DIVERSION OF WATER FROM LAKE MICHIGAN REPORT ON THE SANITARY DISTRICT OF CHICAGO, WITH OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT WITH REFER- ENCE TO DIVERSION OF WATER FROM LAKE MICHIGAN SUBMITTED BY DISTRICT ENGINEER, U. S. ENGINEER OFFICE WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1924 REPORT ON THE SANITARY DISTRICT OF CHICAGO NOVEMBER 1, 1923 WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, Washington, April 18, 1924. Subject: Diversion of water from Lake Michigan by the Sanitary District of Chicago. Memorandum for the Secretary of War: 1. There is transmitted herewith copy of a report by the district engineer at Chicago, Ill., on the diversion of water from Lake Michigan by the Sanitary District of Chicago. This report was prepared at the oral request of the Chief of Engineers and represents the results of a careful engineering study of the subject. 2. This report furnishes a concise history of the case and a brief description of existing and proposed works, including sewage-treatment plants. It includes an analysis of the effects of the operations of the sanitary district in some of their phases and what appears to be a reasonable valuation of those effects. It includes a study of sanitary conditions, expresses the opinion of the district engineer as to what diversion is required at the present time to protect the water supply of Chicago, and shows how the diversion may be gradually reduced as sewage-treatment plants and other remedial works are installed. This report was intended for the information of the Chief of Engineers only, and not for general distribution or publication. It does not discuss some features as thoroughly as it would have done had it been realized at the time of its preparation that it would be printed. Among these are the question of reducing the total amount of sewage, treatment of industrial wastes so as to materially diminish. this large source of pollution, a fuller review of the financial situation so as to ascertain whether it may not be practicable to install sewage-disposal plants at a more rapid rate than proposed, and the question of a physical prevention by gates or otherwise of a flow back into the lake in such a manner as to reduce the amount of water taken from Lake Michigan. Other questions would doubtless develop upon a more thorough study. The report is not to be considered as modifying or reviewing the report submitted to Congress III IV REPORT ON THE SANITARY DISTRICT OF CHICAGO in 1920 in compliance with Public Resolution No. 8, Sixty-fifth Congress, on the subject of water diversion from the Great Lakes and Niagara River. It was intended merely to aid the department in acting upon the case in accordance with the policy expressed by the Secretary of War on February 2, 1922, with reference to H. R. 9046, Sixty-seventh Congress, first session, as follows: It is clear that under the condition of affairs created by the Chicago Sanitary District, the diversion of a certain quantity of water is necessary at present for the proper protection of the hea'th of the citizens of Chicago. It is by no means established, however, that the quantity required for that purpose, either now or in the future, is 10,000 cubic feet per second. I regard it as inadvisable to permit the diversions in that amount, or in any amount exceeding the amount now fixed by the department, without full and complete information concerning the necessity therefor. It is my view that the quantity authorized should be limited to the lowest possible for sanitation, after the sewage has been purified to the utmost extent practicable before its discharge into the sanitary canal. I regard it as extremely inadvisable to grant the city of Chicago, or any other agency, the right in perpetuity to take from the lake a definite quantity of water. It is not improbable that within a generation a method may be found to separate the valuable fertilizing elements from sewage, as a consequence of which the withdrawal of water from the lake to dilute the sewage will no longer be necessary. In view of the substantial and widespread damage done to many activities throughout the United States by the diversion, damage which can be but partly compensated for by the construction of the works proposed in the bill, the diversion should not be continued beyond the time when its necessity ceases to exist. 3. For these reasons this report should not be considered as an expression of the views of the Chief of Engineers, but merely as an engineering study by the district engineer at Chicago. However, since the Sanitary District of Chicago is making an effort at the present time to obtain congressional authority for a permanent diversion of 10,000 cubic feet, per second, it is believed that facts in the case, as are set forth in the report, should be made available to all interests concerned. In view of the many requests which have been made for copies of this report, it is recommended that it be printed, and that this memorandum be printed with it. |