U.S. Water News Online
CHICAGO -- Thirsty lawns are turning yellow and brown. Water levels are dropping so low that ducks can stand in some rivers and streams. Signs are going up warning that turning on the sprinkler can mean a $750 ticket.
They are unmistakable signs of drought, popping up in communities throughout Illinois. Though not as dramatic as the talk of widespread crop loss on Illinois farms, the signs are steadily growing in areas not so closely tied to the land.
"I'm not watering out of respect for what is happening ecologically," said Tod Lending, motioning to his parched lawn in front of his home on Chicago's North Side. "I have a 10-year-old daughter and I'm trying to teach her what the right thing is to do ecologically."
Up and down the streets of Lending's neighborhood, along with lush, green lawns that are obviously being watered are more than a few that are just as obviously not. It is the same story in other communities.
"From all the brown lawns, people have been pretty receptive to our encouraging to conserve water," said Gail Simpson, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Natural Resources.
In nearby Forest Park, for example, not only has Bridie Hickman limited her watering to her vegetable garden, she also has taken steps such as collecting water from her sink after she washes lettuce and pouring it on her plants outside.
"All that water used to go down the drain (and) now it goes out in the garden," she said.
Molly Lane, a special education teacher in Chicago, lives in an apartment and doesn't have a lawn. But she said the drought has prompted her to save water where she can, too.
"I let my flowers die," she said. "I figured I'm not going to waste water on plants. I mean, they're flowers."
In ways big and small, communities are also cutting back on water use. In Chicago the grass at parks is no longer being watered, so the city's fire department recently decided to teach fire hose techniques at a lakefront park so the ground would benefit from the water.
Residents of communities around the state, from Belleville to Chicago, have been asked to conserve water. Algonquin in McHenry County is among a growing number of communities that has imposed restrictions on outside watering, allowing residents to water every other day.
North Aurora has gone a step further after the water supply dropped more than twice as much as it normally does this time of year.
"We are in a water ban right now," said Paul Young, the city's superintendent of water operations. Residents are still allowed to hand-water flowers or gardens, but if city officials spot sprinklers running in their yards they could be given tickets for as much as $750.
Don Bryant, the emergency management director for Kane County, was concerned enough about how far the flow of the Fox River has dropped -- running at 21 percent of normal recently -- he recently warned county leaders to come up with a plan to better prepare for a severe drought.
Statewide, Gov. Rod Blagojevich activated a Drought Response Task Force to monitor the conditions and plan for possible emergencies.
Still, conservation can be a tough sell in a part of the country that includes a fresh water lake about the size of West Virginia.
Molly Lane said as she jogs in her neighborhood she passes house after house where the sprinkler is running in the middle of the day, often watering the sidewalk along with the lawn.
"I absolutely feel people don't have any real idea what is really going on," she said.
State officials said they know of no community in Illinois that is in imminent danger of running out of water. But they warn that if the drought continues and people don't cut back on the amount of water they are using, it could happen.
"You can get to the point where you can no longer withdraw water" from wells and aquifers, said Roger Selburg, manager of the Division of Public Works for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Then, he said, "there's really not a whole lot that you can do other than start bringing in bottled water or perhaps tanker trucks."
The level of Lake Michigan is only slightly below normal. Sadhu Johnston, commissioner of Chicago's Department of Environment, said that even if it will long remain a source of drinking water, conserving water remains important.
"If Chicago and other cities along the lake just continued pulling more and more water out of the lake, the level would drop" and devastate everything from fish and other wildlife to the shipping industry, Johnston said.
"There are all sorts of implications; it's unbelievable," he said.
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