HR0116 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0116 LRB099 07297 GRL 27404 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Mahomet Aquifer system is an underground layer of water-bearing sand and gravel that fills a wide bedrock valley in all or parts of 14 east-central Illinois counties; the aquifer system is the source of approximately 53 million gallons of water every year for 120 public water systems and thousands of rural wells that serve about 500,000 people; and

WHEREAS, More than half of the population in east-central Illinois relies on the Mahomet Aquifer system as a source of their drinking water; and

WHEREAS, There are complex pathways between the surface and overlying aquifers to the principal aquifer in the eastern portion and no confining layer between the surface and the principal aquifer in the western portion, making the petitioned aquifer vulnerable to contamination; and

WHEREAS, The Safe Drinking Water Act gives the United States Environmental Protection Agency the authority to designate an aquifer as a sole or principal source of drinking water for a specified area; this designation allows the Environmental Protection Agency to review all federally-funded projects within the designated area to ensure they will not contaminate the aquifer; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United States Environmental Protection Agency to classify the Mahomet Aquifer as a Sole Source Aquifer in order protect the residents of east-central Illinois and ensure they have clean drinking water for future generations; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Coordinator William Spaulding, the members of the Illinois congressional delegation, and the Governor.