711.4216 M 58/72
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Howard)
Excellency: Referring further to your Embassy’s note No. 813 of September 15, 1925, bringing to my attention certain remarks and inquiries of the Canadian Government in regard to the diversion of water from Lake Michigan by the Sanitary District of Chicago, I take pleasure in submitting the following statements:
[Page 568]The Sanitary District of Chicago to which the permit of March 3, 1925, was issued by the Secretary of War, is a municipal corporation separate and distinct from the City of Chicago. The operations of the Sanitary District are conducted under direct authority of the legislature of the State of Illinois without reference to the operations of the municipal government of the City of Chicago. Diversion of water for domestic consumption in the City of Chicago being purely a function of the municipal government of the City, it is considered that the authority granted the Sanitary District could not be made to apply to or include this other diversion as well. The case before the Secretary of War for action involved the granting of a permit for diversion of water for sanitary purposes only, and the instrument of authority was worded accordingly.
On the other hand, it seemed to the Secretary of War that the diversion of water for domestic consumption by the City of Chicago was larger than it should be, and that the amount wasted was not a negligible portion of the gross diversion. He also considered that this excessive diversion for domestic purposes made the cost of sewage treatment plant construction and operation unnecessarily high and consequently added to the length of the construction period and the difficulties of financing. For these reasons the Secretary of War took cognizance of the diversion for which the City of Chicago is responsible, in a restrictive way, rather than by permissive means, and included a condition in the permit making the instrument voidable in case the City of Chicago fails to take specified steps looking to a curtailment in the amount of water diverted for domestic purposes.
In the judgment of the Secretary of War the average diversion which should be authorized for sanitary purposes under the conditions known to exist should be not less than 8,500 cubic feet per second. The safety of the lives and health of citizens of the locality cannot be disregarded, and until the conditions of the permit of March 3, 1925, have been complied with no substantial reduction in the amount of diversion could be made without endangering health if not life.
The expression “measured at the intakes”, used to designate the places where the total actual flow should not exceed that specified in the permit, is hypothetical as it is impracticable to measure the diversion at the numerous intakes with accuracy. For this reason, the practical enforcement of the limitation placed upon the diversion will be carried out at Lockport. Measurements taken there will determine the gross diversion, sanitary and domestic, and, as accurate information is available in regard to the amount of water pumped by the City of Chicago for domestic purposes, the sanitary diversion [Page 569] may be computed by subtracting the domestic diversion from the gross flow at Lockport.
The term “diversion” as used in the permit is construed to include the discharge of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers. In view of the methods employed in computing the amount of the diversion the discharge of these streams will be included within the 8,500 cubic feet per second authorized by the permit of March 3, 1925.
With reference to the permit issued on April 29, 1925, by the Acting Secretary of War, authorizing the dredging of the Little Calumet River, attention is invited to the following special condition attached thereto: “That this permit does not authorize and should not be construed as authorizing or allowing any increase whatever in the diversion of water from Lake Michigan authorized by permit issued to the Sanitary District of Chicago by the Secretary of War March 3, 1925, nor as modifying in any respect the conditions of that permit.”
The deepening of the Little Calumet River will give the Sanitary District of Chicago better control over river reversals, for it will increase the discharge capacity of the system at intermediate stages and insure protection of the water supply during these critical periods. Since the total sanitary diversion is limited to an average of 8,500 cubic feet per second and an instantaneous maximum of 11,000 cubic feet per second, if the Sanitary District chooses to pass 2,000 cubic feet per second through the Calumet River and Sag Channel it will be required to reduce the amount diverted through its other intakes to keep within the limitations placed by the permit of March 3, 1925.
The Canadian Government is correct in concluding that no immediate reduction in diversions has been provided, but its conclusion that no definite reduction is assured and that the effect of the permits will actually be to authorize a greater diversion than is now being made cannot be confirmed. The gross flow at Lockport will not exceed an average of 9,700 cubic feet per second, and by the time the permit of March 3, 1925, has expired the gross flow may be reduced to 8,000 cubic feet per second and probably to 6,700 cubic feet per second. The sewage treatment program of the Sanitary District has been arranged, so as to make it possible to effect a reduction to a gross flow of 4,167 cubic feet per second by the year 1935 or before.
I shall be grateful if you will cause the foregoing statements to be brought to the attention of the Canadian Government.
Accept [etc.]