Concern over water service affordability has grown in recent years as water bills escalate at a faster pace than the overall cost-of-living.While the cost of water has been rising over the past decade, the ability of consumers to pay for water service has declined. This review examines the definition and measurement of water affordability through a chronological search and presentation of the regulatory and research literature. Results will be used to determine a method for measuring water affordability for the northeastern Illinois region.

This document provides a review of policies and programs addressing water bill affordability issues and equitable access to water. Five broad strategies are discussed, including: cost reduction, water efficiency, rate design, customer assistance programs, and hard to reach programs. For each solution, a definition, implementation considerations, examples, and potential recommendations are provided. More extensive case studies from a handful of water systems and a brief summary of the literature reviewed is also included. Results will be used to inform a community water affordability technical assistance program.

This product is a guide to selecting low-input turfgrass in the northeastern Illinois region.

The original brochure is available from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/296668/FY19-0072_BEYOND_BLUEGRASS_BROCHURE.pdf/80239944-7a22-0b71-8e62-2aff006aef41).

This brochure details information about the problems caused by unwanted medicine in the home and environment, and provides helpful information for how to minimize the risks it poses.

A printer friendly alternate version is available at https://iiseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Unwanted-Meds_Brochure_Print_Friendly.pdf.

This is a fact-sheet designed to educate community members about the value and utility of unwanted medicine disposal programs.

This table provides a review of the current contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) literature base. This resource provides an overview of the different categories of CECs (e.g., pharmaceuticals, microplastics, pesticides, etc.), examples of chemicals found within those categories, where various CECs have been detected, and the health effects found in both environmental and lab-controlled studies. This information is supported by an extensive list of peer reviewed publications.