Daley Praises Water Conservation and Sustainability

Athletes need fresh water. Chicago has cold waters of Lake Michigan and the strategically engineered Chicago River to quench their thirst. Seems like a perfect fit, right? Unfortunately the management of fresh water supply for Chicago residents is more complicated than my rudimentary illustration of supply and demand.

Mayor Daley discussed management of water resources today with a group of wastewater utility professionals and academics at the Water Environment Federation convention. ChiTownDaily’s Jennifer Slosar offers a complete synopsis of Daley’s remarks, which focused on Chicago’s network of “green infrastructure” programs dedicated to reducing water consumption. “Green infrastructure” initiatives include diverse solutions such as permeable pavers, rain gardens, rain barrels, green roofs, and bioswales.

An example of the “green infrastructure” recently helped a church remain flood-free during the largest Chicago rainfall in 100 years. St. Margaret Mary - a church located on the far North Side - habitually suffered from flood damage until connecting with the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) to construct a bioswale and two rain gardens. Bioswales are drainage ditches with sloping sides designed to remove silt, pollution, and runoff water from non-permeable surfaces such as parking lots. The bioswale and rain gardens combined helped divert rain water to areas covered with soil instead of overflowing sewers. For more information on the St. Margaret Mary project, visit the CNT project page.