Calumet River
Calumet River | |
---|---|
Chicago Skyway traversing it | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Confluence of the Little Calumet and the Grand Calumet, Chicago |
• coordinates | 41°38′38″N 87°33′39″W / 41.6438889°N 87.5608333°W |
• elevation | 581 ft (177 m) |
Gulf of Saint Lawrence | |
GNIS ID | 405379 |
The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the former flowing west from Indiana into Illinois, then turning back east to its mouth at Lake Michigan at Marquette Park in Gary.[1] Now the system is part of the Chicago Area Waterway System and through the use of locks flows away from Lake Michigan to the Cal-Sag Channel.
Background
The name "Calumet" is from the French colonial name for a particular type of
Before human alteration, water flowed westward from LaPorte County, Indiana, along the Little Calumet River, made a hairpin turn at Blue Island, and flowed east along the Grand Calumet into Lake Michigan at the Miller Beach community of Gary, Indiana.[1] The area is extremely flat and the course and even the direction of the river system has changed repeatedly. The low gradient gives the river only a very small current.
Industrial development in the Calumet River area began around the 1870s, and by 1890 the western reach of the Grand Calumet River was heavily polluted with the waste of
In September 2008, areas of Lake and Porter County, Indiana, were declared national disaster areas. The Little Calumet River breached its levee and flooded portions of the towns of Munster and Highland, Indiana. In September 2019, Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal notified Indiana officials of a toxic spill from its Burns Harbor steel mill had spilled into a branch of the Little Calumet River, resulting in short-term closures of three Lake Michigan beaches.[4]
Segments of the Calumet River system
Calumet River
The Calumet River, on the south side of Chicago, originally simply drained Lake Calumet to Lake Michigan. A canal extending it, legendarily claimed to have been created by voyageurs at the site of a frequent portage, was dug connecting the two Calumet Rivers at the point where the name now changes from Grand to Little.
The T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam was installed across the river in 1960 to control the movement of water between Lake Michigan and the river.[5]
Grand Calumet River
The Grand Calumet River, originating in Miller Beach, flows 16.0 miles (25.7 km)[6] through the cities of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, as well as Calumet City and Burnham on the Illinois side. The majority of the river's flow drains into Lake Michigan via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, sending about 1,500 cubic feet (42 m3) per second of water into the lake. Today, a large portion of the river's flow originates as municipal and industrial effluent, cooling and process water and storm water overflows. Although discharges have been reduced, a number of contaminants continue to impair the area.
Little Calumet River
The
East of the Burns Ditch the river is called the East Arm Little Calumet River, west of the Burns ditch it is named Little Calumet River. The Little Calumet River flows through or borders the towns of Portage, Lake Station, Gary, Highland, Griffith, Munster, and Hammond, then through South Holland, Dolton, Lansing, Calumet City, Harvey, Riverdale, Phoenix, Dixmoor, Burnham, and Blue Island in Illinois, connecting to the Cal-Sag Channel and at the junction of the Grand Calumet River and Calumet River. This arm of the river is 41 miles (66 km) long.[6]
The Little Calumet has 109 miles (175 km) of river and tributaries and drains 213 square miles (550 km2).
The
Until sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, the Little Calumet River was heavily polluted with sewage, and the only fish living in the river were carp. During heavy spring rains, the river would often flood areas adjacent to the river.
The Little Calumet River has been undergoing construction of a $200 million flood control and recreation project by the Chicago District of the
Cal-Sag Channel
The Cal-Sag Channel (short for "Calumet-Saganashkee Channel") is a navigation
The Cal-Sag Channel serves barge traffic in what was an active zone of heavy industry in the far southern neighborhoods of the city of Chicago and adjacent suburbs. As of 2006 it was also used more as a conduit for wastewater from southern Cook County, including the Chicago-area Deep Tunnel Project, into the Illinois Waterway. It is also used by pleasure crafts in the summer time.
The western 4.5 miles (7.3 km) of the channel flow through the Palos Forest Preserves, a collection of protected County Forest Preserves operated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
The Cal-Sag Channel served as the rowing venue for the 1959 Pan American Games.[12]
When it is completed, the Calumet-Sag Trail, a 26-miles-long (41 km) greenway, will border the channel and will stretch from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Burnham Greenway.
See also
- Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal
- Lake Calumet
- List of Illinois rivers
- List of Indiana rivers
References
- ^ a b c Little Calumet River Watershed Management Plan (PDF) (Report). Indiana Department of Environmental Management. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
- ^ "Definition of CALUMET". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Project Management Plan Archived 2007-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hawthorne, Michael (16 August 2019). "Toxic spill from northwest Indiana steel mill kills fish, forces closure of Lake Michigan beaches". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Thomas J. O’Brien Lock & Dam. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 19, 2011
- ^ a b State of Indiana Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Environmental Assessment (PDF) (Report). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. September 2007. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Little Calumet River
- ^ Our Community & Flooding – Federal Programs Archived 2006-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: East Arm Little Calumet River
- ^ USACE Chicago Dist – Little Calumet River Home Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ProQuest 182386533.