By Madhu Mayer
Residents in the City of Joliet will soon learn just how much their water rate will increase.
Joliet has hired Burns and McDonnell, an engineering firm, to draft a study showing how much water from Lake Michigan will cost.
Regardless of what the study will say, Joliet resident Fred Stefanski said he will not be happy.
“I know my bill will probably be three times what I pay now,” he said. “This is going to hurt many of our residents who are struggling to get by.”
The Joliet City Council earlier this year unanimously approved a $87 million bond issue, which is a portion of the $810 million project. The City of Joliet will share the costs with members of the Regional Water Commission that includes the communities of Romeoville, Crest Hill, Shorewood, Channahon, and Minooka. Following Joliet, Romeoville would be the next largest water user in the commission.
The City of Joliet’s existing water source will no longer be sustainable by 2030 if the current water usage does not change. The goal is to provide the city with Lake Michigan water by 2030. New infrastructure will be built near the existing Chicago Southwest Pumping Station, and it will be owned, operated, maintained, and overseen by the water commission.
The $139,000 contract with the engineering firm will show exactly how much the water and sewer rates will be in the next decade.
In 2020, Joliet officials estimated the water rate could be as high as $88 per month to pay for the project, which is three times the current rate. Officials say the engineering study will offer a better forecast as it will consider the current trends in water rates as a pipeline will bring water from Lake Michigan to Joliet.
Joliet in January 2021 approved an agreement with the City of Chicago to bring Lake Michigan water to Joliet, which is about 33 miles. Lemont opted against joining the commission.
The $87 million bond issue the council approved also includes money to pay for the ongoing water main replacement in the city. The $12 million from the bond issue will go toward replacing water mains in the Reedwood neighborhood, which is in the River Bluff area along Laraway Road.
