River Ruckus: Heavy Rains Wreak Havoc on Waterways

What the heck is going on with the Chicago River? Intense rainstorms have wreaked havoc on all manner of its operations, banks are crumbling and sending bystanders into the drink and there’s more Asian carp fun coming. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Despite the record rains, Thursday morning a tugboat in the Sanitary and Ship Canal was saved from sinking by low water levels after striking an object that ripped the boat open. The Coast Guard did not need to rescue the tug because it was resting in only 12 feet of water (the canal is normally more than 20 feet deep in most places).

• As Chuck reported yesterday, high water levels in the Chicago River kept most of the water taxi and sightseeing boat fleets docked. But in anticipation for storms that rolled through on Thursday night and Friday morning, the Army Corps of Engineers had been lowering water levels in the Chicago Area Waterways system to the point that those same boats were sitting so low in the river that docking was problematic. It would be interesting to find out if the over management of water levels might have unwittingly contributed to the tug and taxi issues.

• Just because they weren’t running yesterday, doesn’t mean that the tour boats haven’t been busy. It seems to have been a crazy month for Wendella’s water taxis which have conducted two rescues on the Chicago river, including a woman who was swept down the river after a section of crumbling concrete river wall gave way while she was taking a smoke break (good luck getting your boss to believe THAT story…).

• Last week we noted new DNA evidence of Asian carp on the South Side. This week, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that they had found more. This is the third consecutive series of tests where evidence of silver carp was found in Lake Calumet, miles past the electric barrier which is supposed to keep the invasive fish at bay. In response state and federal wildlife officials will kick off an intensive four-day fishing and netting operation next week in search of live carp in the area, which is the same portion of the Chicago Waterways where a live Asian carp was captured in 2010.

Whew… All that combined with the previous batch of storms last weekend forcing water regulators to dump millions of gallons of sewage from the river into Lake Michigan makes us wonder if the calls to re-think the river might have some merit.