Most Cook County water utilities draw from Lake Michigan under Illinois Department of Natural Resources allocation permits, which require demand-management ordinances limiting lawn watering, typically odd-even day rules and bans during peak afternoon hours.
Illinois Lake Michigan Water Allocation rules (IDNR Office of Water Resources, 17 Ill. Adm. Code 3730) cap each suburb's withdrawal and require demand-management programs as a condition of allocation. Standard rules include odd-even-day lawn sprinkling, no watering between noon and 6 p.m., metering, and leak repair mandates. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District handles wastewater, not supply. Non-Lake Michigan suburbs draw from groundwater or join the Northwest Water Commission and DuPage Water Commission. Drought-stage triggers and per-capita reduction targets are set in each utility's allocation permit and enforced through municipal ordinances with escalating fines.
Watering on the wrong day, during banned afternoon hours, or with unrepaired leaks triggers municipal warnings followed by fines that escalate from $50 to several hundred dollars per offense and possible water-service restrictions in drought stages.
See how Evanston's lawn watering restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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