Mission Statement
To consider the future water supply needs of northeastern Illinois and develop plans and programs to guide future use that provide adequate and affordable water for all users, including support for economic development, agriculture and the protection of our natural ecosystems.
The Regional Water Supply Planning Group (RWSPG) goals can be viewed through a link in the adjacent sidebar.
Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply/Demand Plan
The final version of the Northeastern Illinois Water Supply/Demand Plan is now available for you to download. CMAP is printing a limited quantity for implementers and stakeholders. If you fall into either category, please contact us to request a printed copy. Approved unanimously by the Regional Water Supply Planning Group for 11 counties of northeastern Illlinois, the plan is intended to ensure the availability of clean water for household and commercial use through mid-century. It was commissioned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to address population and economic growth that could prompt water shortages in the region. Read more in this press release and at the Water Supply page. See additional graphs from the plan, plus a collection of related news coverage. You can also now read and/or download a 12-page summary booklet of the Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply/Demand Plan.
CMAP would like to thank all the participants and delegates who were part of the three-year process. The Regional Water Plan seeks to ensure that relatively finite water supplies will keep pace with our population that could grow as much as 38 percent by 2050. The cornerstone of the plan is a water-use conservation and efficiency strategy that can reduce a significant percentage of new water demand if the political will and other factors exist to support plan implementation. For more information including agendas, meeting minutes, presentations, previous plan drafts and associated reports, visit the RWSPG Meeting Materials page.
Water 2050: A Regional Summit
On World Water Day, March 22, 2010, CMAP hosted Water 2050: A Regional Summit to convene regional partners in implementing the new plan. We've posted a full summary of the event online, including useful links and presentations from the event.
Model Water Use Conservation Ordinance
CMAP developed an updated Model Water Use Conservation Ordinance to provide assistance to communities that wish to promote water conservation initiatives. In
drafting the model ordinance, staff completed extensive review of water conservation ordinances and regulations nationwide as well as relevant literature. A panel of experts provided their input to the document during its formative stages. The ordinance addresses indoors and landscape water use in both the residential and commercial/institutional/industrial sectors with consideration to the latest available technologies and state of the art practices in the field. More than an ordinance, this document is a tool that contains commentary, potential water savings, current examples, and resources for further research. By adopting the requirements of the proposed ordinance, communities may achieve significant water use reductions while deferring the need for water infrastructure expansion.
Water 2050 newsletter
Now that the plan has been completed, we are redesigining the RWSPG e-Newsletter into a new communications and outreach mechanism. The Water 2050 newsletter is designed to help implement water plan recommendations and recommit the region to water-use conservation and demand management, both of which are cornerstones of the water plan. The newsletter will be issued every other month, and the first full-length issue will be distributed in early April. This will be a means to communication newsworthy items, share valuable resources, and promote ongoing and diverse efforts around water resources planning and management, both at CMAP and throughout the region. The first preview newsletter, which was sent out on February 25, 2010, will soon be available. Please email Justine Reisinger at jreisinger@cmap.illinois.gov to be added to the Water 2050 newsletter mailing list.
Regional Water Demand Report
The “Regional Water Demand Scenarios for Northeastern Illinois: 2005-2050, Project Completion Report” is available for download (1.2MB PDF). Conducted by Southern
Illinois University Carbondale on behalf of the ongoing regional water supply planning process orchestrated by CMAP and funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the new study reveals important consequences for the region by the year 2050. The study generated three water demand scenarios by major user sectors and geographical subareas within the region. The scenarios represent water withdrawals under current demand conditions representing a current trends or “baseline” scenario (CT scenario) as well as under a less resource intensive (LRI) scenario and a more resource intensive (MRI) scenario, which were extended to the year 2050. While the the CT scenario assumes a continuation of recent trends for the variables modeled, the region’s public water supply needs could grow up to 57 percent by 2050 under the MRI scenario. The report is an important input to the 11-county water supply plan that CMAP's Regional Water Supply Planning Group is developing. Scheduled for completion in mid-2009, the plan will feature new recommendations that aim to reduce per capita demand and ensure adequate, reliable supplies of clean water at reasonable cost for all users.
Residential Water Use in Northeastern Illinois Report
Following the Regional Water Demand Report, the " Residential Water Use in Northeastern Illinois: Estimating Water-Use Effects of In-Fill Growth Versus Exurban Expansion " Report takes a closer look at the region's residential water-use data and is also available for download (515 KB PDF). 
The purpose of this report, conducted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is to determine the water-demand effects that would result from geographically differential patterns of population growth associated with different types of housing within the 11-county study area in Northeastern Illinois. This report supplements the evaluation of the intra-regional shifts in population growth which were assumed in the Less Resource Intensive (LRI) and More Resource Intensive (MRI)scenarios of the recently completed study – Regional Water Demand Scenarios for Northeastern Illinois: 2005-2050.
General Information
In January 2006, Governor Blagojevich issued Executive Order 2006-1, calling for a statewide study of water-supply issues. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has been commissioned by the State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to facilitate such a process for an 11-county planning area of northeastern Illinois. See a brochure describing the statewide water-supply planning initiative.
CMAP hosted an open forum in November 2006 (see a recap of the meeting, the agenda, a press release, selected presenters' slides, and a summary of participants' feedback) to launch the three-year regional initiative, which covers Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. With 166 attendees, that event represented a critical first step toward creating a new Regional Water Supply Planning Group (RWSPG), which will be charged with making recommendations on water resource policies and plans.
Our region's economy and well-being depend on the availability of water. Lake Michigan is one of the world's largest fresh-water resources, but population forecasts indicate parts of the region may suffer water deficits in coming years. The RWSPG for northeastern Illinois will focus on the 11-county area's deep bedrock aquifer and the Fox River Basin's shallow bedrock aquifer. (An aquifer is a body of geologic material that can supply useful quantities of groundwater to natural springs and water wells.)
Click here for a list of planning group members, who were picked in January 2007 by caucuses that represented each of the following stakeholder groups:
1. Municipalities and Municipal Water Suppliers
2. Counties
3. Agriculture
4. Business, Industry, and Power
5. Conservation and Resource Management
6. Environmental Advocacy
7. Academia and Public Interest in Regional Planning
8. Real Estate and Development
9. Wastewater Treatment and Non-municipal Water Suppliers
In addition to coordinating the RWSPG, CMAP will develop water-demand forecasts for the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and work with the RWSPG to craft a plan that includes implementation strategies. The ISWS will match water-demand forecasts with data on water supply to develop water-availability scenarios projected to the year 2050. Other partners in the regional effort include county planning departments, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Openlands Project.
CMAP and the RWSPG will submit the resulting water-supply plan to the State of Illinois for approval. The northeastern Illinois effort is one of two initial pilot studies commissioned by the State of Illinois. The other is being carried out by the Mahomet Aquifer Consortium in east-central Illinois. Over the next three years, the State of Illinois is expected to define a comprehensive program for state and regional water-supply planning, including development of standards for regional plans and guidance for regional planning processes.
For more information, contact Tim Loftus of CMAP at 312-386-8666.
Other Water Related Projects
Please check out our publication, Guidance for Developing watershed Action Plans in Illinois.