Restoration of the North Lake shoreline

The Chicago Botanic Garden and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Ecosystem Restoration Program have begun a ten-month Section 206 Ecosystem Restoration Project to restore 6,400 feet of shoreline around the Garden’s North Lake. The project area includes the entire perimeter of the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden, as well as areas along the North Lake’s western and northern shoreline.

For the safety of our visitors during the restoration project, the West Road will be closed to pedestrian traffic Mondays through Fridays, beginning November 21.

Miles of Stability and beauty

Before and After

Garden Map with shoreline restoration area outlined in red. Mouseover image for detail.

When restoration along 6,400 feet of the North Lake's shoreline is completed next fall, 4.4 miles, or more than three-fourths of the Garden’s shoreline, will have been restored since our shoreline enhancement program began in 1999. Beginning in November 2011, the North Lake’s 150 million gallons of water will be drained so that we can rejuvenate the shoreline with the addition of shallow water planting “shelves."

Next spring, more than 120,000 native plants and shrubs will be added to stabilize shoreline soils. Plants will be installed in drifts to demonstrate how native shoreline plantings can be attractively integrated within more traditional ornamental landscapes.

Enhancing water quality and habitat

Representing 197 native taxa, these plants—some with roots more than 6 feet deep—are able to anchor eroding shoreline soils and withstand the environmental stresses inherent to urban waterways (especially flooding). They will provide form and function throughout the year, while filtering excess nutrients and enhancing habitat for frogs, turtles, fish, mussels, aquatic insects, and resident and migratory birds. Creative uses of interplanted stones and boulders, as well as specialized plastic mesh and webbing materials, will further stabilize the shoreline and protect the newly installed aquatic plantings.

The Garden’s programs to reduce soil erosion and nutrient runoff improve water quality in the downstream Skokie Lagoons and Chicago River, and well beyond. In addition to enhancing water quality, the North Lake shoreline project will serve as a living laboratory for Garden conservation scientists and their colleagues studying urban water resources.

Click to view a visual simulation of the North Lake Shoreline
Project construction process.

Funding for the North Lake Shoreline Restoration Project is provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Section 206 Ecosystem Restoration Program, State of Illinois Capital Program grants, and an individual Chicago Botanic Garden donor.