Impact on the Economy of Michigan of Proposed Additional Diversion of Lake Michigan Water at Chicago: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Chicago, Illinois, currently diverts some 3,000 c.f.s. (cubic feet per second) of Lake Michigan water over the divide into the Mississippi River Valley. The State of Illinois on behalf of the Elmhurst - Villa Park - Lombard Water Commission is asking the United States Supreme Court for permission to divert additional amounts of Lake Michigan Water into the Mississippi River Valley. Other similarly situated communities in Illinois are awaiting the outcome of this litigation. The other Great Lakes States (excepting Indiana) are presenting testimony to support their complaint that the water presently diverted as domestic pumpage by the City of Chicago should be returned to Lake Michigan after purification by sewage treatment works; or, in the alternative, that steps be taken to reduce the present diversion now amounting to 3,300 c.f.s.1. That the Great Lakes are a communal body of water is obvious. But how one statenulls use of the water affects the use that another state can make of it is not so obvious. To be sure, if one state removes water from the basin, the other states have that much less water for their use, but at what damage to them? The effects of such diversion by one community upon the other communities need to be explored. In this exploratory study, we limit our interest to economic effects. The economic effects occur because diversion action by Chicago affects the capacity of other states of the community to produce or to consume. What are the effects?