I’ve already written about the possibility of “re-reversing” the flow of the Chicago river back to its natural flow into Lake Michigan.  My University of Chicago alumni magazine just arrived with the article “Against the current” about a fellow Chicago grad who argues:

“[T]he city should update its sewage-treatmant systems, eliminating the need to send sewage away from the city.  Then Chicago could build permanent barriers to separate its water supply from southern tributaries, like the Mississippi, keeping unwanted fish [e.g., Asian carp] and invasive species from reaching the Great Lakes and solving future water-management problems.”

This is one of these interesting situations where a big fix would with big money could potentially solve three major problems: sewage, drinking water, Asian carp.  It’s like a complete remodel, rather than doing a few fix-it jobs.  While the arguments for this complete remodel of Chicago’s water system are strong, I’m not convinced the current economics allow for the politics to make this happen.

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