• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

EDITORIAL: Water Supply Needs City's Focus

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

Oct. 11--There may be reasons other than a drought why Lake Bloomington is at its lowest level in 17 years, but the low level is not reassuring to a community when the search for a long-range water supply has been mostly talk and study for at least 10 years.

Water studies have been made, and more are under way for an underground supply in western McLean and eastern Tazewell counties. Lengthy negotiations can also be expected when a regional supply involving other cities and counties is the goal.

But longtime residents of Bloomington get nervous when they see Lake Bloomington's water level drop so low, regardless of reason. If that means they pressure city officials for speedier action on a long-range supply, that's good.

Lake Bloomington, where the city's water-treatment plant is located, was down 10.7 feet last week. Its previous low mark was 11.7 feet in October 1988. That drought prompted the city to install equipment to pump water from the nearby Mackinaw River into Evergreen Lake, the city's second water reservoir northwest of Hudson. The pumps, which can operate only when certain flow conditions are met in the river, have been rarely used since 1989. There is a possibility they may be used this fall, according to Bloomington Water Director Craig Cummings.

Thank goodness Evergreen is down only 2 feet, so Cummings said the city has a 1 1/2-year supply without rain in the lake watersheds.

However, Evergreen now has water algae problems that the director says could cause odor and taste problems if water from that lake is pumped to the treatment plant at Lake Bloomington and then into the city. City officials were swamped with complaints last fall and into this year when soil bacteria at Lake Bloomington caused odor-taste problems with the water. Cummings hopes the algae can be treated soon.

Bloomington residents probably can't appreciate the repair and algae problems that Cummings has to deal with. They only want assurance of an ample, odorless water supply that will not end.

-----

To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

More News in this Category