DuPage pursues Lake Michigan allocation for outage-prone Itasca well system

DuPage pursues Lake Michigan allocation for outage-prone Itasca well systemDuPage County Public Works is starting the lengthy state process to secure a Lake Michigan water allocation for its small unincorporated Itasca system, which remains the county's only non-Lake Michigan supply and has experienced reliability issues. The Public Works Committee approved extensions for the engineering and legal services supporting allocation work through November 2027.

The unincorporated Itasca system is DuPage County's only water system that remains on wells; the county said all of its other systems use Lake Michigan water.

Staff said the system has experienced outages and represents a single point of failure, although crews have kept it operating.

The county will seek an Illinois Department of Natural Resources allocation before deciding whether to convert the system to Lake Michigan supply.

Contracts with Christopher B. Burke Engineering and Caminer Law for Lake Michigan allocation support were extended to November 30, 2027, with no change in contract totals.

DuPage County is moving to secure a Lake Michigan water allocation for a small unincorporated system in Itasca, seeking to preserve a future supply-conversion option as the existing well-based network has experienced reliability problems. At its October 6 meeting, the Public Works Committee approved extensions through November 30, 2027 for Christopher B. Burke Engineering to provide on-call engineering services related to Lake Michigan allocations and for Caminer Law to provide legal representation on the allocation work. Both extensions carry no change to their existing contract totals. In discussion following the committee's agenda, staff said all county water systems except the Itasca system are supplied by Lake Michigan water. The Itasca network was not previously converted because it did not make economic sense, staff said. It remains a relatively small system, but it has had outages over time and is vulnerable because it has a single point of failure. The county's immediate objective is to obtain an allocation from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources rather than commit to a supply conversion. Staff described the allocation process as a multi-year undertaking involving public hearings and said it has become more difficult over time. County officials want to complete the process while the appropriate staff are available, so that an allocation is in place if a future administration chooses to proceed with a Lake Michigan connection. “This is completely separate” from the larger Chicago-related water issue, staff said in response to a committee question. DuPage is coordinating with the Water Commission on the Itasca work, but is pursuing the allocation as a customer of that commission. Staff noted that each town has an IDNR allocation for Lake Michigan water. The engineering and legal extensions were part of a combined consent agenda approved without opposition. The committee also extended Robinson Engineering's contract through November 30, 2027 to complete outstanding water-tower improvements and inspections, again with no change in the contract total. Separately, the committee renewed Polydyne's polymer-delivery contract for the Woodridge, Greene Valley and Knollwood wastewater treatment plants for November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027. The agenda lists a contract value not to exceed $440,000 and identifies the renewal as the third and final option under bid 23-063-PW.