Bill Introduced Today to End White House Delays in Combatting Asian Carp Invasion

Today a bipartisan group of legislators introduced the Stop Asian Carp Now bill, which would require the Administration to release a study the Army Corps of Engineers has done on Asian Carp control methods at Brandon Road Lock and Dam. In response, Sierra Club and our partners released the following statement.

 

Alliance for the Great Lakes  ·  National Wildlife Federation  ·  Natural Resources Defense Council  ·  Ohio Environmental Council  ·  Prairie Rivers Network  ·  Save The River  ·  Sierra Club   ·  Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council

 

Media Statement
Bill Seeks to End White House Delays in Combatting Asian Carp Invasion
Groups Applaud Efforts by Members of Congress to Make Latest Research Available to the Public

Chicago, IL (June 21, 2017) – A bipartisan bill introduced today in Congress would push the Trump Administration to stop delaying a key effort to stop the Asian carp invasion of the Great Lakes. Conservation groups from around the Great Lakes region expressed support for the bill. The groups stressed that the current Asian carp control measures, from electric barriers to harvesting, are not enough to keep the harmful fish out of the Great Lakes.

Two years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was tasked with studying additional protection measures at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, IL. The facility is a logical choke point location to install control measures to stop the fish from moving closer to the lake. The study was paid for at taxpayer expense and is ready for public review. The draft report was supposed to be released for public review and input on February 28, 2017. But, instead of releasing it to the public, the White House blocked the report’s release, leaving it hidden away on a Washington, D.C. shelf gathering dust. And with it, efforts to install critical prevention measures to halt Asian carp have all but come to a halt, putting the Great Lakes at risk.

Today a bipartisan group of legislators introduced the Stop Asian Carp Now bill, which would require the Administration to release the Brandon Road Study. The Stop Asian Carp Now bill was introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI).  We applaud Members of Congress for pushing to make this report public and fighting to protect the Great Lakes from the serious threat posed by Asian carp. Conservation groups support the bill noting that, “the Administration has had more than three months to review the report. It is past time to give Great Lakes residents a chance to do the same.”

The seven cosponsors in the Senate so far are Senators Durbin (D-IL), Peters (D-MI), Baldwin (D-WI), Brown (D-OH), Franken (D-MN), Klobuchar (D-MN), and Duckworth (D-IL).

The 31 cosponsors in the House so far are Reps. Huizenga (MI-02), Joyce (OH-14), Slaughter (NY-25), Nolan (MN-08), Trott (MI-11), Bergman (MI-01), Moolenaar (MI-04), Walberg (MI-07), Kildee (MI-05), Upton (MI-06), Schneider (IL-10), Mike Bishop (MI-08), Dingell (MI-12), Lawrence (MI-14), Walz (MN-01), Quigley (IL-05), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Conyers (MI-13), Moore (WI-04), Gallagher (WI-08), Chris Collins (NY-27), Schakowsky (IL-09), Mitchell (MI-10), Duffy (WI-07), Pocan (WI-02), Levin (MI-09), Fudge (OH-11), Stefanik (NY-21), Latta (OH-05), Amash (MI-03) and Brian Higgins (NY-26).

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Note to Media: Two additional resources that may be helpful in relation to this statement include:

• A map showing the location of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois as well as the most recent publicly available information on the location of Asian carp populations can be found here. Please credit the map to Prairie Rivers Network, which created the map from information provided by the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.
• A recent fact sheet with background information on the Asian carp issue and potential impacts to the Great Lakes.

Media Contacts:

Alliance for the Great Lakes: Jennifer Caddick, (312) 445-9760, jcaddick@greatlakes.org
National Wildlife Federation: Marc Smith, (734) 887-7116, msmith@nwf.org
Natural Resources Defense Council: Ivan Moreno, 312-651-7932, imoreno@nrdc.org
Ohio Environmental Council: David Miller, (419) 944-1986, DMiller@theoec.org
Prairie Rivers Network: Robert Hirschfeld, (217) 344-2371 x205, rhirschfeld@prairierivers.org
Save The River: Lee Willbanks, (315) 686-2010,  lee@savetheriver.org
Sierra Club: Cindy Skrukrud, (312) 251-1680 x110, cindy.skrukrud@sierraclub.org
Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council: Jennifer McKay, (231) 347-1181, jenniferm@watershedcouncil.org

Chicago Water Team Hosts Wastewater Tour with Local High School Students

This shows the size of some of the tunnels that carry wastewater to the treatment facilities! 

