Current Highlights
Chicago River Blue 2012 Call for Entries! Submit your application for the 2012 Blue Ribbon Awards today.
US Army Corps Releases Draft AIS Study
On December 7, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a baseline assessment of cargo traffic on the Chicago Area Waterways System (CAWS), as part of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) which is looking for solutions that will end the spread of aquatic invasive species including Asian carp.
The assessment presents commodity traffic data on how it moves into the CAWS, through the CAWS and within the CAWS; how it moves through the lock system; historic traffic trends; and identifies product consumers and how products are typically used and how they generally move through the system.
The Corps will host a conference call on January 5 at 10 a.m. (CST) for interested parties to ask questions on the Cargo Assessment. Call in information is: USA Toll-Free: 877-336-1839, Access Code: 8506361
The report is available on the GLMRIS website at www.glmris.anl.gov.
Make Your New Year Blue
Thanks to thousands of river enthusiasts like you, Friends of the Chicago River has been at the forefront of the river’s recovery and renaissance since 1979 and as a result the river is becoming healthier and more accessible every day. If YOU haven’t joined as a member yet to help, please consider a gift to help keep our river blue.
• $250 underwrites a two-hour field trip for Chicago area school children on an unforgettable voyage of discovery
• $100 covers vital supplies for those kids, such as an aquatic net or pair of hip waders so they can right in the river
• $35 purchases 30 Prairie Blazing Star plants for a rain garden which will help increase biodiversity and reduce flooding
Please join in and help us today!
Feds Step in Again for a Clean Chicago River
In December US EPA released a proposed consent decree that addresses improvements that need to be undertaken by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to ensure that the Chicago River will continue to grow as a real recreational, natural, and economic asset for our region.
While we are disappointed by some of the provisions in the proposed decree and wish it went further, we look forward to moving closer to the end of combined sewer overflows (the discharge of untreated sewage mixed with rainwater) into the river and the disinfection of waste water treatment plant effluent.
Stopping flooding and combined sewer overflows, whether it is in a consent decree or not, must be a priority. Finishing Deep Tunnel (TARP) and implementing major green infrastructure projects as fast as possible must be a priority.
Finally, we commend the new leadership at the MWRD for their clearly stated intentions to confront many of these issues that have plagued the Chicago River for decades. Friends looks forward to continued collaboration with the MWRD.
Click here for more information on the consent decree.
Also, learn more about Friends’ efforts to improve the river here.
A Few New and Good Books
Friends of the Chicago River has been at the forefront of the river’s recovery and renaissance since 1979 and our success is everybody’s. Over the years we have worked in partnership with government, community, nonprofits and even school children and the net result is a Chicago River that is finally being recognized as the natural, recreational, and economic asset to our region that Friends’ founders saw so long ago.
As the river’s potential is discovered, new voices are chiming in, adding depth and knowledge to what is possible for the river’s future. This fall and into the future new books and other resources are becoming available. Friends encourages our members and partners to take advantage of these wonderful new voices that add strength to ours.
Thank You Beelzebub 2011!
Friends is incredibly grateful to David Rosen, The Competence Group, and Thaddeus Wong, @Properties, for the Halloween extravaganza that is Beelzebub.
With guests dancing until dawn and wild performances by Collaboraction, Beelzebub has fast become the city’s hottest Halloween party and has raised well over $125,000 for Friends of the Chicago River and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.
This year well over 1,300 costumed revelers attended the exclusive, invitation-only event and Beelzebub’s generous sponsors underwrote all event expenses, so that 100% of money raised can goes to support our efforts to improve and protect the Chicago River.
Warm thanks to David and Thad. Be bad. Do good.
Action Plan for the Chicago River
Getting Specific: Strategies for a cleaner, more vibrant Chicago River
The report outlines the future needs of the Chicago River and offers recommendations for river improvement. It is the culmination of over 50 subject-area experts who participated in one of six charrettes and is now available here. (3MB PDF)
In addition, Friends’ Chicago River Matrix (88K PDF), which outlines public access, water quality, aquatic habitat, riverbank habitat, riverbank naturalization and land protection for each stretch of the river, is also available.
See the Chicago River in the News
The Chicago River has been in the news once again with a call to action from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who promises river improvements and four new boat houses that will bring more people to the water. The Chicago Sun-Times and CNN International also highlighted the river this week, celebrating its future as a real recreational, natural, and economic treasure.
Victory is Ours
In November 2011, US EPA approved the new recreational use standards for the Chicago and Calumet rivers, the final step in Friends over-11-year effort to improve water quality for the people who use the river.
Thank you to everyone who called, wrote, emailed, and spoke with the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) over the last three years. In August, they approved the rule for new and improved recreational use standards and incorporated US EPA’s call for swimming standards in many reaches of our river system. This great news means that thousands of people will be protected in and on the water at last.
This follows closely on the heals of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Commissioners’ vote for sewage effluent disinfection at their Northside and Calumet plants which means we are well on our way to a cleaner river.
This new approval is only one section of a four docket rule making before the IPCB for the Chicago River system. The final deadline for comments to the Illinois Pollution Control Board on sewage effluent disinfection are due November 10. Find out more about that and what we need to do to protect fish at Clean Water and Healthy Fish.
Get Your Group on the River Next Summer
Experience the beautiful fall in Chicago through a river outing with Friends. Call now and we can tailor a restoration day in the woods for you and your friends, families, or co-workers. Our wonderful one-day restoration days give everyone a chance to be a part of the river’s renewal.
Contact Meshawn Ayala for a work day next spring, summer and fall.
Discover the Chicago River from Your Window
Learn about boats, barges, bridges and wildlife through Friends’ illustrated river guide: The Chicago River from Your Window. A complete river enthusiast’s source, the river guide has detailed illustrations of local wildlife and fish, photos of boats and details of bridges. Buy a copy now to learn more about the Chicago River.
Friends’ Offices
Friends’ address is:
28 East Jackson, Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60604-2272
(312) 939-0490
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