FORMED THE LAND ON WHICH WE LIVE
BUILDING A CITY AND CHANGING THE
LAND REQUIRED NEW DRAINAGE
HOW THE RIVER WAS REVERSED
Pattern of rivers parallel to the
lake shoreline shows the
influence of the moraines laid
down as the lake receded. This
continues south and east around
the southern end of Lake
Michigan.
The density of streams is more
pronounced where the land
surface has more variation. The
vast Chicago lake plain is lacking
a network of streams, indicating
the predominance of broad
floodplains, wetlands and
marshes.
This ecology has been lost due
to land development.
Eleven million people now
live in the watershed of the
four states around the
southern end of Lake
Michigan, impacting the
watershed as well as the
lake. Half of this population
lives in northeast Illinois
and almost all of the
stormwater and treated
wastewater from northeast
Illinois is diverted away
from Lake Michigan,
lessening the adverse
impact on the lake.
South Branch of the Chicago River
PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
 Des Plaines River floods passing through Chicago
to Lake Michigan
 Sewers discharging to the river and lake polluting
the water supply
 Disgusting and smelly nuisance river
 Citizens’ Association
 City Commission on Drainage and Water Supply
 The Act of 1889
SANITARY DISTRICT OF CHICAGO
 Referendum on November 5, 1889
 Shall the Sanitary District of Chicago be created
to build a canal to reverse the flow in the Chicago
River to protect Lake Michigan
 Vote: Yes, 70,958; No, 242
Steam Shovel Excavating the Canal
Dynamite Blast to Break Up the Bedrock
Chicago Area Waterway System
Protects Lake Michigan
Copyright 2012
Hardcover
Softcover
EBook
386 pages
16 maps
180 photographs
Self published
Xlibris.com
AND NOW LAKE DANCE!
Polluted River Flowing to Lake Michigan
Blasting the Bedrock to Dig the Canal
Steam Shovel Digging the Canal