This afternoon, the Sierra Club’s Chicago Water Team and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) hosted an educational event to share the importance of sustainably managing wastewater with local high school students in celebration of World Water Day. World Water Day is a global day of awareness organized by the United Nations and celebrated throughout the world during the week of March 22 to bring public attention to world water issues and take action to address them. (Read our previous blog post about World Water Day.)

Stage 1 of the McCook Reservoir

A group of 21 students and two teachers from Pritzker College Prep, along with six volunteers from the Chicago Water Team and MWRD Commissioner Josina Morita, traveled to the Mainstream Pumping Station in Hodgkins, southwest of Chicago, for the tour. This facility pumps wastewater collected by the deep tunnel system to send to the Stickney Wastewater Reclamation Plant for treatment. The group also stopped by the McCook Reservoir to see this storage feature that, when completed in 2029, will be able to hold 10 billion gallons and serve an area of 254.7 square miles, and is expected to provide more than $114 million per year in flood damage reduction benefits to 3,100,000 people in 37 communities.

Students observe a model of the sewer system

The students learned about the importance of treating stormwater and sewage from the city’s combined sewer system before it enters the river in order to protect water quality in Chicago and downstream communities. Despite the current treatment system, untreated sewage and stormwater still enters the waterways when heavy rainfall overwhelms the combined sewer system and causes it to overflow at various outfall points along the river. The McCook and Thornton Reservoirs are intended to reduce the occurrence of these combined sewer overflows and reduce flooding in the areas they serve. While treated wastewater is currently sent downstream and away from the city, MWRD continues to look for ways to turn wastewater into a resource, as evidenced by their new phosphorus recovery system at the Stickney Wastewater Reclamation Plant.

During the tour, we talked about how we can change our behaviors to reduce our waste of water. Taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it’s not being used and refraining from doing laundry or washing dishes during rainstorms were some of the action steps shared with the group. Washing one load of laundry takes about 18 gallons of water, which can make a big difference in a city of almost 3 million people. If we reduce our water use, MWRD will be better able to treat the water and prevent sewer overflows into the river.

Here in Chicago, we’re lucky to have one of the greatest freshwater resources- Lake Michigan- which provides drinking water, recreation and tourism for the city. Sustainably managing this resource, reducing the waste of water and investing in new ways to protect human health and the environment by protecting our water quality will be increasingly important as the population grows and demand increases. Investments in clean water will bring good, green jobs and economic benefits that will ripple throughout the economy and support our communities and working families. To learn more about the benefits of investing in clean water, read our 2015 report, A Flowing Economy: How Clean Water Infrastructure Investments Support Good Jobs in Chicago and in Illinois.

As the youngest Commissioner on the MWRD Board, Josina told the students that she believes in the power and importance of having young people involved in this work. She encouraged the students to take advantage of internship opportunities with MWRD, which is an agency with every field: engineering, law, accounting, public relations, construction, and more. Talk about some clean water jobs!

We appreciate MWRD’s work to clean our water, and thank them for taking the time to show us how they do it. We also appreciate the enthusiasm of the students for protecting our water resources. With their minds, the future of water is bright- and clean!

This trip was organized and funded in part by Chicago Inspiring Connections Outdoors, an outreach program of the Sierra Club with a mission of getting young people outdoors to explore, enjoy, and protect the environment. If you’d like to learn more about the program or apply to become a volunteer, please visit our website.

Please visit the Chicago Water Team’s website to learn more about the team’s efforts to improve the waterways of the Chicago area or to join the team. And join us on April 22 for a clean-up at Montrose Beach in celebration of Earth Day! Learn more and register here. 

Standing up Together for the Great Lakes

Jack Darin introduces Great Lakes advocates at this morning’s press conference

You may have heard the latest bad news for the Great Lakes- the President’s proposed budget is expected to include a 97% cut to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a fund that the EPA receives and distributes to groups doing work on the ground to protect and restore our precious freshwater resource and its ecosystems. This morning, we held a press conference with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and other advocates calling on our elected officials to reject these outrageous cuts and invest in our Great Lakes and the communities across our region.

Our Director, Jack Darin, kicked off the morning with an important message to the Administration in response to the proposed cuts: “When you cut the Great Lakes, you cut jobs, you cut our health, you cut the future of an asset for our entire region” and a call to our members of Congress and all of us who depend on the Great Lakes: “Together we can stand up and do what our region has always done to show that protecting the Great Lakes should not be a partisan issue- it should be something that we all rally around and support.”

