McHenry County Blog

McHenry County is not destined to get water from Lake Michigan, so what county board members do on water policy is an important issue.

Some forces want to take water from the rural parts of the county (mainly District 6) and pipe it to areas that have grown or want to grow beyond their underlying aquifers ability to provide water. Carpentersville has actually investigated drilling a well in the Harvard area and piping it southeast.

The McHenry County Defenders and the Alliance for Land, Water and Agriculture (A-LAW) put together questions for county board candidates. So far, only six have responded. Maybe more will do so before the fall elections.

Here are the answers of four Republicans and two Democrats to the following questions:

By protecting agricultural lands and soil resources, groundwater and its natural recharge can also be protected. What will you do to provide that protection?

Sue Draffkorn, D-4, Republican: I would like to see developers take it upon themselves to create subdivision plats that protect our natural resources. McHenry County is developing a conservation design ordinance that will require developers to incorporate the preservation and protection of natural resources.

Jeff Thirtyacre, D-4, Democrat: We need a water filtration plant to collect rain water and filter it to have for when water is lacking so not to waste ground water quantities. And to aid in land preservation for farmers. Established water banks can take the overload when water levels are low.

Virginia Peschke, D-5, Republican: I am currently on the Agricultural Preservation Committee and a Board Member of The Land Conservancy (TLC). I have spoken with municipal leaders regarding inter-governmental agreements that facilitate transfer of development rights, yielding income to farmers while preserving ag use. The success of TLC is proof that farmers do want to preserve agriculture.

Ersel Schuster, D-6, Republican: I am convinced that we need an independent water authority in the areas where the greatest recharge of our groundwater occurs. I plan to help fellow board members see the wisdom in that concept and will work to secure their assistance to see that it happens while we can still realize the benefits of having done so.

Harry Alten, Jr., D-6, Republican: Again, we need a viable Agricultural Land preservation plan and hold to that commitment.

Andrew “Drew” Georgi, Jr., D-6, Democrat:
First we need to protect the water and make sure those that are contaminating it stop and clean it up. Second, we need to make sure that we do not let the existing water be over used by approving too many new building projects. And last we need to add reservoirs to both new building projects and to our conservation areas.

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Again, I unfortunately do not have Harry Alten's photograph. I should have also taken a picture of Jeff Thirtyacre looking left so the spacing would have been better.

Labels: A-LAW, Alliance for Land Agriculture and Water, Andrew Georgi, Ersel Schuster, Harry Alten, Jeff Thirtyacre, McHenry County Board, Sue Draffkorn, Virginia Peschke, Water

This water is turning back into ice.

After taking my son to school this morning, I decided to see if Crystal Lake were frozen.

I knew it was at the outlet to Cress Creek, so I drove to the Gate 13 Beach.

You can see that the ice is creeping out into the lake but only a couple of scores of feet from shore so far.

And it’s not thick enough to set up the hockey rink along the edge of the lake yet.

Labels: Crystal Lake, Ice, Message of the Day, Water

If you are interested in the water problems McHenry County will surely face, this should be a forum you plan to attend.

Environmental Law & Policy Center

& McHenry County College

Present

What is Your Water IQ?

A Free Community Forum

DATE: November 17, 2007, 12:30-4:00 p.m.

PLACE: McHenry County College conference center

Building B – Parking Lot B

Engineering studies show that, unless McHenry residents conserve water, we could face water shortages within the next few years. We’re all in this together, and all our communities should work together to protect our water supply.

McHenry County College is hosting a free community forum on water for community residents, high school and college students.

We will:

• tell you what’s going on in the community to protect our water
• offer demonstrations and hands-on activities to show you where our water comes from and what we can do to help
  

• get your opinion about next steps to take using instant polling.

There will be a raffle of water-saving items, a special door prize, and refreshments. Presenters include local and regional experts, community groups, college faculty and student volunteers.

We hope to see you there!

What’s Your Water IQ?

Community Water Supply Forum

McHenry County College Conference Center

Saturday, November 17, 2007

12:30 – 1 p.m. Registration, raffle sign-up and displays

1:00-1:25 Welcome Dr. Walter Packard, President, McHenry County College

What’s Your Water IQ? Instant polling – audience participation

Ricca Slone, Environmental Law & Policy Center

1:25-2 p.m. Water Conservation Panel

Dennis Dreher, McHenry Plan Commission, moderator

Tim Loftus, Regional Water Supply Planning Group

Cassandra McKinney, McHenry County Water Resource Manager

Nancy Williamson, McHenry County Conservation District

Break Displays and refreshments

2:15 – 3 p.m. Break-out sessions

• Watershed protection: Lenore Beyer-Clow, Openlands; Cindy Skukrud, Sierra Club; Emily Berendt, A-LAW
• School curricula for studying water resource: Bill Donato, Woodstock High School; Katie Parkhurst, Algonquin
• Richmond water reuse ordinance: Karen Kabbes

3-3:40 p.m. Demonstrations and Powerpoints

· Environmental LawCenter: At-home water use

· McHenry County Defenders: Water conservation

· McHenry College faculty: Water testing, Enviroscape, groundwater model

3:45 – 4 p.m. What should McHenry County communities do to save water?

Instant polling – audience participation

Raffle winner announcement

Labels: A-LAW, Dennis Dreher, Environmenal Law and Policy Center, MCC, McHenry County, McHenry County College, McHenry County Defenders, Ricca Slone, Water