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INTERA Incorporated <br /> N TE 101 West Kirkwood Avenue,Suite 134 <br /> Bloomington, Indiana 47404 USA <br /> GEOSCIENCE E ENGINEERING SOLU—IONS 812.676.9984 <br /> October 4, 2023 <br /> Mr.Scot Wrighton <br /> Decatur City Manager <br /> 1 Gary K.Anderson Plaza <br /> Decatur, IL 62523 <br /> RE: Property purchase in DeWitt County <br /> Dear Mr.Wrighton, <br /> This letter is to support the City's purchase of available property located with access to the Mahomet <br /> aquifer in DeWitt County.Over the last five years,our firm has been involved in water supply planning <br /> for Decatur with a particular focus on increasing the City's water supply resiliency in the face of drought. <br /> As part of our work,we made several recommendations that built on the City's current portfolio of <br /> water supply alternatives. <br /> Since our 2019 report to the City, some of the recommendations have been implemented or are <br /> ongoing.This includes improvements to the City-owned and operated DeWitt County wellfield. The <br /> wellfield is situated six miles north of Argenta on approximately 120 acres where eight wells produce <br /> water from the regional Mahomet Aquifer.The wellfield has been used as an emergency supply six <br /> times since its construction in the early 1990's and has been the backbone of the City's drought relief <br /> response, providing an estimated 500—600 million gallons of water to the lake during the 2012 drought. <br /> We believe expanded use of wells in the Mahomet aquifer advances the City's efforts to promote supply <br /> diversity.Acquisition of additional property situated over significant thickness of the aquifer and within <br /> a few miles of the existing wellfield makes economic and hydrologic sense. <br /> This approach to increasing the resilience of the water supply is a critical strategy for a more sustainable <br /> long-term supply. <br /> Sincerely, <br /> INTERA Incorporated <br /> Jack Wittman <br /> Vice President, Water—Eastern US <br /> California I Colorado I Florida I Hawaii I Indiana I New Mexico I Texas I Washington I France I Switzerland <br />