Report supports Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources proposals to modernize Lake Michigan water permit conditions, makes further recommendations
(Chicago) … Best estimates suggest northeastern Illinois loses enough Lake Michigan water each week to fill more than one Willis Tower – but that figure, some 26 billion gallons each year, may be even higher. To improve the information collected about regional water loss and, ultimately, to reduce wasted Lake Michigan water, the Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources (IDNR) has proposed changing regulations for its 200-plus local permittees using Lake Michigan water. Today, the nonprofit Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) released the report, Immeasurable Loss: Modernizing Lake Michigan Water Use, which supports IDNR’s proposals and makes further recommendations.
“We know northeastern Illinois is losing Lake Michigan water – and with it, the money rate payers contributed to pumping, treating and distributing this water,” said MPC Program Director Josh Ellis. “Yet we do not have a clear picture of how much water or how much money we are wasting because the state’s permit conditions do not capture the information needed to accurately assess loss and the reasons driving it. That’s just one reason why the Metropolitan Planning Council supports the Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources’ proposals to modernize the permit conditions.”
At an event hosted by MPC today, Ellis explained why and how IDNR’s proposals and MPC’s further recommendations will help communities and the region develop better solutions to prevent Lake Michigan water loss. The audience included local and state elected officials, water resource professionals, utility managers, and other stakeholders. A panel of speakers including representatives from IDNR, Village of Westmont and Illinois American Water – which sponsored the event – added their perspectives on the proposed changes.
The Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources’ proposals will improve the information collected about water loss and inform policies that require Lake Michigan water users to invest in both modern infrastructure and modern water practices. These proposals position northeastern Illinois to make more productive and cost-effective use of its Lake Michigan water by reducing loss and waste – of both water and scarce public dollars.
IDNR currently requires permittees to submit an annual reporting form, called the LMO-2. IDNR’s proposal would change the form to eliminate the designation “Maximum Unavoidable Leakage (MUL),” which allows permittees to exempt some of their water loss before tallying and reporting their total loss.
MPC strongly supports eliminating this exemption, as well as IDNR’s proposals to modernize its permit conditions on water rate setting, metering, outdoor water use, and plumbing. MPC’s report urges additional changes as well, which fall under five action areas:
Improve the existing accounting system, while exploring a new approach
In the near-term, IDNR should implement its proposal to eliminate the Maximum Unavoidable Leakage exemption. Over the next three years, IDNR and its permittees should begin to explore the possible benefits of a more thorough auditing process, such as the American Water Works Association’s M36 methodology. This change will improve the quality of information IDNR and permittees have to make decisions about how best to manage our Lake Michigan water.
Encourage communities to adopt full-cost pricing and comprehensive, advanced metering
Most communities currently do not set water rates that generate sufficient revenue to allow for high-quality water management. In the near-term, IDNR should recommend use of full-cost pricing and provide guidance to permittees on cost accounting and rate setting. IDNR should require a shift to full-cost pricing over the next 10 years. What’s more, many communities do not require all water users to have meters. To ensure accurate accounting, IDNR should require all permittees to complete universal metering plans for their service areas.
Require permittees to adopt modern plumbing standards
IDNR should move ahead with its proposal to require permittees to install water-efficient WaterSense plumbing fixtures for new installations. Further, IDNR should recommend permittees adopt modern plumbing codes, modeled after regularly updated codes written by the Ill. Dept. of Public Health or multiple national professional organizations. Finally, IDNR should coordinate with the Ill. Environmental Protection Agency and Ill. Dept. of Public Health to develop a statewide non-potable water reuse policy that protects public health and water quality while putting available water resources to more productive use. Collectively, these reforms will put Illinois on the leading edge of plumbing technology, to ensure the most efficient use of water in homes and businesses.
Strengthen and streamline outdoor water use standards
Lawn watering greatly increases peak demand for water use. To reduce permittees’ peak demand for water – and, in turn, alleviate the consequences of droughts, reduce the need for communities to make capital expansions to their water systems and possibly even allow communities to reduce their requested allocations of Lake Michigan water, freeing up water for other users – IDNR should implement its proposals related to outdoor water use standards. These proposals include adding a sprinkling ordinance to the list of water conservation practices permittees must implement, modifying the sprinkling requirement to add time-of-day and days-per-week restrictions, and requiring new/replacement sprinklers to have a WaterSense-labeled irrigation controller. Further, IDNR should look to the Northwest Water Planning Alliance and CMAP’s Model Water Use Conservation Ordinance as regional models for progressive action on discretionary outdoor water use.
Increase the capacity of IDNR’s Office of Water Resources to provide greater support to permittees
IDNR needs to build the capacity of its Lake Michigan management program to analyze incoming data, check for possible inaccuracies, work with permittees on controlling water loss, and use every feasible way to manage Illinois’ Lake Michigan diversion as efficiently as possible. An emboldened IDNR will be able to provide educational resources, technical assistance, data monitoring and other support to permittees, all in the service of improved management.
To read a copy of MPC’s report or download and use the infographics in the report, visit http://metroplanning.org/waterloss.
To talk with MPC’s Josh Ellis about MPC’s report and IDNR’s proposal, contact MPC Communications Director Mandy Burrell Booth at 312-863-6018 or mburrell@metroplanning.org.
For complete information on IDNR’s proposed rule changes, please see http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/WaterResources/Pages/LakeMichiganWaterAllocation.aspx. IDNR is taking comments on the proposed rule changes by email, as well as at three public meetings taking place across the region on May 14, 15 and 22. Details on the public hearing are available on our website: http://blog.chicagolandh2o.org/2013/04/11/may-brings-four-opportunities-to-learn-about-proposed-changes-to-lake-michigan-permitting-water-loss-and-resource-management/. Attendees are asked to RSVP to Gina.Thompson@illinois.gov, noting the chosen location, by May 8.
Metropolitan Planning Council
Since 1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) has been dedicated to shaping a more sustainable and prosperous greater Chicago region. As an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, MPC serves communities and residents by developing, promoting and implementing solutions for sound regional growth. Visit www.metroplanning.org to learn more.