The City of Joliet found itself at a tipping point in terms of one of government’s basic functions: to make one of life’s most basic needs available for it’s residents. I’m talking about water.

The aquifer that Joliet has drawn it’s water since the start of the city’s existence has is becoming depleted to such a degree that over the next few decades it would be unsustainable.

So what is a city to do?

Being a consumer of Joliet water, this was of personal interest to me. I knew the basics, but I needed to have a deeper (haha, get it, deeper…that’s an aquifer joke) understanding of what is happening. I figured if I had these questions, many of my fellow Joliet water consumers did too.

I randomly emailed Wayne Horne, who has covered local Joliet issues in his column in the Times Weekly, but more importantly, served as a member of the Joliet Environmental Commission tasked with vetting all possible new sources of water.

He was kind enough to join me for a talk about why this is happening now, why certain decisions were made and what it might look like in the future.