Join the community in celebrating our past, present, and future by
Redefining the Chicago Sanitary
and Ship Canal
Why redefine the canal?
More than a century after the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was opened to reverse the flow of the Chicago River away from Lake Michigan, the 28-mile waterway is ready to be redefined to more broadly support human, ecological, and economic health.
Already the Canal is teeming with life thanks to action, advocacy, and massive investments in infrastructure which have improved water quality, reduced sewage and pollution, and opened the waterway and the lands along it to new uses. A healthier balance between nature and industry exists more today than at any other point in its history. Opportunity abounds.
Redefining the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal would accurately reflect and celebrate its improved health and showcase its natural, economic, and cultural value as a hugely important part of the larger Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Area. Even the current canal name refers to a bygone era when the river system was damaged and polluted. The time for change is now.
The story from the start
A brief history of the waterway
Long before Native American tribes settled the region we call home, a natural portage linking the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River was formed surrounded by an abundance of prairie, forest, wetland, river, and lake ecosystems.
This portage made transit between the great watersheds of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River easier for the Indigenous peoples who lived here for millennia, and for the settlers and city builders who came later. The development of the Illinois & Michigan Canal in the mid 19th century inspired the explosive growth of Chicago. The city's rapid development resulted in the heavy pollution of the river and Lake Michigan, the city's source of drinking water.
Some of the best engineering minds of their day devised a plan to reverse the river's flow to eliminate the lake's continued contamination. The plan involved building an upgraded replacement for the I&M Canal. After years of herculean effort, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was completed in January 1900 and has been in continuous operation ever since.
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Cook County, DuPage County, Will County, and municipalities from Chicago to Lemont to Lockport continue to invest millions in riverfront amenities and growing their riverfront economies, contributing to improving community and environmental health.
Public and private businesses in the logistics, materials, industrials, recreation, and other industries contribute to the area's economic success while taking proactive steps to act as stewards of the canal and surrounding ecosystems.
Our goal is to gather the voices of the Canal community to redefine the future of the Canal through a discovery process that will build momentum and broader understanding of the value of the waterway, and lead to investments in public health, conservation, cultural resources, economic strength, climate resilience, and a new name. A new name would more accurately reflect and celebrate the Canal's improved health and its place in our collective history--and bright future.
About Us
We are a group of nonprofits, governments, elected officials, businesses, and engaged citizens with a shared goal of celebrating the cultural and industrial history of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal by redefining the canal and modernizing its name to reflect where we have come from, and where we are going.