Online: From Neglected to Beloved: How Vision, Policy, Data, and Engagement Revived the Chicago-Calumet River System #670

Presenter: Friends of the Chicago River

*This presentation tells the story of how the Chicago-Calumet River system transformed from an overlooked and polluted waterway to the cherished living ecological asset it is today. Starting with the publication of the Chicago Magazine’s 1979 article, “Our Friendless River” and the founding of Friends of the Chicago River through emerging challenges that rivers face today.

Drawing on decades of incremental improvements, the talk highlights how policy modernizations, regulatory innovations, data analysis, storytelling, and visioning worked together to drive measurable improvements in water quality, public access, and habitat. It explores the often-invisible “patient work” behind transformation: aligning agencies, changing public perception, leveraging science, and staying the course through political, economic, and environmental shifts.

Finally, the presentation looks forward, connecting past lessons to future opportunities. It emphasizes the role of continued stewardship in sustaining progress and what it takes to keep a river a living system that supports community well-being and ecological health.