South Barrington moves ahead with plan to acquire Lake Michigan water
South Barrington officials are continuing to pursue a plan to bring drinking water from Lake Michigan to town — and they’ve hired an engineering firm to help them with the lengthy process.
The village board last week approved a contract with Burns & McDonnell, a Chicago-area company, to help the village obtain an allocation of lake water from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Burns & McDonnell will be paid $154,000 for its work, documents indicate.
The village board previously had hired a different Chicago firm, Greeley and Hansen, to determine the best location in South Barrington for a connection point to a Lake Michigan water system, Mayor Paula McCombie said.
If South Barrington gets state permission to join a Lake Michigan water supplier, village officials intend to join the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, a consortium of Cook County towns that buys Lake Michigan drinking water from Chicago.
South Barrington officials are considering that system because it already serves nearby suburbs along the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway. The agency pumps about 45 million gallons of water a day from Chicago to Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Hanover Park and Streamwood.
South Barrington's current water system serves about 400 homes west of Bartlett Road, the Arboretum of South Barrington shopping center and other customers, officials have said. Homes elsewhere in town have their own wells.
Village leaders began talking about providing Lake Michigan water in 2022 so they have an alternative water source if the aquifer in which the wells were dug develop issues.
Developing a plan for Lake Michigan water isn’t an overnight task. McCombie said she expects it could be more than a year before the village board decides whether to join a water consortium.