A canal built for Chicago industry is becoming a testing ground for floating habitat.
The Wild Mile is a floating eco-park along the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River, where native plants, aquatic habitat and public access are being built directly into a waterway engineered for industry nearly 170 years ago.
The canal was completed in 1857, creating more waterfront for factories and shipping around Goose Island. Its hardened edges helped support Chicago’s industrial growth, but left little of the kind of shoreline habitat that supports fish, birds, insects and other wildlife.
Now the nonprofit Urban Rivers and its partners are taking a different approach: floating wetlands planted with native vegetation. Above the water, the plants provide habitat for birds and pollinators. Below it, submerged roots create structure and refuge for aquatic life while also contributing to nutrient uptake and ecological function in a highly altered urban river.
The project also puts people back at the water’s edge, with floating walkways, kayak access, environmental education and space for research and recreation.
About 700 feet have been built so far, with a long-term vision for a mile-long, 17-acre floating eco-park.
The Wild Mile is a Chicago experiment with implications far beyond Chicago: designing habitat and public space back into urban waterways built for a very different era.
This waterloop report is sponsored by the Boeh Agency (Bā), a full-service marketing agency built exclusively for the water industry. Connect at https://boehagency.com/
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