The Chicago Tribune recently reported that ten Lake County, Illinois suburbs have applied to connect to Lake Michigan water.
The suburbs are Antioch, Fox Lake, Fox Lake Hills, Grandwood Park, Lake Villa, Lake Zurich, Lindenhurst, Long Grove, Volo, and Wauconda. The residents in those suburbs currently use well water. Those ten communities propose “spending $250 million to lay about 57 miles of pipe and take other steps that would bring Lake Michigan water to the western part of Lake County.”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is responsible for allocating the State of Illinois’ use of Lake Michigan water. According to IDNR’s website:
“A 1967 U.S. Supreme Court Decree limits Illinois’ diversion of water from Lake Michigan. In response, the General Assembly has tasked the Illinois Department of Natural Resources with developing an ongoing program to equitably allocate Illinois’ limited supply of Lake Michigan water. The ‘Rules and Regulations for the Allocation of Water from Lake Michigan’ describe the allocation process, contains the criteria used to evaluate applications for a water allocation and the water conservation practices and other permit conditions required of allocation permit holders.”
Stay tuned to the Illinois Environmental Law Blog for more news and developments.
