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Kane
told development
won't overtax its water yet
Chicago Tribune -
10/16
A
water-management official told the Kane County Board's Development
Committee that there are adequate water resources in the
fast-growing county to meet projected development demands of the
next few years.
"Today, in
99 percent of Kane County, there is sufficient water in the ground
to supply the development," said Paul Schuch, the county's
director of water resources.
Schuch was
responding to concerns about whether harmful land-use decisions
could be made before a study of the county's water resources is
complete. The study will take about five years.
The $2.1 million
study by the Illinois State Water Survey and the Illinois State
Geological Survey is not expected to be completed until mid-2007
at the earliest.
"What do we
do in the meantime ... while the [water] data is being
collected?" asked Development Committee member Jan Carlson
(R-Elburn). "What can we have to guide us over the next year
or two or three?"
Not to worry,
Schuch said.
Although the data
produced by the county-funded, state-supervised study "won't
be in the form to make the [development] decisions you want to
make," Schuch said efforts will be made to translate the
information from the study into user-friendly progress reports.
"There will
be interim information [beginning next year] that will help,"
Schuch said.
The five-year
study of Kane County's water resources, composed of its aquifers
and the Fox River, presumes it would cost too much to bring Lake
Michigan water to the county.
County
Development Director Phil Bus said that no matter what the outcome,
the underlying challenge to the county will be to ensure that the
projected water supply is safeguarded and carefully managed.
"Higher
density and lack of conservation ... will be a problem," Bus
said.
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