Don’t jump in yet but after more than a decade of advocacy, Friends is thrilled that starting today sewage effluent disinfection is online at the MWRD’s Calumet wastewater treatment plant to remove disease causing bacteria from its discharge.

“This is a historic moment for the Chicago/Calumet River System and one of the most significant water quality improvements in decades,” said Margaret Frisbie, Friends’ executive director, at this morning’s press conference with the MWRD and Senator Dick Durbin. “It will make the river safer for recreators and moves us closer to our ultimate goal of a river clean enough for swimming.”

The Chicago Reader got on board with the Chicago Riverwalk this summer and highlights how far we have come and how far we have to go when it comes to the Chicago River. Check it out.

The opening of the long awaited Chicago Riverwalk made headlines with a press conconference hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel with retired U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, and Friends' executive director, Margaret Frisbie.

Friends' of the Chicago River was thrilled to join Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual for the grand opening of the Phase 2 Chicago Riverwalk. Friends' founders called for a continous Chicago River trail when we were founded in 1979 and this charamatic section is key to the concept. 

Just weeks after the US Army Corps of Engineers received hundreds of public comments in support of a 44 acre ecosystem restoration project at Bubbly Creek, they pulled the plug because of a perceived conflict with a potential remediation project happening nearby.

The South Branch and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are ripe with potential and the "Chicago Life" reporter Christopher Johnson from the New York Times/Wall Street Journal worked with Friends to discover how in On the Environment.

The Chicago Riverwalk is a new sensation and the Chicago Architecture Foundation invited Friends' executive director, Margaret Frisbie, to join Riverwalk architect, Carol Ross Barney, and city planner, Benet Haller, to speak about its role and evolution.

Friends' 10th annual Big Fish Ball was a smash success with hundreds of river-enthusiastic civic leaders enjoying fancy drinks, river animals, bat cave, delicious dinner, and an afterparty river cruise along the river at the Merchandise Mart on Riverside Drive.

Watch for beautiful blue lights illuminating Chicago buildings this month in honor of the 10th anniversary of Friends' Big Fish Ball. This gala event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for river improvements and created a network of river advocates who are Chicagoland's corporate leaders. 

June 1 kicked off Friends' summer lunchtime lecture series, Understanding the New Chicago River, taking place Mondays at our Bridgehouse Museum. Highlighting how much healthier and more accessible the river is now than it was a few decades ago, topics include river wildlife, water quality, river-edge parks and recreation and what's new with Asian carp.