Although the Chicago River Swim was cancelled after a weekend of heavy rainfall and lightning, the annual event still raised critical funds for ALS research and swim lessons and introduced hundreds of jumpers to a revitalized Chicago River.

A perennially wet and at times stormy weekend fueled flooding concerns across the region and sparked the cancellation of one of Chicago’s newest and most unique fundraisers.

“We encourage everyone to conserve water when possible to create more capacity in our systems," said MWRD President Kari K. Steele.

The MWRD, the Village of South Holland, and Cook County held a ribbon-cutting this past week at Maicach Park to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Thorn Ditch Flood Mitigation Project. The effort was eight years in the making and will improve stormwater management and strengthen flood resilience along Thorn Ditch.

The MWRD has issued an Overflow Action Alert.

WBBM attended the Chicago Big Jump. MWRD President Kari K. Steele was among the dignitaries providing welcoming remarks.