Water Use Reporting | IWIP

Agricultural, commercial, industrial, and public water sectors that use high-capacity wells in Illinois are required to report their water withdrawal rates annually to the Illinois Water Inventory Program (IWIP) according to Public Act 096-0222. This information is essential for ISWS scientists and national, state, and local agencies and organizations to estimate future water supply and demand.

Registration and Annual Reporting

Agricultural Irrigation Facility Reporting

Crop irrigation facility operators should review IWIP’s irrigation reporting information for:

• Details on how to register an agricultural irrigation facility in IWIP
• Instructions for reporting water use information
• Help with calculating annual gallons of water withdrawals

Refer to IWIP’s irrigation handbook for forms and guidance on recordkeeping, calculating, and reporting irrigation water use.

Industrial-Commercial and Public Water Supply Facilities Reporting

Industrial/commercial and public water supply facilities will receive a postcard notification in early February with instructions on how to report the previous year’s water use and withdrawal data. Note that golf courses and nurseries are considered industrial/commercial facilities, not agricultural irrigation facilities.

Lake Michigan Ordinance (LMO-2 Recipients)

Facilities that have a Lake Michigan allocation are required to submit a form (LMO-2) to the Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Water Resources in Chicago. LMO facilities must still report water use Information to IWIP; however, these facilities may report water use on the previous federal water year, which runs from October 1 through September 30.

IWIP Data

Established in 1978, IWIP aims to centralize Illinois’ diverse array of water quantity information by developing and maintaining a database of the state’s high-capacity water wells and intakes. IWIP’s database currently contains over 16,000 active and inactive high-capacity withdrawal point sources from more than 5,600 facilities across Illinois.

For each facility inventoried, IWIP’s database includes locations and amounts of water withdrawn from surface and groundwater sources, as well as significant amounts purchased from other facilities. Data can be summarized geographically by county, township, and drainage basin, as well as by various water-use and water-source categories, for inclusion in USGS National Water Use Program publications. 

Using and Requesting IWIP Data

Organizations such as the U.S. Geological Survey, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning use IWIP data in water use estimates, in computing Lake Michigan diversions, in simulations that determine who would be affected by a dam failure, and to better understand water distributions in Chicago.

Learn more about IWIP data, how it is used, and how to request it.

Questions?

Check out IWIP’s frequently asked questions first; you may find the information you’re looking for there.

If you need additional assistance completing any part of the form or determining the amount of water your facility purchases or withdraws, please contact the IWIP office at 217-333-0239 or email us.

For more specific requests, contact:

• Cora Wessman, IWIP coordinator, 217-333-5838 | cwessm3@illinois.edu
• Gustava Curtin, ISWS academic research assistant | ghoskins@illinois.edu