The Regional Water Supply Planning Committee (RWSPC) for east-central Illinois is accepting public comments on its draft final report “Plan to Improve the Planning and Management of Water Supplies in East-Central Illinois” through June 15, 2009. The report finds that withdrawals from the Mahomet Aquifer, the major source of water for Champaign County, could increase as much as 80 percent by 2050 if we take no action to reduce our use of water and plan for future needs. {Continue Reading »}

For nearly two decades, PRN has worked to prevent the pollution and degradation of Illinois’ rivers. Water Resources Scientist, Traci Barkley, and Water Resources Specialist, Kim Knowles, review permit applications for wastewater discharges from municipal, mining and industrial practices that have the potential to harm Illinois waterways.

Here is an update on some of their latest work:

Challenged dam proposal for Sangamon County

Summary: A new dam has been proposed for Horse Creek in Sangamon County that will bury over 100 acres of wetlands, 80 acres of streams and more than 1,500 acres of forest. Proponents claim Hunter Dam is needed to create a backup water supply for the City of Springfield, but we believe there are more sustainable and less environmentally harmful ways of ensuring an adequate water supply. {Continue Reading »}

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is proposing to permit One Earth Energy, a new ethanol plant, to discharge wastewater into Drummer Creek, a biologically significant stream in Ford County. A public hearing will be held on March 16th in Gibson City.

Attend the hearing. Protect clean water.

This permit does not ensure that the water quality of the receiving stream, Drummer Creek, will not degrade further as a result of One Earth Energy’s proposed discharges.

IEPA One Earth Engergy NPDES Public Hearing Notice (pdf)

PRN One Earth Energy Public Hearing Informational flyer (pdf)

The waterfall at the head of Illinois Canyon in Starved Rock State Park

Until a few years ago, the phrase “water protection” was automatically linked with the issue of water pollution; protecting our waters meant we only needed to be concerned about decreasing the amount of chemicals being released into our rivers from the end of a pipes, or reducing the soil and other contaminants carried by storm water into storm drains and then into our rivers.

Now “water protection” includes protecting the finite amount of water in our streams, wetlands, aquifer and other sources. Keeping our water clean in part means ensuring our water supplies are not depleted, that water withdrawals are managed sustainably for the people, fish and wildlife that depend on them. {Continue Reading »}

Protecting the Great Lakes: The Great Lakes Compact

On December 13, 2005, the Governors of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New York, and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec signed companion documents designed to provide unprecedented protections for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (“the Compact”) sets forth the provisions to be followed by the eight Great Lake states for protecting and managing Great Lakes water resources.

For the Compact to become a legally enforceable document it must: 1) be ratified by all the Great Lakes states; and 2) approved by the U.S. Congress. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s July 9, 2008 signing of legislation ratifying the Great Lakes Compact completed the first step of the process. On July 11, 2008 Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG), notified the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that the State ratification process of the Compact was complete. To read the CGLG’s letter click here.

The next step towards ensuring that the Compact protections are in place will be Congress’ approval of the Compact. Prairie Rivers Network will continue to provide updates on our website as consideration of the Compact approval moves through Congress. We will also let you know what you can do to support this final effort towards putting the necessary protections in place for ensuring Great Lakes water and water dependent resources are managed in a sustainable manner for people and wildlife. {Continue Reading »}

For years, ethanol has been touted as a “cleaner fuel alternative” with little discussion regarding growing environmental concerns related to increased acreage production, questionable comparable fuel efficiency, production impacts to air and water and a major change in infrastructure. While there are no easy answers to the ethanol dilemma, Prairie Rivers Network is focusing on the many issues that need to be addressed regarding the process by which the ethanol production industry is permitted to use and discharge water in the State of Illinois.

For more detailed information, visit our Ethanol page.