Droughts, dry wells, and potability threats led to the creation of the Illinois Water Supply Initiative, a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive state program to manage precious water resources
(Chicago) …Advocates for a clean, abundant,
reasonably priced water supply available
throughout
Illinois gathered at the John G. Shedd Aquarium
in
Chicago on Monday, June 5, to celebrate
the launch of a new state program, the Illinois Water Supply Initiative, which
marks
Illinois’
first step toward developing a comprehensive statewide framework to manage water
resources.
Gov.
Rod Blagojevich proposed and the Illinois General Assembly approved more than $1
million in state funding for the Illinois Water Supply Initiative as part of the
FY06 budget. At the news conference – which fittingly took place on June 5,
World Environment Day – the governor’s Senior Policy Development Advisor for
Environment and Energy Steven Frenkel, and State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake
Forest), who championed the creation of the program, joined nonprofit planning
advocates from Openlands, Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Campaign for
Sensible Growth, to outline the new program’s purpose and
scope.
“Water
is critically important to our lives and our livelihoods, with billions of
gallons required each day for drinking, bathing, farming, manufacturing, mining,
power generation, recreation – the list goes on,” said Frenkel. “To ensure all
Illinois
residents and businesses have access to a clean, plentiful supply of water at a
fair cost, Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed the Illinois Water Supply Initiative to
proactively address projected water shortages and quality issues statewide.”
Prior to the Illinois Water Supply Initiative, which will be
administered by the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources, no comprehensive
statewide or regional plans
existed
for managing Illinois’ water resources. A
year-long drought, which started in March 2005 and stretched through this winter,
called attention to the fact that – drought or no drought – withdrawals
from underground water stores, or aquifers, may be exceeding sustainable yields
in some parts
of
Illinois.
“Many fast-growing areas in northeastern Illinois draw
water not from Lake Michigan, but from a deep aquifer system that is being
tapped to its sustainable limits,” said Sen. Garrett. “While some counties have
conducted extensive studies of their water supplies and are ahead of the curve,
the Illinois Water Supply Initiative will help head off potential water shortages and
quality
issues in all counties
and regions
in Illinois by providing
data, coordinating between municipalities and counties, and developing a statewide framework for regional
plans and actions.”
The creation of a statewide framework for water supply
planning and management was the major recommendation of the report Troubled
Waters: Meeting Future Water Needs in Illinois
, co-released Jan. 9, 2006, by Openlands
and Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), in conjunction with the Campaign for
Sensible Growth. The day of the report’s release, Gov. Blagojevich issued an
executive order
calling for scientific
studies
of Illinois’ water system, and the development
of comprehensive state and regional plans to manage this
finite
resource. The executive order
recognized that increasing
demands
on
Illinois'
water resources will create conflicts between multiple water supply users,
adversely affect our health and the environment, and hurt the
economy.
“The timing of this initiative is ideal,” said Joyce
O’Keefe, deputy director of Openlands, and project principal for Troubled
Waters
. “Counties like Kane,
Lake
and McHenry have already invested in
developing local water supply plans but now recognize that their efforts to
manage water will be futile without a more regional
approach.”
Indeed, both O’Keefe and Scott Goldstein, MPC vice
president of policy and planning, and project principal for Troubled
Waters
, credited Gov. Blagojevich and Sen. Garrett for supporting
forward-thinking policy that will help all Illinois communities plan now to meet
water demand expected to grow by 30 percent over the next 20 years, according to
Southern Illinois University researchers.
“Planning is
extremely important to make sure we work together as a region to protect our scarce
water
supplies,”
said Goldstein. “We are grateful to the governor and Sen. Garrett for
recognizing the need to direct state resources toward a program that will ensure
a clean, abundant water supply at a reasonable cost for all
Illinois
residents and
businesses, today and in the future.”
For a copy of Troubled Waters: Meeting Future Water
Needs in Illinois, visit www.metroplanning.org/uploads/cms/documents/TroubledWaters.pdf.
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For more information, please contact Mandy Burrell , MPC
communications associate, at (o) 312-863-6018, (c) 773-640-1206, or mburrell@metroplanning.org; or Holly Goldin, Openlands
communications manager, at 312-427-4256 or hgoldin@openlands.org; or
State Sen. Susan Garrett at 847-433-2002 or ilsenate29@sbcglobal.net. World Environment Day is an annual
event sponsored by the United Nations to stimulate worldwide awareness of the
environment. Learn more at www.unep.org/wed
.