(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Some strategies to offset climate change can be found in a developing feature along the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River.
It’s known as “The Wild Mile,” but the work-in-progress falls short of 5,280 feet. Still, the impressive first phase of the eco-park across from Goose Island features floating boardwalks, docks for kayakers and -- perhaps most importantly -- floating “hydropots” of vegetation that link the river with the world above and provide for fish, bugs and birds.
“It’s our flagship project,” says Phil Nicodemus, director of research for the Urban Rivers environmental non-profit that is shepherding the project. He spoke with Looped In: Chicago for the podcast’s latest episode. “That is something that we are using as a demonstration of how you would take this whole canal, this whole old industrial space, and do the whole thing.”
If there is a potential lesson in how the Wild Mile may help humans grappling with climate change, Nicodemus says it’s an example of how human engineering can help cushion extremes like drought and flooding.
“This technology, this strategy, is based on smoothing out those extremes. You know, we’re going to give these plants a stable platform that they’re always going to be able to grow from,” Nicodemus explained. “We’re creating these kinds of reservoirs that not only could kind of ride that stuff out, but also when everything is said and done, there’s a seed coming out from these things.
“They can go out and repopulate.”
The latest episode of Looped In: Chicago looks at how Illinois may fare in future years as greenhouse gases affect nature and water supplies.
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