Oswego is looking at significantly higher costs if neighboring communities do not join them on a solution for a future water supply.
Oswego trustees meeting as a committee of the whole recently were given a status update on the analysis of sustainable water options for the village, since the aquifer that the region’s municipalities rely on for well water is depleting.
The Illinois State Water Survey has released projections that Oswego could run out of groundwater from the aquifer in the next 20 to 40 years.
Some options to solve the problem include bringing in Lake Michigan water with a connection to the DuPage Water Commission line, like many towns in the Chicago area do, or going together with other towns in the region on a treatment plant to use Fox River water.
The city of Joliet approached Oswego in 2020 with the option to get Lake Michigan water through a new pipeline that is currently under design and anticipated to be in operation in 2030. Joliet is requiring a commitment from communities by January to be part of their program, village officials have said.
The Village Board’s recent discussion is a continuation of talks that began last summer to evaluate alternative sources for Oswego’s water supply. Nearby Yorkville and Montgomery are having similar discussions.
“We are all interdependent somewhat – the costs depend on who’s in and who’s out. There’s a lot of discussion going on to that point,” Oswego Public Works Director Jennifer Hughes told trustees.
The final key considerations include the cost for construction and internal system improvements for the different options, financing projections and staffing needs.
Oswego village staff anticipates bringing the issue of cost for the options back to the Village Board at its December meeting, Hughes said.
Trustee Brian Thomas was interested in knowing what would happen if Yorkville or Montgomery decide to go their own way on a future water supply.
“That’s the last thread we are sewing right now,” Hughes said of the potential cost for Oswego to pursue a water supply option on its own.
Oswego is in the process of refining the cost estimates, Hughes said.
“We are looking at the differentials between the three communities going together versus Oswego’s costs doing it by ourselves and then pulling all of that together and looking at what is the best overall option for the region,” Hughes said.
“That’s the last bit we are pulling together.”
The cost without the other two communities would be significantly higher for Oswego, officials said.
“We have looked at it at a high level,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees.
The administrators and mayors of the three communities as well as the public works directors of the towns are talking to make sure they are in step with one another, Di Santo said.
“At our lowest cost option if we were to do it alone, it would cost the village about $45 million more. We have had a lot of conversations between the three mayors, administrators and public works directors. I feel confident that we will ultimately come together on this. I just want to give you a sense of scope on this. It’s a massive change if we do not all go together,” Di Santo said.
As for the different cost projections for each community, “we believe the best option can be found for all three of us,” Di Santo said.
The DuPage Water Commission option’s combined regional and internal system costs are an estimated $229 million, while Oswego’s share an estimated $73 million.
The project would include 29 miles of transmission main to connect Oswego, Montgomery and Yorkville to the existing DuPage system.
It is estimated it would take four to five years to design and construct the main and based on demand projections, it is not likely that Oswego would require a new well under the option, according to the village’s consultants.
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The Fox River option’s combined regional and internal system improvements would cost upward of $298 million, with Oswego’s share at an estimated $114 million, officials said last month.
The regional and internal system improvements projection includes Oswego and Yorkville. Montgomery’s figures were still being finalized at that time.
The municipalities would have to build an intake pumping station to pull water out of the river and send it to a treatment plant that would have a capacity of 25 million gallons per day. Oswego would still have water wells when the Fox River cannot meet demands in times of drought or poor water quality under that option, officials said.
The Joliet Water Commission proposal is to purchase water from the city of Chicago and build a transmission main and pumping station to bring water to the area. The Joliet system is not projected to go on line until 2030 and Oswego would need a new well prior to then, officials said.
The estimated regional and internal system costs of the Joliet option are $311 million and Oswego’s share would be $114 million, officials were told last month. It would take an estimated four to five years to design and construct the infrastructure for the project and Oswego would not need a new well in that time frame, officials said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.