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Barrington-area towns want state to fund water supply monitoring

State funding to monitor aquifers and wells providing water to Barrington-area communities is a legislative priority this year for a regional organization representing eight local governments, officials said.

Barrington Area Council of Governments representatives discussed groundwater concerns and other issues in its legislative platform Monday with the Daily Herald. The organization's members include Barrington, Tower Lakes. South Barrington, Lake Barrington, North Barrington and Barrington Hills.

"This is not just an environmental issue," Executive Director Janet Agnoletti said. "Of course it is, because we want to protect our resources. We want to protect the environment. But it's an economic issue."

The area of concern covers northwest Cook County and southwest Lake County, along with parts of Kane and McHenry counties, where residents draw water from below the ground, not Lake Michigan. The aquifer water moves underground from western McHenry County, officials said.

Tower Lakes Village President David Parro, who is board chairman for the group, said the General Assembly will be encouraged to allocate funding for state agencies - including the Illinois Geological Survey - to continue the groundwater monitoring the organization has started.

Shallow aquifer water levels are projected to decline in the Barrington area through 2050, according to the Illinois State Water Survey. Parro said the state should be funding the monitoring needed to address potential problems.

"It doesn't have to dry up to be a problem," he said. "All it would take is rumors of issues in the near future in the nearby area to (negatively) affect property values. We need to be way out ahead of this."

Agnoletti said the organization has "early radar" for water levels that includes three public wells with monitoring equipment. The area's public wells belong to state, so it should pay for the monitoring, she added.

Private well owners in the Barrington area have been encouraged to conserve water, Agnoletti said. In the case of Barrington, which has a municipal pipeline, Village President Karen Darch said the village has had an ordinance restricting outdoor watering since 2006.

In another environmentally related legislative priority, the organization is advocating for a statewide ban on pavement sealants containing coal tar that are commonly used to coat residential and commercial parking lots, driveways and paths.

The group also backs allowing non-home-rule towns to ban what it contends are toxic sealants.

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