Mayor Lori Lightfoot lays out plan for Chicago to provide Joliet with Lake Michigan water
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday laid out her plan to try to convince Joliet officials to let Chicago provide the city’s water.
As Joliet looks to sign a contract to start getting its water from Lake Michigan, both Chicago and Hammond, Ind., want the potentially lucrative deal to deliver it.
Lightfoot introduced a preliminary contract to the City Council on Tuesday, that would give the city Water Department the authority to do so.
The Joliet City Council will hear presentations next month from Lightfoot and Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr., according to the Joliet Herald-News.
“This measure represents the latest effort by this administration to build partnerships within the State of Illinois between cities and the suburbs in their surrounding region to further advance our shared goals for all residents to have access to a clean, safe and healthy water supply,” mayoral spokeswoman Jordan Troy said in a statement. “As the City of Chicago remains the only in-state water supplier proposal for Joliet, we look forward to working with their leadership and Council members as they make their final determination this winter.”
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Chicago already provides water to millions of suburban customers. The Joliet deal would be one of the bigger ones for the city.
Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, Lightfoot’s Finance Committee chairman, said the city is moving toward a more regional approach to charging customers outside Chicago based on water use, rather than “bulk sales.” the Joliet deal would dovetail with that effort, he said.
“This will put everyone on the same page in terms of rates and water conservation, moving forward,” Waguespack said. “Nobody was really overseeing this, and so this is a much better way to do it.”
Under the terms of Lightfoot’s contract proposal, Joliet would be responsible for building the pipes and other infrastructure to deliver water from Chicago’s Southwest Pumping Station out to the city.
Chicago would charge Joliet customers based on the cost of the service.
Joliet currently gets its water from an underground aquifer, but that source is running low. The contract would begin in 2030.
With water becoming an increasingly precious resource, Chicago’s proximity to Lake Michigan is becoming more important by the year.
With strict rules in place about how much Chicago can charge suburban customers for water, Mayor Rahm Emanuel undertook a massive water and sewer pipe renovation project in 2012. That hiked water fees for Chicagoans, and also for the municipalities outside the city that get water from Chicago.
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