Communities across the globe face an increasing array of water resource challenges and the Chicago region is not immune. Despite access to Lake Michigan, significant portions of the region — especially those dependent upon groundwater sources — are already encountering water supply and quality issues. The region’s comprehensive plan, ON TO 2050, anticipates these issues will grow unless additional steps are taken to coordinate and conserve the region’s shared water supply resources. While overall water use is stable, forecasted water demand will exceed available groundwater supplies in some areas. Yet with additional conservation and efficiency measures, the region can maintain its long-term drinking water supplies.

CMAP, in partnership with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and University of Illinois Extension, developed the ON TO 2050 Regional Water Demand Forecast to inform decisions about land use, transportation, and infrastructure that affect water supply and demand. This forecast builds on the previous regional water demand forecast for Water 2050, Regional Water Demand Scenarios for Northeastern Illinois: 2005-2050 (2008) and is based on the most recent population and employment projections. The forecast is presented in 5-year intervals to the year 2050 at the municipal, county, and regional scale, as well as by drinking water source and sector for the seven counties of the Chicago region. It focuses on the largest water sectors  — residential public water supply, non-residential water supply, and domestic self-supply — and provides individual forecasts for 245 municipalities in the region. As a long-range water demand forecast, it is intended for planning purposes and is not suited for assessing infrastructure capacity or peak demands at the system level.

Changing water demand: Projecting water use in the Chicago region to 2050 provides a brief overview of forecasted water demand by 2050, important factors driving water demand, and how planning decisions can help to conserve shared water supply resources. For more details on the methodology, see ON TO 2050 Regional Water Demand Forecast for Northeastern Illinois, 2015-50.

In addition, community-level demand forecasts, reported water withdrawals, and data on current and projected demand drivers for 245 municipalities are available for download on the CMAP Data Hub. For additional information on the water demand forecast methodology and data, contact Nora Beck (nbeck@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8677) or Margaret Schneemann (mschneemann@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-676-7456).