Will County Gazette

The Village of Shorewood board recently voted on implementing new infrastructure as a part of its long-term plans for water supply.

The village of Shorewood is a part of the Alternative Water Supply Program which is a multi-community project under the Grand Prairie Water Commission. They plan to bring Lake Michigan water to the village to provide sustainable, reliable, and clean water supply to the community by 2030. Shorewood has already received its permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for Lake Michigan water allocation.

During a Nov. 22 village board meeting, Noriel Noriega, Shorewood Director of Public Works, presented an agreement with a construction company for phase two of the engineering design behind the village’s new pumping and receiving station, their underground reservoir, and an addition to their water main from the public works department. The project will cost just under $1.1 million.

"So as the good news is, as I mentioned, that if this is completed, we are able to put this into service, into our own infrastructure now ahead of lake water coming, so we can still work out the bugs and such," Noriega said.

Construction for this project is estimated to begin in 2024 and be finished at the beginning of 2026. It is a big step in moving forward with the water supply program. After discussing a few construction specifics and the timing of the payments for this project, the board voted to accept the plan and the contract for the project.