With drought impacting many parts of the country, Chicago's water resources may help draw an influx of population, and bonds will play a role, Chicago Department of Water Management Commissioner Randy Conner said in the keynote address Monday at The Bond Buyer Infrastructure conference.
Funding and the impact of climate change concern him, he said.
Conner detailed funding sources for the city's ambitious multi-billion-dollar lead service line replacement program and explained his plan to expand the city's water footprint.
"Even with limited funding, we have tried to make equity the center of our lead service line programs. All of our lead replacement programs are completely free to homeowners, with one exception, and that would be the homeowner-initiated program, (through) which we waive up to $5,000 in permitting fees," he said.
While it's important to note the funding Chicago received through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Environmental Protection Agency's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans, "they're just a tiny fraction of the billions we estimate it will take to replace lines," Conner said.
The rest of the funding comes from general obligation bonds — the $100 million Chicago got in 2025 "will be completely exhausted by this year's end," he said — Congressional earmarks, state revolving fund dollars, previously issued $661 million of water revenue bonds and $237 million of sewer bonds, community development block grants and pay-go funding.
"All these funding sources have spending constraints," so it's "crucial" to "secure all funding sources available," Conner said, joking that he would sit in a dunk tank to drum up funds.
Chicago has the world's largest municipal water utility and Conner's department, which has a $1.4 billion operating budget and 2.1 billion gallons of water capacity, already serves 42% of Illinois' population, Conner said.
That's only a third of the department's capacity, "which means we do have room for growth and the ability to take on more customers," he said.
Conner has
Joliet and its neighbors turned to Chicago after the aquifer they rely on for water began to run dry.
Conner pointed to the depletion of Joliet's water and the increasing cost to treat it as "laying the groundwork for more" communities to sign water deals with Chicago. He said the pipeline being constructed as part of that deal "will serve as a path to more markets for us in the northern part of the state.
"At a time when other U.S. cities are rationing water usage ... we have the largest body of fresh water in our backyard, and we are already seeing communities face their own challenges with a dependable water source," he said. "Joliet is just the beginning."
But even as the city lays the groundwork for an influx of new water customers, Chicago also
Last month, the county
DuPage's grievances include the terms of the Grand Prairie Water Commission deal, under which Joliet will pay Chicago less than other suburbs are paying.
Conner also spoke about data centers. In August, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson
Conner said, as a utility service provider, data centers present a financial win-win because they have to pay for every gallon of water they use, but "as the commissioner of the Department of Water Management, I don't like them because they want to use fresh water."
He said Chicago has been trying to push back on the idea that data centers need to siphon massive amounts of clean, fresh water.
"We've talked about using some of the water that Metropolitan Water Reclamation District treats" for data centers, Conner said.
Asked by Beth Coolidge, Oppenheimer's head of public finance, what keeps him up at night, Conner said funding and access to commodities are his biggest worries.
"We're finding ourselves in a place where we're paying double and triple for things" compared to four years ago, he said.
Conner also voiced concern about the impact of climate change on Chicago.
"It's still hard to understand the number of people who don't believe that climate change is real," he said. "We have seen Mother's Nature's wrath and the increased number of 100-year storms we have experienced around the city in recent years."
He pointed to a 2023 storm in which Chicago's west side saw 8.96 inches of rain in under nine hours. In a 2024 storm, the west side was soaked with nearly five inches of rain. In July 2025, two consecutive storms brought about six inches of rain to the southwest side. And this summer, Chicago saw more rain in July than it did in the previous six months combined.
Still, Conner is optimistic about Chicago's prospects and the role water will play.
"I predict that in the near future we will see mass amounts of people moving to the Midwest and more specifically Chicago, so they can have access to fresh water," he said.
