The region’s aging water infrastructure systems ā€” including drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater ā€” are in need of significant investment and modernization. Resource managers should consider an integrated water resource management framework that protects, conserves, and reuses water resources. Likewise, an integrated approach can help guide public and private investment to achieve multiple benefits, plan for appropriate growth, leverage multiple funding sources, and improve resilience. Some water managers, such as Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), recognize wastewater as a resource, making significant investments to recover nutrients and biosolids from waste streams, direct treated wastewater back into circulation for other uses, and capture excess heat and natural gas as a source of energy. Across the U.S., communities and industries are identifying uses of rainwater and graywater that can reduce both demands on drinking water and volumes of stormwater and wastewater.

In this era of limited resources, infrastructure investment must be strategic, multi-objective, performance-based, and connected to sound planning that upgrades, rehabilitates, and optimizes the use of existing system capacity. Reinvestment in existing infrastructure before expanding these systems is essential to reduce maintenance and replacement costs over the long term, and to create incentives for infill development that helps capture infrastructure costs. When expansion is considered, long-term asset management and maintenance costs should inform decision making, as described in the Incorporate market and fiscal feasibility into planning and development process recommendation of the Community chapter. In some cases, the best approach for managing the region’s infrastructure systems is to identify collaborative strategies for optimizing investments and efficiencies, including consolidation and service sharing arrangements. The infrastructure and service recommendations of this Environment chapter and the Governance chapter include a number of crossover strategies. For example, Encourage partnerships and consolidation, Coordinate infrastructure operations and maintenance, and Develop tax policies that strengthen communities and the region.

Action 1

Pursue resource recovery and closed loop systems (use, capture, recovery, and reuse) for water assets, including updating codes and standards to efficiently use clean water and ensure adequate water flow in the region’s rivers and streams.

Implementers

The state, local governments, utilities, and water management entities

Action 2

Continue to explore the use of constructed wetlands and land application to help treat and manage wastewater.

Implementers

Wastewater managers

Action 3

Continue to improve the Illinois Clean Water Initiative program criteria and incorporate flexible approaches to achieve water supply, water quality, and stormwater management goals and to better support high need, low resource communities.

Implementers

The state

Action 4

Connect infrastructure investments with sound planning, consider long-term asset management and maintenance costs of infrastructure expansion, and prioritize use of infrastructure funds to upgrade, rehabilitate, and optimize the use of existing system capacity before investing in expansion.

Implementers

The State, CMAP, and local governments

Action 5

Explore innovative wastewater planning approaches that protect water quality and satisfy other regional planning goals.

Implementers

CMAP and IEPA

Action 6

Consider the protection of water resources when making wastewater service planning and infrastructure investment decisions, including separation of combined sewers and strategies to reduce frequency of overflows.

Implementers

CMAP, local governments, and watershed groups

Action 7

Consider shared services, consolidation of local services, and other efficiency strategies in investment decisions to improve community fiscal health and resilience.

Implementers

Local governments and other utility service providers