§426k Five year demonstration program to temporarily increase diversion of water from Lake Michigan at Chicago, Illinois

Summary

Creates a five-year test program to temporarily raise the amount of water taken from Lake Michigan at Chicago. The goal is to reduce shoreline damage on the Great Lakes and improve water quality in the Illinois Waterway by testing whether the average annual diversion can be raised from 3,200 cubic feet per second to as much as 10,000 cubic feet per second. Increases will be made step by step, will consider effects on the Illinois Waterway, and will be planned by the Army Corps of Engineers with the State of Illinois and the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago. The State and the District must carry out the program under the Corps’ supervision. Each month a controllable diversion rate will be set so the yearly average is between 3,200 and 10,000 cfs. If Lake Michigan is below its long-term average (based on 1900–1975 monthly levels), the next accounting year’s annual diversion must not exceed 3,200 cfs. If river levels near bankfull at warning stations or if extra diversion would hurt navigation in the Saint Lawrence Seaway and connected waters, no water can be taken at Wilmette, O’Brien, or Chicago River controls except for navigation needs. The Corps must study the effects on lake levels, water quality, and flood risk and report results and recommendations to Congress five years after October 22, 1976. Controllable diversion means water taken at the Wilmette, O’Brien, and Chicago River controls that is not due to leakage and is not needed for navigation.