document_title: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

question_text: the electronic data and record system of the securities and exchange commission is known as

text: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

text: Overview[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The SEC has a three-part mission: to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.[3]

text: To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the statutory requirement that public companies and other regulated companies submit quarterly and annual reports, as well as other periodic reports. In addition to annual financial reports, company executives must provide a narrative account, called the "management discussion and analysis" (MD&A), that outlines the previous year of operations and explains how the company fared in that time period. MD&A will usually also touch on the upcoming year, outlining future goals and approaches to new projects. In an attempt to level the playing field for all investors, the SEC maintains an online database called EDGAR (the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) online from which investors can access this and other information filed with the agency.

text: Quarterly and semiannual reports from public companies are crucial for investors to make sound decisions when investing in the capital markets. Unlike banking, investment in the capital markets is not guaranteed by the federal government. The potential for big gains needs to be weighed against that of sizable losses. Mandatory disclosure of financial and other information about the issuer and the security itself gives private individuals as well as large institutions the same basic facts about the public companies they invest in, thereby increasing public scrutiny while reducing insider trading and fraud.

text: The SEC makes reports available to the public through the EDGAR system. The SEC also offers publications on investment-related topics for public education. The same online system also takes tips and complaints from investors to help the SEC track down violators of the securities laws. The SEC adheres to a strict policy of never commenting on the existence or status of an ongoing investigation.

text: History[edit]

text: Prior to the enactment of the federal securities laws and the creation of the SEC, there existed so-called blue sky laws.  They were enacted and enforced at the state level, and regulated the offering and sale of securities to protect the public from fraud. Though the specific provisions of these laws varied among states, they all required the registration of all securities offerings and sales, as well as of every U.S. stockbroker and brokerage firm.[4]

text: However, these blue sky laws were generally found to be ineffective. For example, the Investment Bankers Association told its members as early as 1915 that they could "ignore" blue sky laws by making securities offerings across state lines through the mail.[5] After holding hearings on abuses on interstate frauds (commonly known as the Pecora Commission), Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. § 77a), which regulates interstate sales of securities (original issues) at the federal level. The subsequent Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. § 78d) regulates sales of securities in the secondary market. Section 4 of the 1934 act created the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to enforce the federal securities laws; both laws are considered parts of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal raft of legislation.

text: The Securities Act of 1933 is also known as the "Truth in Securities Act" and the "Federal Securities Act", or just the "1933 Act". Its goal was to increase public trust in the capital markets by requiring uniform disclosure of information about public securities offerings. The primary drafters of 1933 Act were Huston Thompson, a former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman, and Walter Miller and Ollie Butler, two attorneys in the Commerce Department's Foreign Service Division, with input from Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. For the first year of the law's enactment, the enforcement of the statute rested with the Federal Trade Commission, but this power was transferred to the SEC following its creation in 1934.

text: In 1934, Roosevelt named his friend Joseph P. Kennedy, a self-made multimillionaire  financier and a leader among the Irish-American community, as the insider-as-chairman who knew Wall Street well enough to clean it up.[6] Two of the other five commissioners were James M. Landis (one of the architects of the 1934 Act and other New Deal legislation) and Ferdinand Pecora (Chief Counsel to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investigation of Wall Street banking and stock brokerage practices). Kennedy added a number of intelligent young lawyers, including William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas, both of whom later became Supreme Court justices. Kennedy's team defined the mission and operating mode for the SEC, making full use of its wide range of legal powers. The SEC had four missions. First and most important was to restore investor confidence in the securities market, which had practically collapsed because of doubts about its internal integrity, and fears of the external threats supposedly posed by anti-business elements in the Roosevelt administration. Second, in terms of integrity, the SEC had to get rid of the penny-ante swindles based on fake information, fraudulent devices, and unsound get-rich-quick schemes. That unsavory element had to be prosecuted and shut down. Thirdly, and much more important than the outright frauds, the SEC had to end the million-dollar insider maneuvers by top officials of major corporations, whereby insiders with access to much better information about the condition of the company knew when to buy or sell their own securities. A crackdown on insider trading was given high priority. Finally, the SEC had to set up a complex system of registration for all securities sold in America, with a clear-cut set of deadlines, rules and guidelines that everyone had to follow. Drafting precise rules was the main challenge faced by the bright young lawyers. The SEC succeeded in its four missions, as Kennedy reassured the American business community that they would no longer be deceived and tricked and taken advantage of by Wall Street. He became a cheerleader for ordinary investors to return to the market and enable the economy to grow again.[7]

