Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1976 [PAGE 174]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1975]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

163

Management Committee prescribed in the Agreement has not been created either by legislative act as provided in the Agreement or otherwise. Governor Walker has established five additional conditions precedent to State support of the project though no such conditions are provided for in the Agreement. These conditions are as follows: 1. Renegotiation of the water supply agreement with the City of Decatur so that the State's full costs, including interest are paid. 2. Assurances that the proposed recreational advantages for water recreation and use of the greenbelt, as spelled out in the modified work plan, are real and are obtainable for the costs set forth in the plan. 3. Assurances from the United States Environmental Protection Agency that the water quality in Lake Springer will be acceptable over the life of the program. 4. Assurances from the Army Corps of Engineers that the project will not result in significantly increased flooding of Allerton Park, where flooding periodically occurs now, or adversely affect the ecology of that park. 5. Assurances from the Corps of Engineers that the land above the joint-use pool for accommodation of the flood control pool (approximately 9,655 acres) will be covered with foliage and will generally be satisfactory for recreational use when not covered with water. The City of Decatur, Illinois, has not recognized the Memorandum as binding. I n a February 4, 1974, report to Governor Walker, Decatur proposed that it act as local sponsor of the water supply part of the project. This is contrary to the Revised Memorandum of Agreement which requires that the State be local sponsor of all aspects of the project. The parties entered into the Revised Memorandum of Agreement on the basis of certain mistakes in fact which mistakes are now apparent and render the Agreement unenforceable. It was believed that Decatur's water supply needs were much greater than current projections indicate. The 30 million gallon per day specified in the Revised Memorandum of Agreement is far higher than will be needed at any time in the foreseeable future. Additionally, the environmental effects of the project appear to be different than originally represented. T h e Federal EPA subsequently has labeled the project "environmentally undesirable" and the Illinois EPA has said water quality in the reservoir would be poor and would probably necessitate fertilizer control on farms throughout the Sangamon Basin. It was also assumed that the recreational benefits of the project would be greater than they will be. Since 1970 the Corps has announced that there will be no motor boating or skiing on Springer Lake and no swimming there. The Corps of Engineers have not been willing to sign a legally binding agreement not to enlarge the reservoir or change the method of operation in the future and they reserve the right in any event to do anything that is necessary in what they call "emergency situations." With the Corps of Engineers taking this position there is no guaranteed protection for the University of Illinois that Allerton Park will not be flooded at different times. T h e evidence further shows that the Corps of Engineers will not be bound by any of the arrangements made by the parties to the Revised Agreement and will not be bound to maintain an operational plan even if the initial operational plan met all the present requirements of the Memorandum. It is our belief that the recommendations of the latest Harza report (our engineers) have not been met and will not be met in any binding fashion. Unless and until the University can receive from the Corps of Engineers clear and binding assurances that: (1) the project will not result in significantly increased flooding; (2) the project will not adversely affect ecology in the park; (3) the land above the joint-use pool for accommodation of flood control will be