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Shared Waters, Shared Future launches with focus on collaboration

Northeastern Illinois’ water resources are shared across political and jurisdictional boundaries, making coordination among communities, utilities, and planning entities essential to long-term water supply sustainability. In the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) first Shared Waters, Shared Future workshop, hosted in partnership with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, participants learned about collaboration from concept to application.

How do we define collaboration when it comes to water supply?

Workshop presenters Bud Mason and Justin Root of the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership emphasized collaboration as a strategic approach to leverage resources, address shared challenges, and strengthen regional resilience between two or more utilities or communities for mutual benefit. Many workshop participants had limited familiarity with collaboration models, underscoring the need for a shared language and framework.

Why do we need collaboration?

Workshop participants identified several water supply challenges, including funding, aging infrastructure, lead service line replacement, regulations, and long-term sustainability. While these challenges are often experienced locally, they’re shared across the region and shaped by broader governance and regulatory frameworks. Participants also highlighted how successful collaboration often depends on understanding and accessing funding mechanisms, and structuring projects to maximize funding eligibility.

What types of collaboration models are there?

Mason and Root outlined a spectrum of water supply collaboration models, from less to more formal partnerships, each with varying degrees of shared services, infrastructure integration, and transfer of responsibility:

• Informal coordination: Also called a general agreement, this is a coordinated activity — such as equipment sharing, bulk purchasing, and mutual aid agreements — without binding contractual obligations. Benefits of this model include increased economies of scale, greater technical expertise, and maintenance of local control.
• Contractual assistance: This is a type of partnership that has an official contract with another water system or service provider, such as a water purchasing agreement. Benefits of this model include assurance gained though a written agreement; improved technical, managerial, and financial capacity; and maintenance of local control.
• Joint power agency: Also known as regional water authorities or commissions, this partnership involves the creation of a new entity to share management, staff, infrastructure, and/or source water. Benefits of this model include increased funding options, economies of scale, and enhanced coordinated decision making.
• Ownership transfer: This type of partnership involves a water system acquiring, merging with, or otherwise assuming responsibility for another system, either through an existing entity or a newly created one. It can include a physical, financial, and/or managerial connection between systems. Ownership transfers can help communities solve major problems (e.g., source water issues) that may not be solved by other types of partnerships, as well as increase technical, managerial, and financial capacity.

Real-world examples demonstrated how collaboration can make otherwise unfeasible projects possible, such as two communities dividing an infrastructure project to maximize debt forgiveness. Communities can also partner to attract economic development through shared systems, enabling growth neither community could achieve alone. The discussion reinforced the idea that regional coordination does not require full regionalization; incremental steps such as shared asset inventories, coordinated planning, or joint grant applications can deliver value.

What collaborations are already happening?

To solidify these collaboration models, the workshop featured a panel of regional practitioners, moderated by Danielle Gallet of Waterwell, who shared examples from across northeastern Illinois.

Peter Wallers, chair of the Northwest Water Planning Alliance Technical Advisory Committee and chairman of Engineering Enterprises Inc., highlighted that successful regional efforts bring together scientific expertise and elected leadership to move from planning to action.

Allison Swisher, from the City of Joliet Department of Public Utilities and Grand Prairie Water Commission, emphasized the importance of governance and trust-building. She noted that establishing fair decision-making structures is often the most challenging step in forming multi-community partnerships.

David Kohn, from the City of Chicago Department of Water Management, described how initiatives such as the Chicago Water Partners Advisory Council and the adoption of the American Water Works Association cost-of-service rate methodology are strengthening engagement and coordination among Lake Michigan water partners.

How can we foster collaboration in northeastern Illinois?

Participants worked in breakout groups to address real-world water planning scenarios. Several consistent themes emerged:

• Communities often lack shared data and aligned capital planning baselines
• Informal coordination is common, but communities need clearer governance tools to align major investments
• Smaller and under-resourced communities face staffing and technical barriers
• Affordability pressures coupled with infrastructure reinvestment needs increase the urgency for coordination

While there is a strong interest in collaboration, participants noted limited mechanisms to move from voluntary planning to implementation. This highlights a broader regional gap between recognizing shared challenges and acting collectively.

Looking ahead

The workshop established a strong foundation for the Shared Waters, Shared Futures series, with participants reporting increased familiarity with collaboration models and greater readiness to engage in collaborative efforts after attending the workshop. The broader series aims to equip and empower northeastern Illinois communities to conserve water, align policies, and strengthen infrastructure and planning for a sustainable water supply.

Missed the first workshop? Find the recording and materials on the Shared Waters, Shared Futures webpage.

Registration is open for the remaining sessions. The next workshop on creating a water sustainability plan is Thursday, April 23. Join us as we continue advancing the tools, partnerships, and coordinated strategies needed to secure a resilient water future for our region.

The series is hosted with support from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Water Resources.