text: The law requires that issuing companies register distributions of securities with the SEC prior to interstate sales of these securities, so that investors may have access to basic financial information about issuing companies and risks involved in investing in the securities in question. Since 1994, most registration statements (and associated materials) filed with the SEC can be accessed via the SEC's online system, EDGAR.[8]

text: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is also known as "the Exchange Act" or "the 1934 Act". This act regulates secondary trading between individuals and companies which are often unrelated to the original issuers of securities. Entities under the SEC's authority include securities exchanges with physical trading floors such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), self-regulatory organizations (SROs) such as the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), online trading platforms such as the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ) and alternative trading systems (ATSs), and any other persons (e.g., securities brokers) engaged in transactions for the accounts of others.[9]

text: Later SEC commissioners and chairmen include William O. Douglas, Jerome Frank (one of the leaders of the legal realism movement), and William J. Casey (who later headed the Central Intelligence Agency under President Ronald Reagan).

text: Organizational structure[edit]

text: Commission members[edit]

text: Non-partisan, no more than three Commissioners may belong to the same political party. The President also designates one of the Commissioners as Chairman, the SEC's top executive. However, the President does not possess the power to fire the appointed Commissioners, a provision that was made to ensure the independence of the SEC. This issue arose during the 2008 presidential election in connection with the ensuing financial crises.

text: Currently, the SEC Commissioners are:[10]

text:
Name

Title

Party

Took office

Term expires

Jay Clayton

Chairman

Independent

May 4, 2017

2021

Kara Stein

Commissioner

Democratic

August 9, 2013

2017

Robert J. Jackson Jr.

Democratic

January 11, 2018

2019

Hester Peirce

Republican

2020

text: Divisions[edit]

text: Within the SEC, there are five divisions. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the SEC has 11 regional offices throughout the US.

text: The SEC's divisions are:[11]

text:
Corporation Finance
Trading and Markets
Investment Management
Enforcement
Economic and Risk Analysis

text: Corporation Finance is the division that oversees the disclosure made by public companies, as well as the registration of transactions, such as mergers, made by companies. The division is also responsible for operating EDGAR.

text: The Trading and Markets division oversees self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and all broker-dealer firms and investment houses. This division also interprets proposed changes to regulations and monitors operations of the industry. In practice, the SEC delegates most of its enforcement and rulemaking authority to FINRA. In fact, all trading firms not regulated by other SROs must register as a member of FINRA. Individuals trading securities must pass exams administered by FINRA to become registered representatives.[12][13]

text: The Investment Management Division oversees registered investment companies, which include mutual funds, as well as registered investment advisors.  These entities are subject to extensive regulation under various federal securities laws.[14] The Division of Investment Management administers various federal securities laws, in particular the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Investment Advisers Act of 1940.  This division's responsibilities include:[15]

text:
assisting the Commission in interpreting laws and regulations for the public and SEC inspection and enforcement staff;
responding to no-action requests and requests for exemptive relief;
reviewing investment company and investment adviser filings;
assisting the Commission in enforcement matters involving investment companies and advisers; and
advising the Commission on adapting SEC rules to new circumstances.

