Saturday, October 21, 2006
Alliance for Land, Agriculture, and Water “A-LAW” Press Release
McHenry County Blog has slightly re-formatted this press release to make it easier to read. Nothing has been re-arranged, but I have added a lot of new paragraphs.
Alliance for Land, Agriculture, and Water “A-LAW”
Woodstock, IL – October 21, 2006 – The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water, “A-LAW”, a not-for-profit corporation, announces its initiative to create a new water authority to preserve and protect area groundwater. The proposed Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority “KVWA” would include much of rural McHenry, Boone and DeKalb Counties. (See attached map depicting the boundaries of the KVWA.)
A water authority is authorized by Illinois law and created by referendum voted on by citizens of the proposed authority area.
Petitions requesting the referendum will be circulated by members and volunteers beginning Saturday, October 21st.
You may volunteer to assist this effort and/or sign a petition by calling or emailing A-LAW. A representative will contact you directly.
If certified, the question of whether or not to create the KVWA will be on the April 2007 ballot.
A water authority has the power to regulate the permitting of any new wells for high capacity residential, municipal, industrial and commercial users. The authority can monitor and conserve ground water and protect important ground water recharge areas within the authority. Existing wells at current usage levels are not affected. Also, wells serving agricultural uses along with residential wells that serve less than four single-family homes are exempt from regulation.
Water authorities currently exist throughout the State of Illinois, most in central Illinois. The Illinois Water Authority Association located in Havana, Illinois represents many of the current authorities. Water authorities can work directly with other state and local governmental units and enter into intergovernmental agreements in carrying out its duties. The KVWA, like other water authorities, has excluded many larger municipalities from its jurisdiction.
A-LAW already has the support of the McHenry County Farm Bureau, and there is growing interest by farmers in Boone and DeKalb County, along with rural residents and local government officials. A-Law will continue to seek additional local organizations to join the effort in creating the KVWA. Farmers, business owners, rural residents and concerned citizens are invited to join A-LAW’s efforts to form the KVWA.
A-Law was created by concerned citizens of various backgrounds and occupations in McHenry County. Its mission is to inform, educate and influence the use of this region’s natural resources.
Members of A-LAW first came together to fight against adoption of a staff-drawn, development friendly, 2020 Comprehensive Plan being considered by the McHenry County Board earlier this year.
During the County Board meetings, it was observed that farmers and residents in the rural areas of the County did not have fair representation before the Board.
A major issue to residents of the rural areas of the County was how more development would affect their most important resource in the county – ground water.
Due to the concern that development would continue to dominate control over future zoning and planning in the county, A-LAW members searched for a vehicle to provide the local community with the ability to monitor, protect and control usage of their ground water.
A McHenry County funded comprehensive report on ground water, recently completed by consultants, confirmed the biggest issue facing this region is future availability of water. The report identified several heavily populated and growing townships on the east half of McHenry County that are projected to suffer water shortages by 2020 and more townships facing shortages by 2030.
McHenry County consultants suggest one major answer is to move the water from areas of abundance to those of need in McHenry County. This means piping water from the west parts of the County, located in the Kishwaukee Watershed, to towns in the east that are water short.
The impacts of these recommendations are multi-county to farmers, residents and existing businesses as groundwater does not follow political boundaries. Currently, everybody shares the right of reasonable use to the groundwater.
However, increasingly there will be demands on ground water supplies in western McHenry County, Boone County and DeKalb County. A water authority can provide significant controls to insure that adequate water is available by regulating high capacity wells and studying and protecting the natural aquifers holding the ground water.
J. Dale Berry, member of A-LAW and resident of unincorporated Marengo, stated, “a water authority will provide a voice to those rural residents who are concerned about the future of their water supply”. He continued, “Since Lake Michigan water will not be available to the areas within the authority, we need to have a dedicated governmental entity with local control that can manage water usage and preserve the supply.”
Linnea Kooistra, a farmer, resident of unincorporated Woodstock and member of A-LAW said, “Farmers have every reason to support the authority since it will help preserve their water supply which is vital to the agricultural business throughout these counties.” Ms. Kooistra continued,”
The McHenry County Farm Bureau has already endorsed creation of a water authority; within a short time we have seen great support from Boone County farmers and we are gathering support in DeKalb County.” Mr. Berry finished by saying a levy associated with the authority would cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $25.00 per year; cheap insurance to protect the water”.
