A new short documentary, “Watershed Warriors,” focuses on Friends of the Fox River and the progress the organization has made to reclaim the waterway as a natural resource for the people, wildlife and plants that live within its watershed.
In terms of geologic time, the Fox is a young river, formed by the last glacier some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.“Of all the habitats found in the state of Illinois, probably three-quarters are found in this watershed,” said Swick, now retired from a decades-long career as an environmental sciences teacher at Dundee-Crown High School, where Kempf Schiavone was a prized student. “There are ecosystems like bogs, like forested fens — this is the only watershed that they’re in in the state.
Significant upgrades in wastewater treatment greatly improved the river’s quality, to the point that residents of communities like Aurora and Elgin can now draw drinking water from the Fox. But that hardly means the work of organizations like Friends of the Fox River is complete. Phosphorous runoff, which is contributing to a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, is another issue. Watershed communities have received federal funds to help with phosphorous removal, “So we’re doing our part,” Swick said.
For one, slowing the river’s flow prevents natural scouring of the bottom, and as a result, sediment accumulates on and smothers the bed. Remember the crystal-clear water Kempf Schiavone reported at the headwaters? Downstream, dams create a murk.In terms of wildlife, the dams create a barrier for fish, which struggle to vault themselves upstream. And if the fish aren’t migrating, neither are the freshwater mussels that rely on fish for dispersal.
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