Evanston Beaches Remain Closed For Swimming Due To Bacteria

EVANSTON, IL — Beaches in town remained closed for swimming Wednesday due to a third day of unsafe bacterial levels, city officials announced.

The elevated bacteria levels resulted from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago's response to Monday's weather.

Between about 3 to 7 inches of rain fell around the area and the MWRD opened the locks and reversed the North Shore Canal, sending sanitary sewage and stormwater into the lake.

A few areas around the west and southwest sides of Chicago got more than 8 inches of rainfall from Monday morning to the early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

"There is no system able to handle that much water in just a few hours," MWRD officials announced.

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According to MWRD officials, the public agency makes every effort to minimize the amount of floodwater it sends into the lake during major storms.

Ahead of major storms, district staff draws down area waterways to prove the most capacity possible across the system, including tunnels and reservoirs.

"However, when there is an extreme weather event such as what happened July 2 and 3, we must reverse the flow of the Chicago River when the river level exceeds the elevation of Lake Michigan," district officials said in a statement after the storm.

"During this past weekend’s storm, the elevation of the North Shore Channel topped the elevation of Lake Michigan, and we opened the gates at 2:16 p.m. on July 2," officials said.

"The gates remained open until 9:47 p.m. on July 2. The elevation of the Chicago River downtown exceeded Lake Michigan’s elevation so the locks were opened at 4 p.m. on July 2 and the reversal ended at 2:30 a.m. on July 3. "

The Evanston Dog Beach also remained closed Wednesday — July 5. The sand portion of the city's beaches has remained open, as it is unaffected by the bacteria in the water.

Just north of Evanston, all waters off Gillson Beach were open Wednesday, according to the Wilmette Park District.

"We are pleased to announce that the bacterial counts at Wilmette Lakefront have returned to safe levels per Illinois Department of Public Health, " park district officials said.