Joel Brammeier, President & CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, spoke of the bipartisan support for the GLRI, which started as a partnership between Republican and Democratic members of Congress and has grown to fund over 2,000 projects with over $2 billion and support from dozens of members from both sides of the aisle. The GLRI has funded projects and programs that have helped clean up the legacy pollution and contamination from the many years of industry in the region, which helped build our country but left many communities in danger. Joel remarked that “full funding for the GLRI is critical.”

MWRD Commissioner Kari Steele speaks out for the Great Lakes.

Commissioner Kari Steele of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District said that as the agency that treats Chicago’s wastewater and manages flood control, “we 100% understand the importance of clean water.” The Commissioner said she was here to “support the Sierra Club and all the other organizations here today…to support the Great Lakes program and stress the importance of our primary natural resource.”

 Krista Grimm, President of the League of a Women Voters – Lake Michigan Region, spoke of the water issues our region deals with that require funding to resolve- issues like nutrient pollution and resulting algae blooms, invasive species and pollution from combined sewer overflows. These issues are cumulative, are made worse by climate change and will only get more expensive to resolve the longer we wait. Krista stressed that we can’t go back on the progress we’ve made with the GLRI, and we must continue to fix these problems and invest in our drinking water infrastructure to prevent situations like the Flint water crisis.

Bria Foster speaks of how the GLRI supports jobs like hers

We heard stories about the impact of the GLRI, such as the restoration work it funds in the Cook County Forest Preserves. Bria Foster, a crew member with the Friends of the Forest Preserves, told of the importance of the work she and other young adults are doing with help from the fund. “We are the future and what we do is help protect the future, and that’s the environment. Without clean air and clean water, we have nothing to stand on.” Bria said that funding from the GLRI has helped her be successful in this field and she hopes that success will be shared by others like her.

Natalie Johnson, Executive Director of Save the Dunes, spoke of what the GLRI has meant for the Grand Calumet River system and how far we’ve come since the days when the river used to catch on fire. The 13-mile river system runs through the underserved communities of Hammond, Gary, and East Chicago in northwest Indiana and empties into Lake Michigan. Once plagued by industrial pollution, the GLRI has helped the river system see a total transformation. Today, the region enjoys a cleaner waterway with wildlife in areas that have been remediated and species that had been missing for over 30 years.

 Mila Marshall, a PhD candidate at University of Illinois-Chicago and research associate at their Freshwater Lab, as well as a member of the Alliance for the Great Lakes Young Professionals Council, shared some facts about the importance of Great Lakes water, which serves as 21% of the world’s supply of freshwater, 84% of North America’s surface freshwater and 100% of our drinking water in Chicago.

Mila said that “to reduce the GLRI budget by 97% is an attack on the Great Lakes economy because it would annihilate the progress we’ve made and would paralyze efforts for redeveloping what we like to call the ‘water belt’ region. This is a direct attack on our future.” Mila spoke of how clean, affordable freshwater is our lifeline to an equitable and a sustainable future and how disinvestment of this or any nature will continue to reinforce poverty. She stressed that funding cuts will destabilize the road to environmental reconciliation for current environmental justice communities in cities such as Flint, East Chicago, Gary, Benton Harbor, Detroit and Toledo and further put communities at risk of lead poisoning and other threats. Mila said that “with full funding of the GLRI, this Administration can indeed continue to revitalize the Great Lakes for welcoming industrial allies and for reducing threats to the quality of life for nearly 30 million Americans.”

Michael Mikulka, an EPA Region 5 employee and President of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, spoke of the potential cuts to EPA funding that would devastate the agency’s important work to protect human health and restore the places where we live, work and play. Michael said that much progress has been made in the Great Lakes to clean up legacy contamination and restore beneficial uses such as fishing and swimming. Budget cuts threaten this progress and the additional work needed to maintain the value of our natural resources.

These speakers gave powerful insights into the impact of the GLRI and what it would mean to lose it. Here in Chicago, we understand what the Great Lakes mean for us- clean drinking water, tourism and economic growth, places for our communities to gather, not to mention a great backdrop to our city’s skyline. But we’re not the only ones who depend on this resource, benefit from its provisions and have an impact on its health. We want to be good water neighbors and work together with our neighbors to protect the resource we all depend on. This includes other states, Canadian provinces and Native American tribes along the lakes. Now more than ever, we must combine forces to maximize our impact and achieve our shared goals.

