Everyday Environment

Community systems to manage water were built a long time ago and since then, historical hydrological patterns, or how water moves through the landscape, have changed. Changes in rainfall distribution is increasing the risk of flooding in some regions and leading to water scarcity in others. These...

Urbanization has not historically been too kind to the health and well-being of rivers. It’s a rough irony that something so important to the foundation of human society – rivers flowing through major population centers – has been negatively impacted by the very groups that rely so heavily on them...

Rain gardens are bowl-shaped landscape features that capture and absorb rainfall and snowmelt. These nature-based solutions can help to reduce local flooding issues while improving downstream water quality and recharging groundwater. They also provide a variety of other benefits, like habitat...

It’s a crisp spring morning, and I’m driving by the Rock River, watching as the water reflects the newly emerging leaves. Like most others across Illinois, this river is part of a complex system that connects to the Mississippi River and ultimately flows to the ocean. Hidden beneath the river...

Unexpected guests can be a drag, especially when they show up uninvited, eat all your food, and wreck the place. Now, imagine if your unexpected guest could duplicate themselves from a single small fragment of their body!Spare a thought for aquatic ecosystems — ponds, rivers, and lakes — when non-...

As a child, my friends and I played in a neighborhood stream, catching crawdads. What I didn’t know then was this small waterbody was mainly comprised of stormwater runoff and was connected to everything on our landscape.What is stormwater runoff?Stormwater is rain or melted snow that flows off...

From microplastics to pharmaceuticals, contaminants of emerging concern, CECs, are increasingly making their way into our environment, but with awareness and simple actions, we can all play a role in reducing their impact. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,...

Many of us have streams in our neighborhoods or cities that we see regularly but often take for granted. Maybe we have a stream in our backyard, one that flows through a local park where we walk our dogs, or one we drive over every day on our way to work or school. But how often do we take time to...

When rain falls, the water doesn’t just disappear; it has to go somewhere. Some of it soaks into the ground, replenishing groundwater, while the rest flows downhill over the land’s surface. As water moves, it gathers into small rivulets, which join creeks, which then merge with larger rivers and...

In early February, dead birds began washing up on the Chicago lakeshore: red-breasted and common mergansers, Canada geese, and others. In a city where frequent songbird window strikes are unfortunately...