The Village of Oswego has been considering switching to Lake Michigan Water since Aug. 18, 2023. Oswego plans to switch in the near future and citizens of Oswego have thoughts about this change.
“I think it’s sad because we need to bring water from somewhere else because we’re wasteful with water, but I also think it’s necessary because we don’t have enough water,” OH science teacher Pamela Phelps said. “We can’t support like the groundwater that we have available to us; we’re depleting it, and there isn’t going to be enough for our area if we continue to do it this way.”
Switching the water is a change that will affect many people in the Oswego area. Many people’s water bills will be increased due to the water coming from Chicago, as of now, the plan is for the water to be switched over in 2027-2028.
“I think overall it would be better for the economy and the environment. I do think that the water bill going up would be a problem for those who can’t afford that, but overall I think it would be something good. I just feel like we need to work to make the amount lower for people who can’t afford it,” said OH student Alyssa Mendez.
Mendez is a resident of Montgomery, IL, which is also a town that will be affected by this project and will pay 24.12% of the cost toward the switch.
“So I forget the cost to the cities and to the state, but I know our water bills are also going to go up a lot to help fund that. And I do think that our individual bills will go up like over 100%, so if you’re paying $100, that’ll be $200,” said Phelps.
The difference between Lake Michigan water and the groundwater we use now is that Lake Michigan is softer, meaning there are fewer minerals in the water like calcium and magnesium.
People in Oswego also like watering their lawns to make them look nicer. The problem with this is that the type of grass we have is from Europe, thus the roots are small and not going deep into the ground, so the grass dies since the water is gone on the top layer.
“The plants that we brought from Europe—the tiny little grass—the roots are very short, so if it hasn’t rained, they dry out, however. The grass itself isn’t good for the environment, and us watering it isn’t good either,” said Phelps.
Lake Michigan water will be softer than us pulling the water from the ground, at a cost. Oswego, Montgomery, and Yorkville will all have to pay $7 million dollars to the DuPage Water Commission (DWC) to help build and switch the water.
This change in our community is planned to be finished by the summer of 2028.
“The next steps in the project include financing, initiating bidding, and beginning construction. Bidding is expected to start by the end of 2024 and construction is set for early 2025, with completion in late 2027. The switchover to Lake Michigan water is planned for spring or summer 2028,” said the Operations Supervisor from Fox Metro, Dale Wagner.
This change is forced to happen since the area of Oswego is rapidly increasing in population and our demand for water is only going to increase with population. The change will become necessary with the water demand.
I'm Enzo Elia and I really enjoy video games and talking about many topics. this is my first year on staff, I'm a senior. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
Hi, it's my first year on the 42Fifty staff. I am a senior at Oswego High School and I play football for the Oswego Panthers. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
