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About the Bubbly Creek Study
The South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, also known as Bubbly Creek, Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study (the Bubbly Creek study) is a congressionally authorized and jointlyfunded study by the USACE - Chicago District and the local sponsor, the City of Chicago. The primary focus of the study is ecosystem restoration. The Bubbly Creek ecosystem has been severely degraded by major physical alterations including deepening and widening the channel, creating sheet pile bank s, complete fi lling of wetlands within the original drainage area, severe hydrologic alterations, and introduction of polluted sediments and runoff. Ecosystem restoration will improve water quality, protect public health, restore habitat and revitalize economic development.
The study area includes the entire 1.25-mile channel of Bubbly Creek, located in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
To date, USACE, with input from the City of Chicago and other partners, has prepared the following Bubbly Creek study reports:
· Collection and Analysis of Sediment Samples from the South Fork South Branch, Chicago River, Draft Final Report, 2004
· Reconnaissance Study, Section 905(b)(WRDA86) Analysis, Bubbly Creek, South Branch of the Chicago River, 2006
· Project Management Plan, Bubbly Creek, South Branch of the Chicago River, Illinois, Feasibility Study, 2007
Initial phases of the study have indicated that Bubbly Creek has been altered and degraded so severely that typical restoration techniques are unlikely to be successful. First, sustainable conditions must be met for ecosystem restoration to take hold and succeed. Bubbly Creek faces a complex series of environmental challenges, which in turn will require an equally complex set of restoration solutions. Specific environmental challenges identified include (1) stagnant flow conditions, (2) combined sewer overflows, (3) poor sediment quality, (4) poor water quality, and (5) severely degraded habitat and biological integrity.
The following preliminary restoration alternatives have been identified and will be evaluated in more detail in the next phase of the Bubbly Creek study.
· No Action
· Low-Flow Restoration
· Low-Flow Restoration and Sediment Remediation with Ecosystem Restoration
Additional restoration alternatives may also be identified during the feasibility study, which will fully investigate and recommend solutions to environmental challenges identified in initial phases of the study. The feasibility study is scheduled to be completed in 2014.
Study Area
The study area includes the entire 1.25-mile channel of Bubbly Creek. The Bubbly Creek channel drains a 30-square-mile area of metropolitan Chicago, beginning near Racine Avenue and 38th Street at the Racine Avenue Pumping Station (RAPS), and flows north into the South Branch of the Chicago River near Ashland Avenue, as shown in Figure 1.
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