Boone County water specialist recommends 3-D geological, aquifer mapping
Northern Public Radio | By Maria Gardner Lara
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Maria Gardner Lara
Dan Kane presents to the Boone County Board, August 2024.
Joliet in the coming years will be pulling their water from Lake Michigan. The groundwater underneath the city is estimated to run out in 2030.
In light of the dire situation nearly ninety miles southeast of Belvidere, the Boone County board hired Dan Kane in May to be their water resource coordinator on a part-time basis. Kane stepped out of retirement after serving as the executive director of the Boone County Conservation District for 23 years.
He said recent studies estimate that groundwater levels over the last 40 years have dropped between 100 and 150 feet.
He said the circumstances are not at crisis level but do call for attention.
“It's a, ‘you need to be mindful and thoughtfully prepare and anticipate the effect of this [situation] and that's done through careful planning and implementing those plans," Kane said.
He said Boone County’s water supply comes from several water aquifers, including one shared with Joliet.
“So, it's not just Joliet drawing water,” he said. “They're using the most, because you can see they're the center.”
He’s referring to an aquifer map with orange-red circles around Joliet, which signifies the very low depth of their water source.
Illinois State Water Survey
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Illinois State Water Survey, https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/105626
This map describes the changing groundwater levels in the Cambrian-Ordovician Sandstone Acquifers of northern Illinois and was produced by the Illinois State Water Survey.
To have a better understanding of Boone County's water supply, Kane recommends the board approve the completion of a 3-D map of the county’s geology and aquifers.
He said such a map would help the community answer questions like:
“Where does water replenish? How does precipitation and snow melt, and all the things that happen at the surface?” Kane said. “Only a portion of that water infiltrates and becomes groundwater. So where is that most likely to happen? And do we need to do anything to protect it?”
The map would be conducted by the Illinois State Geological Survey, which is part of the University of Illinois, and would cost the county $491,917 dollars.
The 3-D mapping entails a helicopter flying across most of the county.
“They're going to go back and forth 100 times, between the north end of the county and the south end the county,” he said. “They're going to have data that covers the entire area, looking at a scan that goes down into the earth about 1000 feet.”
Belvidere and other urban areas of the county would not be included in the mapping.
“The geophysical tool does not penetrate through the buildings and roads,” Kane said. He explained that their construction interferes with the sensors of the mapping tool.
Once the 3-D Mapping is complete, it will provide a detailed assessment of the layers beneath the surface, the materials they are made of and give a better understanding of how water is absorbed and reaches the aquifer.
The county already has a map that identifies the likely recharge areas, which are places where water seeps into the ground. Drawn in 2019, the map is based off data collected in 1980s. Kane said the 3-D mapping will give more detailed and accurate information.
Boone County
Boone County Sensitive Aquifer Recharge Areas map. The map was drawn in 2019 and relies on data collected in the 1980s, according to Dan Kane.
“It's going to fill so many data gaps,” he said.
And Kline added, the 3-D mapping provides necessary data -- especially as development grows in the community.
“Having a sound understanding of where our water supply comes from and how to make it sustainable going forward is an absolute economic tool because it tells you up front - you can do this, this, and this, and you're not going to have any negative influence on your water supply.”
Earlier this month, Kane presented a handful of recommendations for the board to consider in its water preservation efforts, which included the 3-D mapping.
Board members were receptive to the project, but also drew questions about costs.
“I guess my head goes to funding,” said Boone County Board member Tom Walberg, “and from that aspect, working with our neighboring counties - Rockford, Winnebago County, McHenry that are around us.”
The Boone County Board is expected to decide whether to approve funding for a 3-D Geological mapping at its next finance meeting on Aug. 15.
-----The final vote on the issue is at Committee of the Whole on Thursday August 22, 2024
