Conservation needed to prevent drain on water reserves

Is your water too cheap? Maybe if it were more expensive, you'd do more to conserve.

That's one suggestion in a new report that for first time takes a comprehensive look at water use in the 11 counties of northeastern Illinois and urges aggressive conservation to make sure there is enough to go around in coming decades.

It predicts that demand, now at 1.6 billion gallons per day, will grow more than 25 percent by 2050. The region has a population of about 8.7 million, which the report says is expected to expand nearly 39 percent in 40 years.

"Over the last several years, there's been a growing awareness that just because you turn on the faucet, it doesn't mean water's going to come out," said Bonnie Thomson Carter, a Lake County Board member who chaired the Regional Water Supply Planning Group.

The group's report warns not to count on the seemingly bountiful source of Lake Michigan water, because that's nearly all accounted for under rules decreed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Experts can't gauge how much water lurks beneath the ground in deep and shallow aquifers, or how quickly it replenishes. So the report can't say if those supplies will ever run dry from overuse.

Some areas that depend on groundwater already have to conserve during dry spells with steps such as forbidding lawn watering on certain days.

The report encourages steps like rainwater harvesting, the use of high-efficiency toilets and washing machines and reusing for irrigation "gray" water that has been through the shower or sink.

It also calls for collaboration among communities to protect shared sources, such as river basins and underground aquifers.

It notes that the average water and sewage bill in Illinois is about $35.50 per month, while the national average is $39.67. The report encourages water utilities to evaluate whether the price they charge really reflects the value of water.

"Water pricing is increasingly becoming a tool for managing demand, with certain pricing options carrying more of an incentive for consumers to use water efficiently," the report says.

Studies have shown that in Illinois, increasing the cost of water by 10 percent decreases demand by 1.5 percent, according to the report.

It warns that strict regulations safeguard water from Lake Michigan — which already supplies 77 percent of the region's demand. Although several communities in western Lake County are asking to tap into the lake, the report notes that Illinois is nearing the limit that a Supreme Court decree set in 1967 for lake withdrawals.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-x-n-0203-water-report...