Fresh Water for Cash
Last week, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed a $1 billion contract to sell its water resources to Joliet and some surrounding suburbs. This deal is the first of its kind made for the Windy City in over 40 years. The contract itself is set to last for 100 years.
Building the Blue Economy
This deal is the first step towards a “Blue Economy” for Chicago, valued at $17 billion. The Blue Economy is a term for the sustainable use of water resources for industry and economic growth while protecting and maintaining the aquatic environment. Chicago, along with many of the other cities of the Great Lakes region, is planning to capitalize on its geographic advantage. Both in selling resources to other areas of the country, and in attracting business here at home.
“A lot of industries — be that electric vehicles or food, life sciences — they have a lot of water needs,” said Chicago’s chief marketing officer, Michael Fassnacht. “Corporations, as well, will look at climate resilience and water safety, so being next to water is a massive, massive factor.”
Chicago and the Great Lakes region have a massive advantage over other areas of the country, like the Southwest. There, states like Nevada have to be very careful about how much water they use, and make sure they can retain as much of what they use as they can.
The Great Lakes hold 80% of all surface fresh water in North America. This makes cities like Chicago rich in an enormous natural resource, one that more and more states will want to tap into as urban populations grow and climate change continues to fuel droughting.
Concerns of Affordability and Mismanagement
But despite the size of this resource, there are concerns over how greed and mismanagement could threaten the environment, as well as fuel price hikes of a commodity that is vital to every human’s ability to survive.
In 2019, Elevate Energy, a Chicago-based nonprofit that promotes equity and affordability, published a report on the water bill burdens of the communities of Chicago. They did so along with the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.
Since 2008, the average water rate in northeastern Illinois grew by 80%. In addition, the growth of water bills has surpassed the growth of income in 78% of communities. In Chicago specifically, the lowest-income households are hit the hardest. On average, the lowest-income households in the city end up paying 10% of their annual income on water and sewer services.
This means that water affordability affects the city’s minorities and marginalized communities the most. In terms of percent of annual income spent, Black communities are paying the most at 19%. Hispanics are at 7%, while whites sit at just 4%.
Much of the rise in cost comes from outdated infrastructure. The city built most of its water infrastructure over 100 years ago. Water customers in the city pay a premium on their water bills that go towards building new pumps and laying down new piping. Water meters also have an effect on how much customers are charged. The presence of a water meter on a residence correlated with an average of $500 less spent on water bills.
Help From the Federal Government
In 2016, Congress passed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act or WIIN Act. The WIIN Act was passed with the intention of spending $55 billion to improve water infrastructure across the nation. It focuses on lowering costs for low-income communities and the replacement of lead pipes.
With the expansion of a freshwater-based economy in Chicago, the region’s economic advantages could bring back a lot of money. Moreover, this would be good since it’s a region that was left with industrial manufacturing in the last century. But with this growth, city, state, and federal leaders need to act to preserve the cost and cleanliness of the Great Lakes’ fresh water.
“We’re using Lake Michigan drinking water for industrial purposes because it’s relatively inexpensive,” says Alaina Harkness, executive director of nonprofit water innovation hub, Current. “We lack the scarcity drivers that a place like Nevada has in place to reuse every drop of their water. Our great challenge is to start to act like Nevada.”
Written by Seth Herlinger
Sources:
Crain’s Chicago Business: Chicago’s $1 billion water deal shows Great Lakes wealth
Elevate Energy: Water Affordability: A Growing Challenge
Environmental Protection Agency: The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act) Grant Programs
Newsbreak: Concerns Over Chicago’s Billion Dollar Water Contract and Ensuring Water Is Affordable, Accessible to All Communities
All images courtesy of Seth Herlinger
