The Chicago Council on Science and Technology and the Illinois Institute of Technology present a luncheon panel discussion on the challenges concerning Chicago’s water. Invasive species have destroyed the balance of the Great Lakes ecosystem and threaten further environmental and economic hardship. The Chicago River is still a conduit for periodic releases of raw sewage and suffers from the scars of an unregulated industrial past. Climate change may create more severe storms, exacerbating flooding problems in the region. Hundreds of millions of gallons of water are withdrawn from Lake Michigan every day, used once, and discharged into the waterways. Water supplies are diminishing in the suburbs. Commissioner Debra Shore of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District will highlight the urgency and scale of these problems and the need for a grand vision of water management. Also, a panel of experts representing different point of views will discuss the potential roles played by government, industry, academia and private citizens to better manage and sustain our water resources.

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Please click here for Chicago’s Water: Protecting Our Precious Resource Program Report

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Affiliate event of the Chicago Ideas Week

Event Details

Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza
350 West Mart Center Drive
11:30am Lunch
12:00pm Keynote Presentation
Fees apply: Members $15, Non-members $25, Students $10

Keynote Speaker: Debra Shore, Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Moderator: Howard Learner, President and Executive Director, Environmental Law and Policy Center
Panelists: Tinka G. Hyde: Acting Director, Water Division, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5; Andrew Richardson, Chief Executive Officer, Greeley and Hansen; and Martin Felsen, Studio Associate Professor of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Partner, UrbanLab