######
Contacts:
Phone:
Robert Perbohner at 1-866-649-9049
Email:
A-LAW@onebox.com
A-LAW (Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water, not for Profit Corporation)
P.O. Box 1021
Woodstock, IL 60098
Alliance for Land, Agriculture, and Water “A-LAW”
Woodstock, IL – October 21, 2006 – The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water, “A-LAW”, a not-for-profit corporation, announces its initiative to create a new water authority to preserve and protect area groundwater. The proposed Kishwaukee Valley Water Authority “KVWA” would include much of rural McHenry, Boone and DeKalb Counties. (See attached map depicting the boundaries of the KVWA.)
A water authority is authorized by Illinois law and created by referendum voted on by citizens of the proposed authority area.
Petitions requesting the referendum will be circulated by members and volunteers beginning Saturday, October 21st.
You may volunteer to assist this effort and/or sign a petition by calling or emailing A-LAW. A representative will contact you directly.
If certified, the question of whether or not to create the KVWA will be on the April 2007 ballot.
A water authority has the power to regulate the permitting of any new wells for high capacity residential, municipal, industrial and commercial users. The authority can monitor and conserve ground water and protect important ground water recharge areas within the authority. Existing wells at current usage levels are not affected. Also, wells serving agricultural uses along with residential wells that serve less than four single-family homes are exempt from regulation.
Water authorities currently exist throughout the State of Illinois, most in central Illinois. The Illinois Water Authority Association located in Havana, Illinois represents many of the current authorities. Water authorities can work directly with other state and local governmental units and enter into intergovernmental agreements in carrying out its duties. The KVWA, like other water authorities, has excluded many larger municipalities from its jurisdiction.
A-LAW already has the support of the McHenry County Farm Bureau, and there is growing interest by farmers in Boone and DeKalb County, along with rural residents and local government officials. A-Law will continue to seek additional local organizations to join the effort in creating the KVWA. Farmers, business owners, rural residents and concerned citizens are invited to join A-LAW’s efforts to form the KVWA.
A-Law was created by concerned citizens of various backgrounds and occupations in McHenry County. Its mission is to inform, educate and influence the use of this region’s natural resources.
Members of A-LAW first came together to fight against adoption of a staff-drawn, development friendly, 2020 Comprehensive Plan being considered by the McHenry County Board earlier this year.
During the County Board meetings, it was observed that farmers and residents in the rural areas of the County did not have fair representation before the Board.
A major issue to residents of the rural areas of the County was how more development would affect their most important resource in the county – ground water.
Due to the concern that development would continue to dominate control over future zoning and planning in the county, A-LAW members searched for a vehicle to provide the local community with the ability to monitor, protect and control usage of their ground water.
A McHenry County funded comprehensive report on ground water, recently completed by consultants, confirmed the biggest issue facing this region is future availability of water. The report identified several heavily populated and growing townships on the east half of McHenry County that are projected to suffer water shortages by 2020 and more townships facing shortages by 2030.
McHenry County consultants suggest one major answer is to move the water from areas of abundance to those of need in McHenry County. This means piping water from the west parts of the County, located in the Kishwaukee Watershed, to towns in the east that are water short.
The impacts of these recommendations are multi-county to farmers, residents and existing businesses as groundwater does not follow political boundaries. Currently, everybody shares the right of reasonable use to the groundwater.
However, increasingly there will be demands on ground water supplies in western McHenry County, Boone County and DeKalb County. A water authority can provide significant controls to insure that adequate water is available by regulating high capacity wells and studying and protecting the natural aquifers holding the ground water.
J. Dale Berry, member of A-LAW and resident of unincorporated Marengo, stated, “a water authority will provide a voice to those rural residents who are concerned about the future of their water supply”. He continued, “Since Lake Michigan water will not be available to the areas within the authority, we need to have a dedicated governmental entity with local control that can manage water usage and preserve the supply.”
Linnea Kooistra, a farmer, resident of unincorporated Woodstock and member of A-LAW said, “Farmers have every reason to support the authority since it will help preserve their water supply which is vital to the agricultural business throughout these counties.” Ms. Kooistra continued,”
The McHenry County Farm Bureau has already endorsed creation of a water authority; within a short time we have seen great support from Boone County farmers and we are gathering support in DeKalb County.” Mr. Berry finished by saying a levy associated with the authority would cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $25.00 per year; cheap insurance to protect the water”.
######
Contacts:
Phone:
Robert Perbohner at 1-866-649-9049
Email:
A-LAW@onebox.com
A-LAW (Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water, not for Profit Corporation)
P.O. Box 1021
Woodstock, IL 60098
# posted by Cal Skinner : 1:15 PM
