville

Romeoville is one of six municipalities in the Grand Prairie Water Commission. (Alex Ortiz)

Representatives from those communities will be at the contractors meeting held by the Grand Prairie Water Commission.

The contractors outreach event will be held at Joliet Junior College, providing information to construction companies interested in getting some of the work involved in what has been described as one of the biggest water projects in the U.S. now underway.

“There’s a lot of interest in the project,” said Hugh O’Hara, coordinator for the Grand Prairie Water Commission. “When you talk about doing a $600-to-$800 million project, there are a lot of contractors who want a piece of it and want to do the work.”

The scope of the project actually goes beyond the pipeline to Lake Michigan and supporting infrastructure.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot fields questions about the City of Chicago's water treatment program on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, at Joliet City Hall in Joliet, Ill. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. made presentations at a special meeting of the Joliet City Council ahead of their decision on where to purchase water for the City of Joliet.

Lightfoot Joliet Water Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot led a Chicago presentation to the Joliet City Council in December 2020 seeking Joliet's future water business. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

O’Hara noted that the six communities in the commission will need to make changes in their water systems in the transition from underground water pumped up from wells to Lake Michigan water.

Bidding on the Lake Michigan project probably will be done in late 2023, O’Hara said.

The costs of the project were expected to be affected by rising construction costs, even before inflation became a national economic issue.

When Joliet approved the project in January 2021, staff and consultants advised that projected costs at the actual time of construction could raise the overall cost of the project to between $725 million and $993 million.

Joliet's Director of Public Utilities Allison Swisher delivers a presentation to the city council highlighting the process used to vet potential water supply partners on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at Joliet City Hall in Joliet, Ill.

Joliet's Director of Public Utilities Allison Swisher delivers a presentation to the City Council on the Lake Michigan water project in January 2021. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

Joliet Utilities Director Allison Swisher told a City Council committee this month that a financial reanalysis of costs should be completed by the end of this year and updated cost estimates will be reported publicly in early 2023.

Swisher noted that the pipeline will extend from Chicago to its farthest point in Channahon.

Key points along the way include a crossing under the Des Plaines River, which will be in the vicinity of 135th Street in Romeoville, she said.

Notice of the Wednesday outreach meeting, she said, was sent to more than 100 contractors.