Metropolitan Chicago's new regional water plan calls for increased conservation, coordinated management

A report on projected demand through 2050, commissioned in 2008 by CMAP with IDNR funding, indicated that -- without effective planning -- water demand could increase as much as 64 percent by mid-century, creating potentially serious shortages.  Illinois access to Lake Michigan water is constrained by a U.S. Supreme Court Consent Decree. 

"As business leaders consider the importance of our region's natural resources, water supply must be at or very near the top of that list," said Jerry Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.  "Not only is it a strategic asset that helps us compete with other global economic centers, but ensuring a reliable supply of clean water through mid-century will significantly enhance quality of life for the people who live and work here.  And that, in turn, is very good for business."

The plan's primary strategy is to improve how water demand is managed, by emphasizing conservation, pricing, and the reuse of graywater and wastewater.  (Graywater results from residential activities such as dish washing, laundry, and bathing.)  It advocates a number of local conservation measures for municipalities, businesses, and households, including:   

• Replacing old toilets and clothes washers with new, high-efficiency ones
• Prohibiting practices that waste water
• Metering water use
• Auditing water systems to detect leaks and other inefficiencies
• Retrofitting residential plumbing

Also, wintertime road salts and other contaminants are harming the region's shallow-aquifer system, according to the water plan, which recommends the use of alternate methods to de-ice roads.  Among other key recommendations is for the region to conduct a public campaign to inform adults and school children of the need for water conservation.  "Full-cost pricing" is also an option that the water plan presents for consideration.  This method of managing demand would remove public subsidies to reflect the real expense of water, so business and residential consumers would pay for its delivery (not just for the water itself, as is current practice), which is an incentive to use water efficiently.

As part of a regional framework for water planning and management, the plan also recommends new "Conservation Coordinators" be designated at the municipal and regional levels, to be responsible for managing, implementing, and maintaining a comprehensive water-conservation program.  These coordinators would work with public-water suppliers' staff to analyze the benefits, costs, and water savings potential of numerous conservation measures.  

Also as recommended in the plan, CMAP intends to coordinate data from various water suppliers, making the information available to stakeholder groups and the general public.  By complementing the Illinois State Water Survey's "water inventory" program, this would help communities and water suppliers make informed choices about how to manage water demand.

Groundwater modeling suggests that portions of the regional deep-bedrock aquifer are being dewatered.  If that does not change, according the water plan, this important water source will be compromised by 2050.  The plan also cites climate change as a factor that could lead to increased water demand and reduced supplies. 

"I would like to thank the RWSPG members for their considerable efforts in helping to craft this plan," said CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn.  "And I want to challenge the region's many stakeholders to begin taking immediate steps as called for in the regional water plan.  CMAP is prepared to lead by coordinating these activities and providing technical assistance to water suppliers and consumers."

The agency today announced that the first Metropolitan Chicago Water-supply Summit will be convened by CMAP and its partners in March 2010.  The event will bring stakeholders together to start implementation activities and discuss how the water plan fits into a broader context CMAP's other water-resource activities and the comprehensive regional plan that is nearing completion.

CMAP is in the final months of developing the GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan, whose implementation will begin in October 2010.  Water supply will be an important consideration among CMAP's recommendations to guide growth and infrastructure investments through mid-century and beyond. 

"The IDNR is proud to have commissioned and funded this project as one of two key water supply planning projects in Illinois. This partnership has successfully produced important tools for communities to use in planning for future population and economic growth in Northeast Illinois," said IDNR director Marc Miller.