text: The Enforcement Division works with the other three divisions, and other Commission offices, to investigate violations of the securities laws and regulations and to bring actions against alleged violators. The SEC generally conducts investigations in private.  The SEC's staff may seek voluntary production of documents and testimony, or may seek a formal order of investigation from the SEC, which allows the staff to compel the production of documents and witness testimony. The SEC can bring a civil action in a U.S. District Court, or an administrative proceeding which is heard by an independent administrative law judge (ALJ). The SEC does not have criminal authority, but may refer matters to state and federal prosecutors. The director of the SEC's Enforcement Division  Robert Khuzami left the office in February 2013.[16]

text: Among the SEC's offices are:

text:
The Office of General Counsel, which acts as the agency's "lawyer" before federal appellate courts and provides legal advice to the Commission and other SEC divisions and offices;
The Office of the Chief Accountant, which establishes and enforces accounting and auditing policies set by the SEC.  This office has played a role in such areas as working with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to develop Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in developing audit requirements, and the International Accounting Standards Board in advancing the development of International Financial Reporting Standards;
The Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations, which inspects broker-dealers, stock exchanges, credit rating agencies, registered investment companies, including both closed-end and open-end (mutual funds) investment companies, money funds. and Registered Investment Advisors;
The Office of International Affairs, which represents the SEC abroad and which negotiates international enforcement information-sharing agreements, develops the SEC's international regulatory policies in areas such as mutual recognition, and helps develop international regulatory standards through organizations such as the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Financial Stability Forum;
The Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, which helps educate the public about securities markets and warns investors of fraud and stock market scams;
The Office of Economic Analysis, which helps the SEC estimate the economic costs and benefits of its various rules and regulations; and
The Office of Information Technology, which supports the Commission and staff in information technology, including application development, infrastructure operations. and engineering, user support, IT program management, capital planning, security, and enterprise architecture.
The Inspector General. The  SEC announced in January 2013 that it had named Carl Hoecker the new inspector general.[17][18] He has a staff of 22.[19]
The SEC Office of the Whistleblower provides assistance and information from a whistleblower who knows of possible securities law violations: this can be among the most powerful weapons in the law enforcement arsenal of the Securities and Exchange Commission.[20] Created by Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") by, among other things, adding Section 21F, entitled "Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection."[21] Section 21F directs the Commission to make monetary awards to eligible individuals who voluntarily provide original information that leads to successful Commission enforcement actions resulting in the imposition of monetary sanctions over $1,000,000, and certain successful related actions.[22]

text: SEC communications[edit]

text: Comment letters[edit]

text: Comment letters are issued by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance in response to a company's public filing.[23]  This letter, initially private, contains an itemized list of requests from the SEC.  Each comment in the letter asks the filer to provide additional information, modify their submitted filing, or change the way they disclose in future filings.  The filer must reply to each item in the comment letter.  The SEC may then reply back with follow-up comments.[24]  This correspondence is later made public.

text: In October 2001 the SEC wrote to CA, Inc., covering 15 items, mostly about CA's accounting, including 5 about revenue recognition.[25] The chief executive officer of CA, to whom the letter was addressed, pleaded guilty to fraud at CA in 2004.[25]

text: In June 2004, the SEC announced that it would publicly post all comment letters, to give investors access to the information in them.  An analysis of regulatory filings  in May 2006 over the prior 12 months indicated, that the SEC had not accomplished what it said it would do.  The analysis found 212 companies that had reported receiving comment letters from the SEC, but only 21 letters for these companies were posted on the SEC's website. John W. White, the head of the Division of Corporation Finance, told the New York Times in 2006: "We have now resolved the hurdles of posting the information.... We expect a significant number of new postings in the coming months."[25]

text: No-action letters[edit]

text: No-action letters are letters by the SEC staff indicating that the staff will not recommend to the Commission that the SEC undertake enforcement action against a person or company if that entity engages in a particular action. These letters are sent in response to requests made when the legal status of an activity is not clear. These letters are publicly released and increase the body of knowledge on what exactly is and is not allowed.  They represent the staff's interpretations of the securities laws and, while persuasive, are not binding on the courts.

text: One such use, from 1975 to 2007, was with the nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), a credit rating agency that issues credit ratings that the SEC permits other financial firms to use for certain regulatory purposes.

