The ISTC Sustainability Seminar series continues this fall with the theme “Water Quality and Water Conservation.” The series kicks off with a talk by Walt Kelly of the Illinois State Water Survey titled “State & Regional Water Supply Planning in Illinois” on Sept. 10, 2015, from noon to 1 pm (abstract below). For more details on these seminars, please visit ISTC’s event calendar. To be added to the seminar and events email list or to receive links to the live broadcasts of the seminars, please contact Beth Meschewski at elm2@illinois.edu.
State & Regional Water Supply Planning in Illinois
Presented by Walt Kelly – Illinois State Water Survey on Sept. 10
In 2006, Executive Order 2006-01 called for the development of state and regional water supply planning under the direction of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Illinois has been divided into 10 regions for water supply planning. For each region, a regional water supply planning committee (RWSPC) is formed, comprised of members from major stakeholder groups (e.g., agriculture, industry, mining, environmental, municipal, etc.). The State Water and Geological Surveys are responsible for scientific studies of Illinois’ water resources, working closely with the RWSPCs to optimize planning efforts. Plans have been developed for three regions (Northeast Illinois, East-Central Illinois, and the Kaskaskia River Basin). In 2014, funding was made available to start planning in two new regions (Middle Illinois River Basin and Northwest Illinois) and a sub-region (Kankakee River Basin). In this presentation, I will discuss past, current, and future water supply planning activities in Illinois, focusing on scientific work being done at the Water Survey.
