Cost of bringing Lake Michigan water to Lake Zurich estimated as up to $152 million
The total cost of bringing Lake Michigan water to taps in homes and businesses in Lake Zurich ranges from $131 million to $152 million officials learned this week.
Although considered for years as a potential alternative water source, the cost estimate presented Monday by a consultant hired by the village in November is the first all-in, bottom-line price shared publicly.
Afterward, trustees in a 6-0 vote directed staff to prepare an "engagement proposal" with the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency regarding the Lake Michigan water project.
The agreement will be considered at a future village board meeting. If approved, it will move the Lake Michigan water project much closer to becoming a reality.
It's not a sign off on the project itself but commits the village to partner with CLCJAWA in subsequent steps needed to fine-tune the plan and how it would be paid for.
The Lake Bluff-based agency became operational in 1992 and now delivers Lake Michigan water to nearly two dozen communities and unincorporated areas. Wauconda and Volo in 2019 were the most recent communities to sign on.
As presented Monday by consultant CDM Smith, getting the water to Lake Zurich by installing a nearly 7-milelong transmission line, a pump station to boost pressure and other work would cost between $74 million and $87 million.
Once delivered, the village's distribution system would need $37 million to $45 million in improvements to include pumping, storage, 8,000 feet of new piping and other work. That puts the total project cost from $111 million to $132 million. The final expense is an estimated $20 million fee to connect to the JAWA system.
Estimated costs are in 2027 dollars, said Amrou Atassi, CDM vice president, and would increase by $6 million for every year the project is delayed.
Trustee Marc Spacone said the numbers just don't seem large but indeed are "massive." Anyone shocked by the amounts should consider the work the village has done to get to this point for a better understanding of what has been involved, he added.
"We've been having this conversation for a long time and we had a study about our options had we chosen not to go this route and what that was going to cost," he said. "It's not about the end point. It's about the process and the journey."
Costs associated with removing radium and barium from the village's deep well system, potential future liability for the removed material and the uncertainty of the aquifer's long-term viability have led the village to favor a Lake Michigan supply option, according to Village Manager Ray Keller.
The agreement with CLCJAWA, if approved, would establish terms for the connection charge, which the agency is offering to be repaid over 30 years at 0% interest, said Mike Brown, village public works director.
Lake Zurich ultimately could decide not to proceed with the project but would be responsible for costs the agency incurs on its behalf for work toward connecting with the system, Brown added.
Bill Soucie, CLCJAWA executive director, said the agency is using the same process established when it expanded its system to serve Wauconda, Volo, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, and the unincorporated subdivisions of Fox Lake Hills and Grandwood Park in the last decade.
"Our next step is to get engaged," he said of a pending agreement with Lake Zurich.