Reversal of declining ground-water levels in the Chicago area

The importance of ground water in the Great Lakes Region

“…Decline in water levels in the sandstone confined aquifer, Chicago and Milwaukee areas, 1864-1980. (Modified fromAvery, 1995. )…”

Groundwater-surface water relations in the Fox River watershed: insights from exploratory studies in Illinois and Wisconsin

“…With the area's large population (about 11 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013)), redistributing centers of commercial and industrial growth, and dwindling options for water supply, the Fox River may become increasingly relied upon as a supply source for public water. The Great Lakes Basin Compact (Great Lakes Commission, 2003) restricts withdrawals from nearby Lake Michigan; other appropriate surface water sources generally are unavailable; and the bedrock Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer underlying the region can not sustain a return to the long-term, high-volume withdrawals of past years because of yield (Visocky and others, 1985;Avery, 2005;Meyer and others, 2009) and water-quality limitations (Gilkeson and others, 1983;Balding, 1991;Kay, 2013).…”