Yorkville, Oswego and Montgomery are looking to host a public meeting to discuss the ongoing analysis of future water sources for the towns.
“We anticipate this to be a town hall format, with multiple informational kiosks or posters and a couple of breakout rooms or presentations for the public to learn about the water source issue and solutions,” Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson said in his report to Yorkville aldermen recently.
Staff and elected officials from all three communities would be represented at the meeting to interact with residents, he said.
The meeting plans have yet to be officially announced.
In addition to a regional meeting, Yorkville has discussed the possibility of having another Yorkville-specific town hall meeting for residents on the issue.
“While most of the water source discussions are regional in nature, there are some Yorkville specific components to the project that Yorkville residents may be interested in diving into more in depth than what is expected at a regional meeting,” Olson said in his report.
The region’s existing water source, a deep groundwater aquifer, will be at severe risk of depletion and no longer able to meet the area’s maximum daily water demand sometime between 2030 and 2050, according to a report from the Illinois State Water Survey.
The Oswego Village Board as a committee of the whole has begun to hold a series of discussions to evaluate alternative water supply sources. The process in Oswego is anticipated to take several months with a decision possible by the end of the year on a future plan for the village’s drinking water, according to officials there.
Possible solutions to the problem including bringing in Lake Michigan water with a connection to the DuPage Water Commission line, like many towns in the Chicago area do, or using Fox River water and going together with other towns in the region on a treatment plant.
The city of Joliet approached the village in 2020 with the option to get Lake Michigan water through a new pipeline that is currently under design. Joliet is requiring a commitment from communities by January to be part of its program.
Yorkville staff has begun to do a preliminary cost analysis on the Joliet water project, Fox River joint water treatment plants and DuPage County Water Commission options.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.