River Professionals Discuss Best Practices for Riverbank Stabilization

Friends of the Chicago River’s Planning Committee convened earlier in May to discuss best practices for river-edge erosion control and ecological management, an urgent topic that addresses emerging river edge challenges that many property owners and agencies are facing due to more frequent and extreme weather events. Proper management of the river edge is crucial to protecting the riparian habitat zone that river wildlife depend on.

Committee members, Ethan Appelgren, landscape designer at Hey & Associates, and Natalie Moore, a senior civil engineer with the Forest Preserves of Cook County, presented on their lessons learned from past riverbank stabilization projects across the region. The techniques discussed included combined soil and rip rap strategies, biodegradable erosion control blankets, and the benefits of installing native aquatic plants like Water willow to address erosion, a technique Friends is currently implementing within our River Shallows Project. The strategies represent creative ways to support river ecology while still providing resiliency from water level changes and high speed flow that erode the river’s banks, but are alternatives to hard concrete and steel river edges that don’t support river habitat. 

“Ways to approach river edge restoration and management are always changing, and as climate change brings new challenges for the river corridor, we aim to stay up to date with the most current techniques so that we can continue to be guide for how to make needed investments that support the long term health of the river system” said Adam Flickinger, Friends’ planning director.

The 19-member Planning Committee is comprised of experts in the fields of design, development, construction, planning, engineering, ecology, and marine recreation who meet quarterly to assist Friends' staff in providing technical guidance for river edge developments and projects. Committee meetings review and discuss opportunities for Friends to continue our advisory role for river edge property owners and developers and zoning policy makers, which has been a focus of our public policy and planning efforts for decades. 

Learn more about the Planning Committee here or reach out to Amy Heldman, Friends' senior planner and GIS manager at aheldman@chicagoriver.org with interest in joining this river advisory group.