With snow flurries still swirling
across Chicagoland, it's hard to be mindful of last summer's drought and the
havoc it wreaked on homeowners, farmers, business and industry.
When people think of drought, they
conjure images of dry creek beds and tumbleweeds of the parched Southwest. But
as
Illinois
' worst drought on record continues due
to lack of rain and snowfall, we're learning that — incredible as it seems with
Lake Michigan in our back yard — we suffer not only the same predicament as
Texas
and
Arizona
, but every other growing
region in the country: we have a limited water supply. That means without rain —
and substantial research and planning — we homeowners had best accept
community-wide watering bans and start worrying about clean water. Business,
agriculture and industry: you require reliable water at a cost-effective price?
Consider that you may be forced to locate and conduct commerce based on water's
availability — and comply with measures that limit your use.
Last year's withered lawns and crops
made us aware that water-quality issues and limitations on supply are a looming
crisis, just one long dry spell away. Although Lake Michigan currently supplies
water to a large area, including the city of
Chicago
and parts of Cook, DuPage,
Lake
and Will counties, many communities rely
on supplies from groundwater and surface water for public, industrial and
commercial purposes. No rain or snow means no replenishment, or recharge, of the
system. Water resources are further taxed by increasing consumer demand: today,
Illinois
residents, business and
industry use nearly 18 billion gallons of water each day for domestic,
municipal, commercial, agricultural, industrial, mining, power generation,
recreation, navigation and waste treatment purposes. That number is projected to
rise by almost 28 percent by 2025.
Last week, the Metropolitan Planning
Council
and Openlands, in conjunction with the Campaign for Sensible Growth,
released a report, Troubled Waters: Meeting Future Water Needs in
Illinois
. Using the current drought
and potential for crisis as a motivator, we urged state leaders to establish a
statewide framework for regional water supply assessment, planning and
management. Troubled Waters details the critical factors restricting use of
water from
Lake Michigan
and the lack of scientific data
about water sources, as well as identifies the challenges to maintaining a
sustainable water supply, especially as projected growth further strains our
resources.
And grow we will. In the
Chicago
area alone, population is
expected to top more than 10 million people by 2030, guaranteed to put more and
more demands on our water supply. With that growth there'll be more than the
proverbial well running dry: potential water shortages have been forecast for at
least 11 townships in northeastern
Illinois
by 2020.
Since the withdrawal of water from
Lake Michigan has been set by decree of the U.S. Supreme Court and by agreement
with other states and
Canada
,
Illinois
' allocation is almost
fully used and unlikely to be increased in the near future. As the suburban
region expands far south and west, into Will,
Kankakee
and Grundy counties, increased demand
for water will have to be met primarily through increased withdrawals from
groundwater sources or inland surface water; the deep aquifer system and
Lake Michigan
are now at or near their
sustainable or legally mandated limits. So communities looking to buy "
Chicago
" water from others further
up the pipe may not have those options available.
As Troubled Waters draws attention
to the challenge, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has issued an executive order calling for
the development of state and regional water supply plans. Executive Order No. 1
(2006) identified how increasing demands on Illinois' water resources combined
with the ongoing drought may lead to conflicts between multiple water supply
users, adversely affect our health and environment, and hurt the economy. The
order calls for scientific studies of our water system and directs the
development of comprehensive state and regional plans to manage this finite
resource.
This is a significant step forward.
State and regional leadership are crucial because water knows no political
boundaries — what happens up or down stream, within aquifers and to
Lake Michigan
impacts us all. With no end in
sight to the current drought, and water needs expected to spike to more than 25
billion gallons used per day in the next 20 years, the time to find state
dollars is now so that we can start careful planning and management of our water
resources. Such action is critical so that even during times of little or no
rain, we ensure adequate supplies of clean water for everyone, now and in the
future.