Group proposes regional authority on groundwater

A group with roots in a McHenry County land-use dispute is hoping voters there and in DeKalb and Boone counties will approve the creation of a new governmental entity to regulate the use of groundwater. The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water, or A-LAW, was created by McHenry County residents who earlier this year opposed a county-created long-term land-use plan that they felt was overly favorable to development interests. That plan ultimately was scrapped, according to Robert Perbohner, a director of A-LAW, but the group realized that what was needed was a more permanent entity to protect what it sees as a regional groundwater supply under threat from population growth. The group plans to file petitions on Friday at the DeKalb County