Chicago wins $30 million-a-year competition for right to sell Lake Michigan water to Joliet

[TexasTowelie]

Chicago won a head-to-head competition with Hammond for the right to sell Lake Michigan water to Joliet, a deal that could ultimately flush Chicago’s water system with $30 million annually.

The Joliet City Council voted 7 to 1 Thursday night, ending a competition that included a personal pitch from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and now-former Water Commissioner Randy Conner.

Joliet will build a 31-mile pipeline and bankroll other pumping station infrastructure improvements costing between $592 million and $810 million.

The goal is to complete the work by 2030 and start serving Joliet residents and as many as 11 neighboring towns it hopes will agree to be part of a regional water system.

The average water bill in Joliet is expected to nearly triple from $31 monthly to $88 monthly over the next decade, primarily to bankroll the massive project needed to deliver Lake Michigan water to Joliet.

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2021/1/29/22256174/joliet-picks-chicago-supply-lake-michigan-water-build-pipeline

[kas125]

1. Joliet is pretty far away from the lake, but I guess

I don't blame them, I love my lake Michigan water.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. It's 35 Miles Away

I grew up in Joliet. Lived there from 4 months old until just before we got married.
Not a lot of open land between there & the lake any longer.
Easements alone are going to cost a ton.
Population growth there has been immense.
In 1990, there were less than 77,000 people living there. In 2019 there were >150k.
Essentially double in size in 29 years.
That said, the town sits on a huge limestone bed with lots of water. Maybe the rock is too hard to drill or something.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. That's good for residents of Joliet

but I wonder about the impact of too many municipalities which lie outside the Great Lakes watershed sticking another straw into Lake Michigan.