On Wednesday, I’ll be heading to DC with some of the advocates who spoke today and many others from all seven Great Lakes states to request the support of our members of Congress in protecting our freshwater resource. We will not let the Great Lakes- which provide drinking water, jobs and recreation to millions of people- be a casualty of this Administration. Please join us in our fight for the Great Lakes by signing up to volunteer with us.

Thank you for your support. Onward!

 

Watch the press conference:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSierraClubIllinois%2Fvideos%2F10155129696077299%2F&show_text=1&width=560

Watch/read the story on Chicago Tonight:  http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/03/13/great-lakes-funding-threatened

Hiking Together for Our Planet

Our Clean Water Advocate, Katrina Phillips, participated in Climate Ride’s Climate Hike through Glacier National Park from August 3-7. Before the trip, she raised over $3,000 (with the help of many generous donors) to support Climate Ride and her chosen beneficiary organization, the Illinois Sierra Club. Feel free to email her at katrina.phillips@sierraclub.org if you want to learn more! 

 As we ascended Apgar Mountain on the first day of our trip in Glacier National Park, I couldn’t help but don a ridiculous grin as I alternated between watching my footing on the path ahead and looking around me at the vast expanse of valleys and mountain ridges in the distance. I was finally experiencing the product of a seemingly long ago commitment, months of fundraising and a hectic weekend of scrambling to collect the right gear and pack my bags for the Montana wilderness.

The immensity of the mountains and the landscape in view made me feel small in the way I think we’re supposed to feel when we consider our impact on this planet and the trace we will leave behind. We are one species among many, as I was reminded throughout the week by the sight of grizzly bears, moose, bighorn sheep and other wildlife that call the park home. We can’t afford to continue living unsustainably in the face of climate change and the challenges of limited resources, and our fellow species can’t survive the impacts of our wasteful actions.

 

 

 

 

Glacier National Park provides us with a glimpse of the ways we are directly affecting what was once wild, and of our broader impacts on the planet and its climate. I saw a pile of discarded pistachio shells attract a band of chipmunks plump from food left behind by the many visitors to the park—projected to reach 3 million this year. At the top of the mountain, a melting glacier gave us an alarming view of how our collective actions are changing the climate and the landforms that depend on it. According to ongoing scientific studies, even the park’s largest glaciers could vanish by 2030. These visible impacts show that the “Leave No Trace” mantra cannot just apply to our behavior as we enjoy national parks, but must also guide the way we live our lives and treat our daily surroundings.

Climate Hike gave me the chance to see an incredible place seriously threatened by climate change, but it also gave me inspiration and appreciation for the work groups like Sierra Club are doing to bring environmental protection into the policies, media, political discourse and daily conversations that shape our country and the world. This work is critical because climate change isn’t just a phenomenon that’s melting glaciers in faraway places. It’s affecting the livelihoods of people who depend on predictable weather and a stable climate, the health of people in nations where good health care is scarce and disease is rampant, and the homes of people and animals where severe storms, flooding and heat waves are wreaking havoc. When I close my eyes and picture the beauty of Glacier National Park, and when I think about what’s at stake all over the world, I feel energized to continue this fight.

Along with the incredible views, the beauty of the mountains and the mystique of its wild animals, my experience in the park gave me inspiration through the company I hiked over forty miles with and the conversations we shared. From age sixteen to sixty-five, my twenty-one fellow Climate Hikers each came with their own stories and reasons for being there. Whether it was to preserve the planet for their children, save the peace and serenity of nature for mental health patients they’ve treated, or to give back to the places that have served as refuges for their own sanity, the motivations each person brought to the experience gave me a renewed passion for the work we’re doing together. I know that every donor, volunteer, activist and staff member that I interact with on a daily basis has their own unique reasons for dedicating their time, money and energy to this effort. When we come together with the collection of our own stories and the stories we carry from others, our message becomes powerful and our actions form a movement.

This experience would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of the over fifty donors who contributed to my fundraising efforts and showed up to our fundraising events. I cannot say thank you enough and I am so excited to continue our work together for the planet.

If you’d like to make a donation, you can still do so here until December 1st. Thank you!

