You’ve gotta be kidding me! Un-Reversing the Chicago River

Holy Carp!

Scientists and Engineers are taking on a task worthy of Moses.  The environmental community is urging a permanent solution to stopping Asian carp’s lakeward migration toward the Great Lakes, and environmentalists and a growing chorus of lawmakers are pushing to physically separate the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes.

No, this is not a Summer Hollywood Epic Film.

WBEZ91.5 – Gabriel Spitzer - July 13, 2011- Back in the 19th century, Chicago had a problem: Its river went the wrong way, washing sewage into its drinking water supply in Lake Michigan, spreading diseases like cholera and dysentery. The solution sounded crazy: turn the river around. But that’s just what Chicago did, and it’s been patting itself on the back for it ever since.

"Hey Charlie, if they seperate the two water basins,
we're going to have to hire a charter boat to get to
the Great Lakes. How much cash do you have?"

Now the menace isn’t waterborne disease, but invasive species. Unwelcome critters, plants and microbes are the price of connecting two great waterways that had always been separate, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

The new threat has civic leaders considering a fix that seems almost as audacious as reversing the river: un-reversing the river. To Read More

Hero on the Frontlines, David Ullrich, a career EPA official.
Keep up the good work!