More current water measures

[fgregg]

Talk to Illinois EPA to see if there are more up to date measures of water quality available http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/surface-water/program-contacts.html

[derekeder]

related to #11

[derekeder]

Useful info from Maddie at Friends of the Chicago River

I found out that there aren’t any groups that gather real time water quality data on the river, and if there were it would likely be a temporary project. The MWRD does collect data but when there’s not a reason for immediate analysis (CSO) they don’t look at it immediately..it’s used more for averages.

I’ve attached a document created by Friends and our partners (I believe in 2006) called the Urban River Monitoring and Recovery Initiative which you may find interesting. It outlines who in Chicago is doing monitoring work, where they’re doing it, and what they’re monitoring. It’s a couple years old but the background information should be especially helpful.

Something else I wanted to mention, high flow is correlated with CSO’s but high flow can be a helpful parameter for other reasons. For example, flow determines how far North into the headwaters you can travel by boat but in other locations it should be considered a hazard because it masks existing dams, which could easily capsize an unsuspecting kayaker.