 

Students Explore Careers in Water on World Water Day

Yesterday, the Sierra Club’s Chicago Water Team invited high school students to celebrate the UN-recognized World WaterDay and learn about opportunities to work in the water sector. Students met representatives from six different water-
related agencies, companies and organizations who shared information about the job, internship and training opportunities they provide to young adults.

The global celebration of this year’s World Water Day and its theme of “Water and Jobs” highlight the power that water and jobs have to transform people’s lives and the fact that nearly all jobs are related to water and those that ensure its safe delivery.

Guy Ryder, the ILO Director-General and Chair of UN-Water, says in this video message: “There is no life without water. The fact that access to water underpins all of our efforts to achieve sustainable development is clear. What is not so often said, is that the availability and sustainable management of water has a clear and direct link with the creation of quality jobs…Water can contribute to a greener economy and to sustainable development. But for this to happen, we need more workers qualified to realize the potential of new green technologies.”

Yesterday’s event gave Chicago high schoolers a firsthand look at the jobs they could have in the water field, and the path to obtaining the qualifications needed for these important positions. Participating groups included the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the Water Quality Association, and several private companies offering water filtration, plumbing and wetlands consulting services.

Jack Darin speaks to the crowd, Cindy Skrukrud demonstrates water quality testing and Jill Ryan shares information about the Water Quality Association with students.

 

“World Water Day is a great opportunity for UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, employers, trade unions and citizens to come together to make a call for better water and better jobs,” says Ryder.

All of the participating groups play a role in protecting water quality, whether its by ensuring safe and clean delivery of drinking water, treating wastewater and removing pollutants, or preserving natural ecosystems that filter and recharge water supplies. Bob Reiter, Secretary-Treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor also spoke about apprenticeship programs run by several building trade unions that can prepare young people for good jobs in water infrastructure and technologies.

Water resources are essential to the functioning of every aspect of society. As climate change affects our nation’s water supplies, and our population continues to grow and shift, it is increasingly important to build a sustainable water future. To reduce the impact of water stresses on communities, we must develop and implement sustainable, long-term water management strategies. We need skilled, highly qualified workers to develop these strategies and manage our water resources in a way that protects the environment and ensures reliable delivery of clean water to everyone. Introducing students to opportunities to get involved in this important work can help lead them on the path towards a job in water.

A big thank you to our Chicago Water Team volunteers, the participating groups, and the interested students for joining us on World Water Day to explore jobs in water.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Jill Ryan of the Water Quality Association and Vince Mosca of Hey and Associates, Inc. participate in the jobs fair. 

From left to right: Krista Grimm, Katrina Phillips, Kady McFadden, Marty Durkan, Bob Reiter, Jack Darin, Kyra Woods and David Martin. 

New Report Shows Clean Water Means Jobs for Illinois

Earlier today, we joined the Chicago Federation of Labor to appear before the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to release a new report titled “A Flowing Economy: How Clean Water Infrastructure Investments Support Good Jobs in Chicago and in Illinois.” The report reveals some of the major benefits that investments in clean water generate for the economy and the environment, both locally and statewide, and highlights the need for additional clean water projects.

During the Board Meeting, the Commissioners passed a resolution recognizing the report and Commissioners Debra Shore and Barbara McGowan gave positive remarks. Bob Reiter, Secretary-Treasurer for the Chicago Federation of Labor, addressed the Board on the need to focus on upgrading and repairing the state’s clean water infrastructure to protect our water resources and expand the economic and environmental benefits they generate.

Frank Manzo, Policy Director at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and co-author of the report, helped to highlight its key findings, including:

• For every $1 billion invested in clean water infrastructure, approximately 11,200 jobs are created throughout the economy and there is an 8% one-year GDP Return on Investment.
• In the Chicago area, clean water investments boost the regional economy by nearly $2 billion and lower the unemployment rate by 0.7 percentage points.
• Employment in the water infrastructure sector increases an Illinois worker’s hourly earnings by 10.1 percent on average, providing a personal benefit that roughly equates to an additional year of schooling.

Our own Clean Water Program Director, Cindy Skrukrud, and Director Jack Darin spoke to the Board and the audience at the meeting about the need to address threats to our waters such as combined sewer overflows, aquatic invasive species and nutrient pollution. The report offers a snapshot of these challenges facing the Chicago Waterway System and waterways throughout Illinois and the opportunities to address them through future investments. Local, state and federal agencies have an opportunity to boost the economy and create good jobs for hardworking men and women while solving problems that threaten the health of our water resources.

