The city of Joliet, Illinois, is set to transition its drinking water source to Lake Michigan by 2030. This initiative comes as the aquifer currently supplying water to the city is expected to run dry by the end of the decade, a consequence of climate change and declining groundwater levels. By sourcing water from Lake Michigan, Joliet joins the 10 percent of the U.S. population already dependent on the Great Lakes for drinking water, according to NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.
Theresa O’Grady, an engineering consultant working with the city, stated that construction for the project would commence in 2025. Joliet will bear the estimated $1 billion cost, which includes the building of 65 miles of piping to transport water from Chicago to Joliet and its neighboring communities. Funding this extensive infrastructure highlights Joliet’s commitment to becoming responsible stewards of this vital resource, as underscored by Allison Swisher, the city’s director of public utilities.
Ensuring access to Lake Michigan’s water is not straightforward due to the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement regulating water withdrawals from the lakes. Typically, only municipalities within the Great Lakes basin are approved for diversions. However, Joliet benefits from a unique legal exception linked to historical agreements between the state of Illinois and the rest of the Great Lakes region.
In April 2023, Chicago’s then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an agreement with Joliet and five other nearby communities to supply them with treated Lake Michigan water. This agreement has raised questions among legal experts about compliance with the Great Lakes Compact, considering Joliet’s location outside the basin.
The historical context for Illinois’ unique position dates back to the 1800s when Chicago needed to divert its wastewater away from Lake Michigan, leading to the now-famous reversal of the Chicago River. Despite legal challenges from neighboring states like Wisconsin, the Supreme Court ultimately sided with Illinois in 1967, granting Chicago rights to billions of gallons of Lake Michigan water per day.
Joliet’s forthcoming water diversion project marks a significant evolution in the region’s utilization of its natural resources, reflecting both the challenges posed by climatic changes and the legal intricacies of the Great Lakes Compact. For more details, read the article originally published on Inside Climate News.