Chicago River Waterway System: Its Dynamic Future

The Chicago River Waterway System stretches from Burns Harbor, Grand Calumet River, Little Calumet River, the Cal-Sag Channel and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the south through the Des Plaines River, Bubbly Creek and the South Branch of the Chicago River, past Wolf Point and down the Main Branch of the Chicago River to Lake Michigan. It also winds northward along the North Branch of the Chicago River past Foster Avenue all the way up to Winnetka and the North Shore Channel near the Bahai Temple. Much has happened to the Chicago River since Steve Dahlman and I wrote the book "Chicago's River At Work and At Play" in 2014, including the expansion of the Riverwalk and the opening of several restaurants along that structure and the river. Then, there has been much new architectural construction that has changed the scenery on the river from Ping Tom Park in Chinatown on the city's South Side, the introduction by Urban Rivers of new and innovative ways to protect plant and animal life, the ever-growing popularity of the river cruises that have made Chicago one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and the excellent work done to protect the river by Friends of the Chicago River and Openlands. The future development and innovation of ways to protect the river and Lake Michigan are essentially unlimited as long as we continue to focus on saving one of the city's greatest natural resources.