Comparison of decision making and administrative organization for municipal water supplies in medium-sized and small Illinois municipalities

Abstract

The study was designed to provide information on the decision making and organizational characteristics of municipally owned water systems in small and medium-sized Illinois municipalities, and to relate these characteristics to municipal as well as other water system characteristics. Data on the municipal water systems of 228 Illinois incorporated municipalities were gathered through mail and telephone surveys, as well as from secondary sources. The municipalities were chosen as part of a 50-percent sample, stratified by size, of all incorporated municipalities in Illinois with populations between 1,000 and 50,000. In addition to selected descriptive information on the water systems, the data are reported under water system decision making; planning and financial management; and technical management. Attempts to determine the relationships between the dependent variables and municipal and water system characteristics indicated a general weakness or absence of such relationships. While the quality of the data cannot be ruled out with certainty as the reason for the absence of the relationships, it is suggested that the relative lack of active interest on the part of municipalities in their water systems may account for the findings. The historical absence of the necessity to actively manage the water system other than in a routine fashion may have left these water systems quite unprepared to meet future sudden challenges.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe