Urban Ecologies of Aquatic Processes

 I’m concerned with the invasive species of Silver Carp that is on the threshold of arriving to the Lake Michigan shoreline. This includes the events that led to this.

In the 1830’s, the State of Illinois decided that in order to preserve the city of Chicago’s fresh water supply they would have to re-route the river systems from dumping into Lake Michigan. By January of 1900, the first River was reversed and connected to the Mississippi River by a series of Control Locks. Within a few more years, two more rivers were reversed and connect to the Mississippi. This has opened a shipping channel that now connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi that generates $1.7 Billion/year. This is also allowing the silver carp and other invasive species a direct access to the Great Lakes and threatens the $7 Billion/year fishing and tourism industry of the Great Lake region.

I am situating a thesis within the ecological urbanism of aquaculture to explore a solution for the invasive fish dilemma and also to look into strategies for wastewater treatment and handling. Political issues will be noted and explored as assets or hindrances.

Artifacts to be explored are methods of representing water, aquatic systems, political agents, and the urban.