Two more towns consider Lake Michigan water

The possibility of using Lake Michigan as a source for water has stirred interest in Long Grove and Hawthorn Woods.

Those communities are expected to become the newest Lake County towns figuring it is worth spending a relatively small amount on a study that could pay dividends in the future.

Long Grove trustees tonight will consider whether to spend $8,000 to hire Applied Technologies Inc., an Oak Brook engineering firm.

Long Grove neighborhoods are served by individual shallow or deep wells that are privately held and not connected to each other.

"If there's a more reliable alternative, we should take a look at it," said Village Manager David Lothspeich. "There's always long-term concerns about the health of the shallow and deep aquifer."

Hawthorn Woods' infrastructure committee discussed the matter Monday night and it is expected to be on the village board agenda next week.

Most homes in the village are on private wells. New and future developments, including the Hawthorn Woods Country Club, are served by a well system that can be expanded.

Mayor Keith Hunt agreed it's a chance for the village to examine its options.

"I'm looking at 20 to 50 years," he said.

While the county and eight central Lake County communities have received Lake Michigan water through the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency since the 1980s, concern about reliable water supplies in the future has grown in other high-growth areas.

That uncertainty prompted officials in Antioch, Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, Old Mill Creek and Wauconda, form a water planning group and hire Applied Technologies to determine whether extending Lake Michigan water would be possible.

The results showed it would involve 45 miles of pipes and cost about $178 million but could be done. Most participants have reviewed the feasibility study but it hasn't quite made the rounds.

Old Mill Creek trustees discussed it Monday night and the Lake County Public Water District, which has a Lake Michigan intake and would be the supplier, is scheduled to do so tonight. Fox Lake officials are scheduled to discuss the findings Oct. 23.

Once that's done, the communities will meet to get a sense of what direction they want to go, according to John Callan, who manages the project for Applied Technologies.

The parties would then have to agree on how to finance the project and how it would be managed.

Most importantly, the entities would have to demonstrate to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that there is a need to receive Lake Michigan water. That source is strictly regulated and is not unlimited.

"It's kind of a chicken and egg situation," Callan said.

How or if Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods or other communities would fit with the original group would have to be determined as well.