The Calumet River is a system of industrialized

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s and canals in the region between the south side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, and the city of

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the former flowing west from Indiana into Illinois, then turning back east to its mouth at Lake Michigan at Marquette Park in Gary. Now the system is part of the Chicago Area Waterway System and through the use of locks flows away from

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

to the Cal-Sag Channel.

Background

The name "Calumet" is from the French colonial name for a particular type of Native American

ceremonial pipe A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremo ...

that served as a universal sign of peace among the Illiniwek, and which was presented to Pere Marquette in 1673. Before human alteration, water flowed westward from LaPorte County, Indiana, along the Little Calumet River, made a hairpin turn at Blue Island, and flowed east along the Grand Calumet into

at the Miller Beach community of

. The area is extremely flat and the course and even the direction of the river system has changed repeatedly. The low gradient gives the river only a very small current. Industrial development in the Calumet River area began around the 1870s, and by 1890 the western reach of the Grand Calumet River was heavily polluted with the waste of

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

s, foundries, a meat packing plant, and glue and cornstarch factories. Industry continued to spread along the eastern reach of the river between 1890 and 1910, with similar results. These decades of unrestricted pollution have left the river sediments highly contaminated to this day. In September 2008, areas of

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and Porter County, Indiana, were declared national disaster areas. The Little Calumet River breached its

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

and flooded portions of the towns of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

, Indiana. In September 2019, Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal notified Indiana officials of a toxic spill from its Burns Harbor steel mill had spilled into a branch of the Little Calumet River, resulting in short-term closures of three Lake Michigan beaches.

Segments of the Calumet River system

Calumet River

The Calumet River, on the south side of

, originally simply drained Lake Calumet to Lake Michigan. A canal extending it, legendarily claimed to have been created by voyageurs at the site of a frequent portage, was dug connecting the two Calumet Rivers at the point where the name now changes from Grand to Little. The T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam was installed across the river in 1960 to control the movement of water between Lake Michigan and the river.

Grand Calumet River

The Grand Calumet River, originating in Miller Beach, flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 19, 2011 through the cities of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, as well as Calumet City and Burnham on the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

side. The majority of the river's flow drains into

via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, sending about per second of water into the lake. Today, a large portion of the river's flow originates as municipal and industrial effluent, cooling and process water and storm water overflows. Although discharges have been reduced, a number of contaminants continue to impair the area.

Little Calumet River

The Little Calumet River originally flowed from New Durham Township, LaPorte County, Indiana, to its junction with the Grand Calumet and Calumet rivers. Construction of the Portage Burns Waterway (Burns Ditch) in 1926 split the direction of flow of the Little Calumet River, at Hart Ditch, east of which it flows into Lake Michigan at the Port of Indiana Burns International Harbor. The confluence with Hart Ditch is located west of US-41 in North Township, Lake County. The Burns Ditch channelized the path of the Little Calumet River from its confluence with Deep River, at Three Rivers County Park, to the Port of Indiana by cutting through the Indiana Dunes. Three Rivers County Park is located on the border of Gary and Lake Station where I-65 meets the Borman Expressway. Little Calumet River watershed map

East of the Burns Ditch the river is called the East Arm Little Calumet River, west of the Burns ditch it is named Little Calumet River. The Little Calumet River flows through or borders the towns of

Portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

, Lake Station, Gary,

, Griffith,

, and Hammond, then through

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

, Dolton, Lansing, Calumet City, Harvey, Riverdale, Phoenix, Dixmoor, Burnham, and Blue Island in Illinois, connecting to the Cal-Sag Channel and at the junction of the Grand Calumet River and Calumet River. This arm of the river is long. The Little Calumet has of river and tributaries and drains . The major tributaries are Deep River and its Turkey Creek sub-tributary, and the Salt Creek tributary of the East Arm Little Calumet River. Each tributary originates on the Valparaiso Moraine and flows north to the Little Calumet River. The East Arm Little Calumet River, also known as the Little Calumet River East Branch begins just east of Holmesville in New Durham Township, LaPorte County, Indiana, and also flows through Chesterton, Porter, and Burns Harbor where it connects to the Port of Indiana-Burns Waterway. It has a total length of . It used to continue westward to Illinois as the Little Calumet River, but construction of the Burns Waterway in 1926 diverted its flow into Lake Michigan. Until sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, the Little Calumet River was heavily polluted with sewage, and the only fish living in the river were carp. During heavy spring rains, the river would often flood areas adjacent to the river. The Little Calumet River has been undergoing construction of a $200 million flood control and recreation project by the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 1990. The project was expected to be complete in 2013. The project includes construction of of levees and floodwalls, a control structure at Hart Ditch, and almost of hiking trails. Additionally, of the river channel is being relocated to allow better water flow, and highway bridges are being modified to permit unobstructed flow of water. A flood warning system is also being implemented. When complete, the project will protect over 9,500 homes and businesses in the towns of Gary, Griffith, Highland, Hammond, and Munster in Indiana, and prevent nearly $11 million in flood damage annually. On September 15, 2008, the remnants of

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

released heavy rain which flooded the banks of the Little Calumet River. Houses and strip malls in northern Munster and southern Hammond were evacuated. Hundreds of homes were damaged due to flooding. Recently, a new levee, along Northcote Avenue in Munster, is being built to protect residents from future floods.

Cal-Sag Channel

The Cal-Sag Channel (short for "Calumet-Saganashkee Channel") is a navigation

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

in southern Cook County,

. It serves as a channel between the

Little Calumet River The Calumet River is a system of industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the South Side, Chicago, south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River ...

and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. It is long and was dug over an 11-year period, from 1911 until 1922. The Cal-Sag Channel serves barge traffic in what was an active zone of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

in the far southern neighborhoods of the city of

and adjacent suburbs. As of 2006 it was also used more as a conduit for wastewater from southern Cook County, including the Chicago-area Deep Tunnel Project, into the Illinois Waterway. It is also used by pleasure crafts in the summer time. The western of the channel flow through the Palos Forest Preserves, a collection of protected County Forest Preserves operated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. The Cal-Sag Channel served as the rowing venue for the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games, officially known as the III Pan American Games and commonly known as Chicago 1959, were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially su ...

. When it is completed, the Calumet-Sag Trail, a greenway, will border the channel and will stretch from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Burnham Greenway.

References

External links

US EPA Area of ConcernPrairie Rivers NetworkTopoQuest, Cal Sag and Little Calumet
{{authority control Rivers of Indiana Transportation in Gary, Indiana Rivers of Illinois Canals in Indiana Canals in Illinois Pollution in the United States Tributaries of Lake Michigan Geography of Chicago Rivers of Lake County, Indiana Transportation buildings and structures in Lake County, Indiana