text: Freedom of Information Act processing performance[edit]

text: In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act (United States) (FOIA) requests published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the SEC was among the 5 lowest performers, earned a D- by scoring 61 out of a possible 100 points, i.e. did not earn a satisfactory overall grade. It had deteriorated from a D- in 2013.[26]

text: Operations[edit]

text: List of major SEC enforcement actions (2009–12)[edit]

text: The SEC's Enforcement Division brought a number of major actions in 2009–12.

text: Regulatory action in the credit crunch[edit]

text: The SEC announced on September 17, 2008, strict new rules to prohibit all forms of "naked short selling" as a measure to reduce volatility in turbulent markets.[27][28]

text: The SEC investigated cases involving individuals attempting to manipulate the market by passing false rumors about certain financial institutions.  The Commission has also investigated trading irregularities and abusive short-selling practices.  Hedge fund managers, broker-dealers, and institutional investors were also asked to disclose under oath certain information pertaining to their positions in credit default swaps.  The Commission also negotiated the largest settlements in the history of the SEC (approximately $51 billion in all) on behalf of investors who purchased auction rate securities from six different financial institutions.

text: Regulatory failures[edit]

text: The SEC has been criticized "for being too 'tentative and fearful' in confronting wrongdoing on Wall Street", and for doing "an especially poor job of holding executives accountable".[29][30][31]

text: Christopher Cox, the former SEC chairman, has recognized the organization's multiple failures in relation to the Bernard Madoff fraud.[32] Starting with an investigation in 1992 into a Madoff feeder fund that only invested with Madoff, and which, according to the SEC, promised "curiously steady" returns, the SEC did not investigate indications that something was amiss in Madoff's investment firm.[33]  The SEC has been accused of missing numerous red flags and ignoring tips on Madoff's alleged fraud.[34]

text: As a result, Cox said that an investigation would ensue into "all staff contact and relationships with the Madoff family and firm, and their impact, if any, on decisions by staff regarding the firm".[35]  SEC Assistant Director of the Office of Compliance Investigations Eric Swanson had met Madoff's niece, Shana Madoff, when Swanson was conducting an SEC examination of whether Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme because she was the firm's compliance attorney.  The investigation was closed, and Swanson subsequently left the SEC, and married Shana Madoff.[36]

text: Approximately 45 per cent of institutional investors thought that better oversight by the SEC could have prevented the Madoff fraud.[37] Harry Markopolos complained to the SEC's Boston office in 2000, telling the SEC staff they should investigate Madoff because it was impossible to legally make the profits Madoff claimed using the investment strategies that he said he used.[38]

text: A similar failure occurred in the case of Allen Stanford, who sold fake certificates of deposit to tens of thousands of people, many of them working-class retirees. In 1997, the SEC's own examiners spotted the fraud and warned about it. But the Enforcement division would not pursue Stanford, despite repeated warnings by SEC examiners over the years.[39] After the Madoff fraud emerged, the SEC finally took action against Stanford in 2009.

text: In June 2010, the SEC settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with former SEC enforcement lawyer Gary J. Aguirre, who was terminated in September 2005 following his attempt to subpoena Wall Street figure John J. Mack in an insider trading case involving hedge fund Pequot Capital Management;[40] Mary Jo White, who was at the time representing Morgan Stanley later nominated as chair of the SEC, was involved in this case.[41] While the insider case was dropped at the time, a month prior to the SEC's settlement with Aguirre the SEC filed charges against Pequot.[40] The Senate released a report in August 2007 detailing the issue and calling for reform of the SEC.[42]

text: On September 26, democratic senator Mark Warner in a letter asked the SEC to evaluate whether the current disclosure regime was adequate, citing the low number of companies' disclosures to date.[43][44][45]

text: Others have criticized the SEC for taking an overly rule-based and enforcement-focused approach to regulation, rather than an approach that emphasizes industry-wide safety and learning and thus ensures the reliability of the national securities trading system.[46]