One such problem is the threat of Asian Carp and other invasive species moving through the Chicago Area Waterways into Lake Michigan, and invasives moving from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River Basin. While there is broad agreement among stakeholders in both regions that a solution is urgently needed, there is additional information necessary to move decision makers to implement the best approach. We hope that local, state and federal agencies will work together to expediently fund and complete the necessary studies to move forward. We know that control measures must be constructed in the waterway system to prevent invasives from moving between the basins, and investing in this solution will bring benefits to the region’s economy and workforce while protecting some of our most valued bodies of water.

We’re excited to be a part of this initiative and stand ready with our partners to advocate for prioritized investments to achieve clean water and a thriving economy. We hope you’ll join us in being voices for the protection of our waterways and the future of our working class.

 Read the press release:

 https://sierraclubillinois.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/2006/ 

 Read the full report:

http://illinoisepi.org/countrysidenonprofit/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ILEPI-PMCR-Research-Report-A-Flowing-Economy-FINAL.pdf

 Watch a video of the January 7th presentation: 

http://mwrd.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=253&view_id=1&embed=1&player_width=720&player_height=480&entrytime=869&stoptime=1865&auto_start=0”

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 7, 2016

 

New Report: Clean Water Projects Employed 19,443 In 2014

Chicago Federation of Labor, Sierra Club Present Findings at MWRD Board Meeting

“A Flowing Economy” Details Clean Water Benefits to Workers & Regional Economy

Chicago, IL– The Chicago Federation of Labor and the Sierra Club today made a unique joint appearance before the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to release a new report on the benefits that investments in clean water generate for the economy and the environment both locally and statewide, and to highlight upcoming opportunities for clean water projects.

“We are fortunate to have one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water right outside our front door, in Lake Michigan and all our Great Lakes,” said Jorge Ramirez, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “Thanks to an initial investment by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the City of Chicago Department of Water Management in 2014, we have already begun to see the economic and environmental benefits of investing in clean water projects in the Chicago area, namely job creation and increased worker productivity thanks to improved regional health. We need to build on this success and focus on upgrading and repairing the state’s clean water infrastructure.”

“Protecting Lake Michigan and restoring our rivers are not only essential for public health but also significantly contributes to a healthy economy,” said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter.

The report, titled “A Flowing Economy: How Clean Water Infrastructure Investments Support Good Jobs in Chicago and in Illinois” finds that for every $1 billion invested in clean water infrastructure, approximately 6,200 direct jobs are created in construction or water and sewage facilities, and 11,200 total jobs are created throughout the economy. Additionally, every $1 billion investment brings an 8 percent one-year GDP return on investment. The report was prepared by Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) and the School of Labor and Employment Relations at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Investments in clean water benefit the whole economy by making businesses and households run more smoothly, with less frequent disruptions from leaks, contamination and other water infrastructure failures,” said Frank Manzo, Policy Director at ILEPI and an author of the report.

Leading the region in clean water investments are the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago and the City of Chicago’s Department of Water Management. In 2014 alone, these two entities created or saved a total of 19,400 jobs and reduced the regional unemployment rate by 0.73 percent.

“America’s economy runs on water,” said MWRD President Mariyana Spyropoulos. “Between the City of Chicago and the MWRD, hundreds of thousands of annual jobs will be supported and billions in economic output will be produced over the next decade. When we invest in water, we put people to work, support economic growth and build a stronger foundation for our nation.”

While investments in clean water have led to major improvements in water quality and efficient water management, there are outstanding needs for additional investments that will continue to bolster the economy and enrich our communities. The report offers a snapshot of the challenges facing the Chicago Waterway System and waterways throughout Illinois and the opportunities to address these challenges through future investments.

“We need our local leaders and agencies to continue investing in two things every city needs: clean water and good jobs. Fortunately, there are opportunities to achieve both through smart investments in the right projects,” said Dr. Cynthia Skrukrud, Clean Water Program Director for the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We need to address serious threats to our water resources, such as invasive species, combined sewer overflows and nutrient pollution, which will require new water infrastructure to be built by hardworking men and women. We stand ready to help local, state and federal agencies prioritize investments to achieve clean water and a thriving economy.”

The report and its key findings were presented at the MWRD Board Meeting earlier today, and the District Board approved a resolution supporting the report.

To read the report visit:

http://illinoisepi.org/countrysidenonprofit/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ILEPI-PMCR-Research-Report-A-Flowing-Economy-FINAL.pdf

 

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