Overflow Action Month kicked off with a bang and some great media coverage which resulted an estimated 498,832 audience impressions and prompted new members and old friends to sign up for Overflow Action Alerts and to take the pledge.

Today U.S. Senator Dick Durbin; U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky; Mariyana Spyropoulos, President, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; and Mike Borgstrom, President, Wendella joined Friends in announcing that April is Overflow Action Month to engage people across the watershed in 30 days of action and awareness that will conserve and protect clean, fresh water--which is one of our most valuable assets--and reduce the chance that sewage and stormwater pollution will reach the river.

Babbling brooks don't just sound good, they are good and a sign of life because the babble is often really the sound of water flowing quickly over rocks which bounces it around and adds oxygen. Known as a riffle these reaches, which can be as little as an inch deep, also provide protection from predators, food depostion, and shelter.

With the river healthier than it has been in over a century, it's time to rethink dyeing it.

In honor of World Water Day, CBS2 News joined us at McCook Reservoir to kick off Overflow Action Month. 

On March 9, 2017, Friends invited water quality experts, policy advocates, and urban swimming champions from around the country to discuss swimming in our river system. The sold-out Chicago River Summit, entitled "Swimming the Distance: How Do We Get from Here to There," encouraged attendees to understand how we can make swimming a reality.

Decades of water quality advancements have made swimming in the Chicago River a very real possibility. Learn more about our efforts to improve the river system as we prepare for the 11th Chicago River Summit, "Swimming the Distance"

The Chicago River system is much cleaner due to investment in clean water infrastructure and the Clean Water Act.  However, an overload of phosphorus and other nutrients from wastewater plants continues to pollute these waters. Today, Friends of the Chicago River and other partners reached a milestone collaborative resolution with the MWRD regarding phosphorus discharge from its water reclamation plants. 

Friends' public outreach activities in the Chicago River watershed recently earned an award from the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission.

Recently, several industry magazines highlighted the new partnership between the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Sloan Valve Company.