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Re-Wilding
The Des Plaines River
The
Hofmann
Dam River Rats recently received $26,800 to put nature
back into the Des Plaines River. Because this stretch of
the river near Hodgkins was "tamed" more than 100 years
ago, it lacks the riffles, pools, and gravel bars that normally
comprise healthy river habitat.
The
Rock Jetty Project will use 400 tons of rock to create six
25-foot-long structures staggered every 250 feet on opposite
sides of the bank for 1,500 feet. The structure will allow
for the collection of sediment downstream, creating a substrate
for vegetation like water willow and lizard tail, important
beginning links in the river’s food chain. From there,
macro-invertebrates like the caddis fly and mayfly will
benefit. Larger aquatic species like game fish will have
key spawning habitat once gravel bars begin to form naturally
at the ends of the jetties.
"It
is a pilot project, but we thought we’d start small
and learn from there," said Mike Lofton, the River Rats
project coordinator. A 17-mile stretch of the Des Plaines
River was re-channeled to the west in 1898 to accommodate
the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
—
Jayne Bohner
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