Drought in Illinois could have some surprising, and unpleasant, effects

Illinois, like much of the rest of the Midwest, is still in the grip of a drought. The water levels in Lake Michigan, among many other places, are low. One unpleasant possible side effect, reported by the environmental web site grist.com: the Chicago river may reverse direction and empty into the lake - carrying tons of sewage with it. The good news: new locks and seawalls may limit the amount of water from the polluted river that ends up in the lake. On the other hand, what happens to downtown Chicago?

imaage Andrew Stern June 2, 2010 via blogs.reuters.com