Wauconda explores Lake Michigan water option
What Wauconda learned Wednesday night about getting Lake Michigan water turned out to be a drop in the bucket, according to village officials.
"We're in such an infant stage on this whole process," Mayor Salvatore Saccomanno said after a presentation on the feasibility of bringing Lake Michigan water to northern Lake County. "There is a lot here to absorb."
John Callan, project manager for Applied Technologies, said the project would cost about $178 million but likely could be done.
"That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but it is feasible," said Callan, whose firm was hired by a group including Wauconda, Lake County, Antioch, Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst and Old Mill Creek.
Trustees asked a slew of questions, ranging from whether a community dropping out would change the cost significantly to whether or not the communities would be able to get a large enough water allowance.
Callan said Illinois is allowed to withdraw 2 billion gallons a day that it will not replace. Though that is a lot, he said, roughly half is the public water supply, which has to be divvied between numerous communities.
"There is a finite number there," Callan said. "How it's used tends to shift a little."
Saccomanno also said he was concerned the village might send the message that its local water isn't good enough.
"What are we saying about our water today? Those are questions we have to answer," he said, while also agreeing that protecting the environment and the aquifer were high village priorities. "That's why we're here today... We're doing our part to find alternate means of getting water."
The board will further discuss the matter at its Sept. 18 and Sept. 25 meetings.