A study presented to the Springfield City Council Tuesday indicates gravel pits near the Sangamon River won't be a viable alternate water source during a time of severe drought.
This spring the city hired engineers to determine if it could draw from pits east of town without sucking dry wells in neighboring communities, including Riverton and Dawson.
Mayor Mike Houston says the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency need the city to rule out the gravel pits before it can seriously consider constructing a second lake - something that's been talked about for decades:
"What we have is a need for an alternative water supply, and we have to come up with an alternative water supply. If the gravel pits are not going to fulfill that, then we need to eliminate it [as an option] and move on to something else."
Springfield's water division will now forward results of the study to the federal government.
Listen here to an archived interview for more information on this issue:
