Crest Hill joins Lake Michigan water project

The city of Crest Hill has become the first community to join Joliet in a future water commission that will bring a new transmission line for Lake Michigan water to the region.

The Crest Hill City Council voted 9-0 on Monday for what Mayor Ray Soliman said is seen as the best option for bringing a dependable water supply to the city for decades to come.

“We were the city that was the first one to join the commission, but I’m sure there will be several others joining in the near future,” Soliman said Tuesday.

Decsions on whether to join the commission are pending in Shorewood, Romeoville, Channahon, Minooka and Lemont.

The commission will buy water from the city of Chicago and distribute it among its members.

Final decisions are to be made by the end of February as Joliet develops a plan to deliver Lake Michigan water by 2030, the year when forecasts predict that Joliet’s deep wells no longer will be able to meet peak water demand.

Crest Hill was not looking at the same deadline for the shallow wells used to supply water for the city.

But Crest Hill did face what it expects to be growing regulatory requirements to remove contaminants, particularly PFAS, from shallow well water supplies. PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals used in consumer and industrial products since the 1940s and now attracting the attention of regulators as they are found in drinking water, food and other sources.

Crest Hill is looking at an estimated $65 million in infrastructure costs to accommodate future Lake Michigan water, the mayor said. The estimated costs for meeting future regulatory requirements for PFAS removal is $75 million.

Water bills are expected to more than double from the current monthly average of $25 to $55 by 2030 in large part to pay the cost of adapting the city system to Lake Michigan water.

But Lake Michigan water was seen as a less expensive option and a popular one.

Public meetings on the water issue showed anywhere from 80% to 90% of residents supported the Lake Michigan option, Soliman said.

“I would say few people had shown any resistance to it,” Soliman said. “Nobody can debate the high quality of water in Lake Michigan.”

Crest Hill looked at other options, including joining the existing DuPage Water Commission as a source of Lake Michigan water. Crest Hill also considered connecting to the Kankakee or Illinois rivers, options Joliet also reviewed before deciding on Lake Michigan, as well as staying with its shallow well system.

The regional water commission is being designed to spread the costs of construction and operation of the future Lake Michigan water system so as to lower what individual communities need to pay.

Joliet has estimated the cost of designing and building the system at between $592 million and $810 million.

In Joliet, the city estimates that the average monthly water bill will triple to $88 by 2030 in large part to pay for the new system. But Joliet officials, too, have decided that the Lake Michigan system is the best option for the future.

“People may have lost this along the way, but this is not an option,” Council member Larry Hug said last week at a Joliet City Council workshop meeting on the water project. “It’s not going to get any better – the water supply. It’s only going to get worse.”