In our latest Graphical History Tour, we discussed issues arising from the city of Chicago's decision 125 years ago to connect the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers.
Draining Lake Michigan into the Mississippi River watershed lowered the levels of all the Great Lakes but Lake Superior, with a deleterious affect on commercial shipping and hydroelectric power generation along the St. Lawrence River. I didn't mention that the state of Missouri didn't appreciate Chicago sending all its sewage toward St. Louis.
Nor did I mention a more recent development. Asian carp, an invasive species, have been spreading up the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and are now threatening, thanks to the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal, to break out into the Great Lakes. A chief concern is that Lake Erie, being fairly shallow, will be an ideal environment for Asian carp, and that they will then crowd out the native fish.
Asian carp have the unpleasant habit of jumping out of the water en masse at the slightest provocation, such as geese taking off, or boats passing by. We are told that they are edible, just in need of a more commercial name (watch for Mississushimi at your local food truck someday), but while having game fish jump into your boat might sound enticing, having fish hit you in the face at 20 mph (17.4 knots) might not.
Having them rain down on the Maid of the Mist from a height of 325 feet could be mighty unpleasant, too.
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