It's #DrinkingWaterWeek! We invite you to get to know your drinking water source, Lake Springfield and its watershed. A man-made reservoir, the lake has 57 miles of shoreline and is the largest municipally-owned lake in Illinois. It's watershed is 265-square miles and is comprised of drainage areas from Lick and Sugar Creeks and their tributaries and runoff water comes from as far west as Waverly and as far south as Virden. Given the agricultural nature of the watershed, the lake is very much influenced by the soils, land uses, and human activity occurring within the watershed.
For the past 40 years, CWLP and a broad coalition of land partners and local agencies, have invested millions of dollars and been working to improve and protect Lake Springfield and its watershed. Over the years Lake Springfield has undergone extensive monitoring and restoration, including the dredging of part of the upper reaches of the lake, bathymetric and land surveys, and watershed management projects all to help protect the source. Over $9 million has been spent in agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) and shoreline work since 1982.
CWLP’s Land & Water Resources Division, the driver of these efforts, continues to partner with the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office, the Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to implement watershed management and soil conversation practice through IEPA 319 grants, NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grants and CWLP Water Division funding.
Last year the division accomplished and maintained a number of projects including providing matches to new city sewer installations, 2,000 feet of shoreline stabilization, and various projects throughout Sangamon County for cover crops, grass waterways and rock-lined waterways as BMPs to reduce sediment and nutrient loading, including nitrogen and phosphorus from entering the tributaries of Lake Springfield.
Over the next two years, CWLP’s Land & Water Resources Division plans to focus on more BMPs and structural improvements, including a new initiative with The Wetlands Initiative to convert two farmland areas back to wetland to trap nutrients and sediment with RCPP funding. In addition, another 2,500 feet of shoreline stabilization is planned, along with supporting matches to new city sewer installations around the lake along Island View Lane , N. Cottonhill and Bayridge Lane. Beyond these projects the next major work for Lake Springfield and its Water Division, lies in the near years ahead for dredging the basin as last accomplished 1987 to 1989 when over 652 million gallons of capacity was restored.
For its development and implementation of exemplary source water protection programs, in April 2025 CWLP was presented the Illinois Section of American Water Works Association’s 2025 Source Water Protection Award along with the Water Ambassador Award for outreach and education efforts.
(Pictured L to R: Melissa Olenick, ISAWWA Chair; Quentin Jordan, CWLP; Mary McGrath, CWLP; Dan Brill, CWLP; Todd LaFountain, CWLP; Heather Collins, AWWA Incoming President. Photo Credit: Timmy Samuel/Starbelly Studios)
