Joliet taps Chicago over Hammond as water provider
Joliet City Council members Thursday picked Chicago over Hammond, Indiana, as its source for the city’s future water needs, opening the door for neighboring communities such as Homer Glen, Lockport, Lemont, Minooka, Montgomery and Oswego to find a solution to their own water woes.
The Hammond option would have provided the city more control over future water rates but cost more up front. The Chicago option will cost less up front, but Joliet will not control future water rates.
Joliet officials said they recently surveyed neighboring communities on the same aquifer and expect to begin discussions this year with several municipalities including Homer Glen, Lockport, Lemont, Minooka, Montgomery, Oswego, Rockdale, Romeoville, Shorewood and Yorkville on any potential partnerships for the project.
“As mayor, I’m very proud of all the work that’s been done,” Mayor Robert O’Dekirk said after Thursday’s 7-1 vote, also adding that this decision was the “single most important decision” the current council, or others before it, has made.
A 2015 study completed by the Illinois State Water Survey showed decreased water levels for aquifers in Northeastern Illinois. Modeling completed in 2018 shows Joliet’s aquifer, which also serves surrounding communities, could be depleted and unable to meet demand by 2030, according to the city’s website.
Through the last three years, the city has studied a variety of options, including digging deeper wells, but settled on pumping in Lake Michigan water to meet future demands. The city’s final two options focused on the city of Chicago providing treated water or pumping in water through an access point in Hammond and treating it in Joliet.
“This is not a choice on whether or not we should go to Lake Michigan, we must,” City Councilman Larry Hug said.
Residents at Thursday’s meeting urged the council to consider costs to homeowners. The city anticipates water bills nearly tripling by 2030. Currently, the average monthly water bill in Joliet is about $36, said Allison Swisher, the city’s director of public utilities. Water rates are projected to climb to $88 by 2030 and $138 by 2040 with the Chicago option. If the city were to go through Hammond, water bills were expected to climb to $97 by 2030 and $149 by 2040.
Swisher said the city is aware of the financial hardship this may pose and is looking into ways to help residents who may not be able to pay the increased bills.
“We are very excited to enter our new water alliance with Joliet and begin our work together to deliver clean, safe, high-quality drinking water to all our residents and businesses,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted after the Thursday night vote.
By partnering with Chicago, the city’s water rates will be determined by Chicago. However, Joliet can provide input through an advisory council, Swisher said. She said the city of Chicago also agreed to exclude unfunded pension liability costs from its water rate determinations for Joliet, a move that would save about 30 cents per 1,000 gallons. Chicago officials also agreed to an annual maximum rate increase of 5%, the annual rate of inflation or the cost of service, whichever is less, Swisher said.
With Chicago water, Joliet will get the benefits of water treated at Chicago’s Eugene Sawyer Water Purification
“This is not a choice on whether or not we should go to Lake Michigan, we must.” — Larry Hug, Joliet city councilman
plant, Swisher said. The facility features a lab and scientists that continuously test the water for safety. Chicago’s Department of Water Management also has more than 2,000 employees working to provide high-quality drinking water, Joliet officials added. The treated water will be pumped to Joliet via a 31-mile pipeline that Joliet will build.
Joliet anticipates spending $592 million on infrastructure to pipe enough water to meet demand of 30 million gallon per day usage or up to $810 million for a pipeline to carry enough water for 60 million gallon per day usage. The size of the pipeline largely depends on how many communities join Joliet in the project.
The Hammond option would have required more up front costs, totaling anywhere from $1.03 billion to meet demand for 30 million gallons per day usage to $1.37 billion for 60 million gallons per day usage. However, unlike the Chicago option, Joliet would control its own water rates.
Hug, who cast the sole dissenting vote against the Chicago option, said he preferred the Hammond option because it offered the city more control. He also noted the Hammond option offered the potential of lower rates in the long term, after infrastructure costs were paid off.