Another newly swimmable city river: Chicago

Add the Chicago River to the list of newly swimmable big-city waterways.

The city held the first organized swim last month in the once forbiddingly toxic river since 1925. The river was so heavily dredged, steel-encased, and choked with sewage and other waste that, by the 1970s, only five species of fish remained. 

Cue the Clean Water Act of 1972.

One sign of health now is that the species count is up to 77. Snapping turtles are bigger and fatter than in generations. Beavers and muskrats have reappeared. Bald Eagles and osprey hunt there now.

The Chicago River joins of growing list of newly swimmable urban rivers: The Seine in Paris, the Charles in Boston, the Hudson in New York, the Potomac in Washington, the Cuyahoga in Cleveland, the Amstel in Amsterdam, a Rhine tributary in Rotterdam, and harbors in Copenhagen and Oslo.

In most cases, the “open to swimming” sign is still somewhat limited to certain spots and sometimes special events, but it reflects dramatic change in health of the rivers.

Sources: Inside Climate News, The New York Times