Swimming Has Arrived; It Was Just a Matter of Time

Headlines in the Chicago Tribune by Michael Hawthorne trumpeted swimming in May 2011 after USEPA committed that it should be a protected use for most of the Chicago-Calumet River during a protracted case that played out before the Illinois Pollution Control Board starting in 2007.

The victory came on heals of a more than decade long effort to improve water quality championed by Friends of the Chicago River, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Openlands, and Sierra Club Illinois Chapter that called for improved water quality standards for recreation and aquatic wildlife. A June 2000 report by Friends, Openlands and the Civic Federation entitled “Waterways for Our Future” triggered a five year study by Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that led to the hearings. Swimming was a major win.

Not every government agency was onboard immediately, yet in June 2011 the elected commissioners at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago voted 8 to 1 to disinfect effluent discharging to the river upstream of high use recreation areas on the North Shore Channel and Little Calumet River. That massive improvement in water quality set the stage for the Chicago River Swim and safe recreation for the thousands of people who are using the river to paddle, fish, row, jet ski, wade and swim (yes, they do swim) every day.

Today too many people are still surprised about swimming in the Chicago-Calumet River – and while the water is usually safe enough there are many other factors to consider including access, egress, boat traffic, stormwater run-off, proper permission, and more.

In 2024 Friends signed on to the Swimmable Cities Charter, in support of a movement that we believe cannot be stopped and is much needed as we stare down the disaster that is climate change. (Heat is the number one climate killer and rivers can provide a place to cool off.) Friends is working to get Brandon Johnson, the City of Chicago to sign onto Swimmable Cities and our neighboring municipalities too.

Watch for more and check this Outside magazine story out. The time for swimming is now.