Are the local water wars beginning?
Agencies representing more than 35 west and northwest suburbs announced plans Monday to build their own system for extracting and distributing Lake Michigan water in their communities. The two agencies, the DuPage Water Commission and the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, unveiled a proposal that would spend up to $6 billion to construct an intake facility in the lake off of north suburban Glencoe, pipe the water to a treatment plant to be built on 80 acres in Northbrook purchased just two years ago by the DuPage commission, and distribute the liquid from there to 1.5 million residents.
The big loser if this ambitious plan is realized? The city of Chicago, which has supplied water to these suburbs for decades.
The DuPage commission alone is paying Chicago’s Department of Water Management $130 million this year, commission Chair Jim Zay told the Tribune Publishing-owned Daily Herald. The DuPage consortium is Chicago’s single largest wholesale customer, accounting for 15% of the city water system’s annual operating revenue, according to Fitch Ratings.
The threat to Chicago is several years away; the DuPage commission is contracted to buy water from the city until 2041. But that’s how long it would take to secure approvals, financing and build the competing system anyway.
The backers of the suburban plan complain that Chicago in the past has raised its rates suddenly and exorbitantly and that more recently the city’s service hasn’t been sufficiently reliable. “They don’t put anything back into the system; that’s the problem,” the Herald quoted Zay as saying. “This year we’ll pay them $130 million, and they put nothing in for infrastructure.”
It’s understandable for suburbanites to want to be in control of such an essential service. And there’s reason, given Chicago’s precarious financial state, to worry about being beholden to the city.
What’s more, Chicagoland is blessed with a vast freshwater resource that many other regions envy. Another big straw in Lake Michigan won’t pose an environmental threat.
Unsurprisingly, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson doesn’t like the idea.
A city spokesman told the Daily Herald that the project would require state legislation, multiple permits and “public capital subsidies.”
“The city continues to engage in conversations with the (DuPage Water Commission) and other stakeholders centered on maintaining a reliable supply of high-quality drinking water,” the spokesman said.
Whatever conversations are occurring clearly haven’t stopped the suburbs from taking concrete steps to go their own way.
We would suggest that the city pick up the pace of those discussions with an eye toward reassuring its biggest customer that it makes more sense to continue with its established water provider over the long haul rather than go to the tremendous expense of duplicating the service.
We live in an interconnected region after all, and water is much like electricity — a commodity that’s capital-intensive and so essential that it lends itself to utility-like treatment. Public resources aren’t infinite and emphasizing a regional approach to this issue theoretically would preserve that capital for investing in other priorities.
But in order for the city to succeed, it must convince these suburbs that it’s a reliable partner over the long haul, that it can be trusted. We’re not sure how doable that is, but that’s the task.
And if these suburban officials conclude that the risk of continuing to do business with Chicago for generations to come is greater than executing this complex and expansive infrastructure project, that’s their prerogative. To our minds, it’s not an easy call.
We can say this with certainty: If a new water system is what’s in the offing, future Chicago mayors will have to buckle up. The city will need to replace that large chunk of revenue evaporating some 15 years from now, and its new suburban competitor will be just that.
A competitor.
The new suburban service will be capable of serving more than 20 more communities home to another 775,000-plus people beyond the jurisdictions already in the two participating member organizations, officials said.
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At least Chicago just inked a 100-year deal to serve Joliet that takes effect in 2030.
There are sure to be other suburban and exurban localities now on well water that will look for future access to Lake Michigan water as depletion of existing aquifers continues. There may well be opportunity in years to come for both Chicago and its potential suburban rival to serve a growing customer base.
If so, competition in this utility-like arena may end up being more beneficial than appears to be the case right now.
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