Chicago's Impact on the Mississippi

The May 30 UMRR Annual Meeting focused on Chicago's Impacts on the Mississippi.  Our speakers were Debra Shore and Kelly McGinnis - their talks were illuminating, insightful and inspiring.  

In the Mississippi Basin, Chicago is the big dog – the largest population center in the basin.  The more than nine million people of the Chicago area get drinking water from Lake Michigan but discharge wastewater into the Illinois River. 

​The map below shows the Illinois River and its footprint across the Chicago metropolitan area. Compare this to the population density map from the Census Bureau, showing 2011 population density.  The Minneapolis area is the next largest metro area in the Mississippi Basin with about three million people, a third of the population of the Chicago area.

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​The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago is responsible for treating wastewater, you can read more about this organization on their website here: https://mwrd.org/about . Our first speaker, Debra Shore, talked about how Chicago strives to reduce pollution that flows into the Mississippi River, as well as, speaking to her role as Commissioner and the role of the MWRD.   Debra even explained the complicated hydrology of the Chicago area and how the Chicago River's flow was reversed to send wastes west to the Mississippi while protecting the city's water supply in Lake Michigan.

Our second speaker was also Chicago-based.  Kelly McGinnis discussed how we can support and lead advocacy in efforts to decrease pollution in the Mississippi River.  Kelly is the Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network.  The Mississippi River Network is a network of 57 organizations in the Mississippi Basin, working together to protect the land, water, wildlife, and people of the United States’ greatest River.  The three areas where the MRN is providing education is on reducing nutrient pollution, protecting floodplains and wetlands, and promoting farm bill conservation programs.  Read more about the MRN at on their website at http://1mississippi.org/aboutus/#network.  LWV UMRR is a proud member of the MRN.  
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The videos of the talks follow - click "Read More"  following the videos for speaker bios.   

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​Debra Shore is a Commissioner on the Board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. She has been a strong advocate for cleaning up the Chicago waterways and for resource recovery, including the reuse of treated water and the           generation of biogas. In recognition of her work, she received the Public Officials Award from the Water Environment Federation in 2013.

She is a past chair of the Board of Directors for the Great Lakes Protection Fund. She served as president of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership (IWIL), and serves on the board of the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy (IWILTA). Debra was the founding editor of Chicago Wilderness Magazine, is an active volunteer restoring prairies and oak woods, and was a founding board member of Friends of the Forest Preserves.

Debra graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD with a degree in Philosophy & Visual Arts. She earned Master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Columbia College (Chicago).

And, on a personal note, she has climbed 42 of the 54 mountains in Colorado more than 14,000’ high. 

Kelly McGinnis is the Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network, a coalition dedicated to a healthy and resilient Mississippi River. She works directly with network members in the ten-state Mississippi River region, building the coalition with the goal to protect and restore the River through policy and outreach work.
 
Kelly comes from a diverse professional background, starting her career as a fisheries biologist and freshwater ecologist in Washington State before moving back to the Midwest where her focus shifted to sustainability in both environment and coalition building. She brings passion and enthusiasm for protecting the environment and water to her role. When she is not busy defending water, you can find Kelly playing outside in a number of ways whether it is trail running, mountain biking, kayaking, growing a garden or playing with her two dogs. Kelly holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Freshwater Ecology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. 
 
The Mississippi River Network is a network of 57 organizations in the Mississippi Basin, working together to protect the land, water, wildlife, and people of the United States’ greatest River.  The three areas where the MRN is providing education is on reducing nutrient pollution, protecting floodplains and wetlands, and promoting farm bill conservation programs.  Read more about the MRN at on their website at http://1mississippi.org/aboutus/#network .  LWV UMRR is a proud member of the MRN.