Regional Water Supply Planning Committee

Mission Statement

To serve as the planning committee to consider the current and future issues of water supply and demand, and to develop plans that will be recommended to appropriate local, county and state units of government and others for implementation and action.

Founding Members

Objectives

The primary objectives and activites of the RWSPC are to:

  • Utilize water-resource research findings by the state agencies (i.e., Illinois State Water Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey)

  • Develop water demand scenarios to year 2050

  • Evaluate water supply and demand management options as potential implementation of such options might benefit the citizens of east central Illinois

  • Create a regional water-supply plan that areflects a newly developed understanding of water availability given research findings on supplies and demand scenarios and plans for growth, development and land-use change

  • Propose and support outreach and public education activites.

MAC Charge to RWSPC (adopted 2011)

The following charge from the MAC to the RWSPC builds on progress made, especially the 2009 RWSPC report A Plan to Improve the Planning and Management of Water Supplies in East-Central Illinois, the 2010 MAC Strategic and Operating Plan, and recent amendments to the MAC Bylaws. To serve as the planning committee to consider the current and future issues of water supply and demand, and to develop plans that will be recommended to appropriate local, county and state units of government and others for implementation and action read the complete charge.

Overview

While Illinois has significant sources of both groundwater and surface water, the growing state population and increasing demand for water is expected to strain current resources.

In January 2006, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed Executive Order 2006-01 to develop a comprehensive, statewide water supply planning and management strategy. The Executive Order assigns the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Water Resources (IDNR-OWR) to oversee the process in coordination with the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS). To begin the effort, the State selected two areas most at risk for water shortages and conflicts: the Northeastern Illinois Deep Aquifer and the Mahomet aquifer, spanning central and east-central counties of Vermilion, Iroquois, Ford, Champaign, McLean, Macon DeWitt, Piatt, Woodford, Tazewell, Mason, Logan, Menard, Cass and Sangamon.

To implement the requirements of Executive Order 2006-001, the Mahomet Aquifer Consortium (MAC) started a three year regional water supply planning process with a funding grant from IDNR-OWR. The first task was to convene the East Central Illinois Regional Water Supply Planning Committee (RWSPC). This local planning commitee will help collect the data needed to draft the regional water supply plan, and also outline and approve their regional plans. This data will include figures such as total usable amount of groundwater and surface water in the planning area and projected water supply and demand

The East Central Illinois RWSPC includes twelve members, one each from the following interest areas: Agriculture, Small Business, Public, water Authorities, Water Utilites, Municipal Environmental, County, Rural Water Districts, Industry, Electric Generating Utilites, and Soild and Water Conservation Districts. The members are also geographically balanced by region as follows: West region (Cass, Logan Mason, Menard, Sangamon and Tazewell counties); Central region (Dewitt, Macon, McLean, Piatt and Woodford counties); and East region (Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, and Vermilion counties).