text: Inspector General office failures[edit]

text: In 2009, the Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog group, sent a letter to Congress criticizing the SEC for failing to implement more than half of the recommendations made to it by its Inspector General.[47] According to POGO, in the prior two years, the SEC had taken no action on 27 out of 52 recommended reforms suggested in Inspector General reports, and still had a "pending" status on 197 of the 312 recommendations made in audit reports. Some of the recommendations included imposing disciplinary action on SEC employees who receive improper gifts or other favors from financial companies, and investigating and reporting the causes of the failures to detect the Madoff ponzi scheme.[48]

text: In a 2011 article by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone, former SEC employees were interviewed and commented negatively on the SEC's Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Going to the OIG was "well-known to be a career-killer".[49]

text: Because of concerns raised by David P. Weber, former SEC Chief Investigator, regarding conduct by SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz, Inspector General David C. Williams of the U.S. Postal Service was brought in to conduct an independent, outside review of Kotz's alleged improper conduct in 2012.[50] Williams concluded in his 66-page Report that Kotz violated ethics rules by overseeing probes that involved people with whom he had conflicts of interest due to "personal relationships."[50][51]  The report questioned Kotz's work on the Madoff investigation, among others, because Kotz was a "very good friend" with Markopolos.[51][52][53][54] It concluded that while it was unclear when Kotz and Markopolos became friends, it would have violated U.S. ethics rules if their relationship began before or during Kotz's Madoff investigation.[51]  The report also found that Kotz himself "appeared to have a conflict of interest" and should not have opened his Standford investigation, because he was friends with a female attorney who represented victims of the fraud.[52]

text: Destruction of documents[edit]

text: According to former SEC employee and whistleblower Darcy Flynn, also reported by Taibbi, the agency routinely destroyed thousands of documents related to preliminary investigations of alleged crimes committed by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, SAC Capital, and other financial companies involved in the Great Recession that the SEC was supposed to have been regulating. The documents included those relating to "Matters Under Inquiry", or MUI, the name the SEC gives to the first stages of the investigation process. The tradition of destruction began as early as the 1990s. This SEC activity eventually caused a conflict with the National Archives and Records Administration when it was revealed to them in 2010 by Flynn. Flynn also described a meeting at the SEC in which top staff discussed refusing to admit the destruction had taken place, because it was possibly illegal.[49]

text: Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley, among others, took note of Flynn's call for protection as a whistleblower, and the story of the agency's document-handling procedures. The SEC issued a statement defending its procedures. NPR quoted University of Denver Sturm College of Law professor Jay Brown as saying: "My initial take on this is it's a tempest in a teapot," and Jacob Frenkel, a securities lawyer in the Washington, D.C., area, as saying in effect "there's no allegation the SEC tossed sensitive documents from banks it got under subpoena in high-profile cases that investors and lawmakers care about". NPR concluded its report:

text: The debate boils down to this: What does an investigative record mean to Congress? And the courts? Under the law, those investigative records must be kept for 25 years. But federal officials say no judge has ruled that papers related to early-stage SEC inquiries are investigative records. The SEC's inspector general says he's conducting a thorough investigation into the allegations. [Kotz] tells NPR that he'll issue a report by the end of September.[55]

text: Relationship to other agencies[edit]

text: In addition to working with various self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the SEC also works with other federal agencies, state securities regulators, international securities agencies and law enforcement agencies.[56]

text: In 1988 Executive Order 12631 established the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. The Working Group is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and includes the Chairman of the SEC, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The goal of the Working Group is to enhance the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of the financial markets while maintaining investor confidence.[57]

text: The Securities Act of 1933 was originally administered by the Federal Trade Commission. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 transferred this responsibility from the FTC to the SEC. The main mission of the FTC is to promote consumer protection and to eradicate anti-competitive business practices. The FTC regulates general business practices, while the SEC focuses on the securities markets.

text: The Temporary National Economic Committee was established by joint resolution of Congress 52 Stat. 705 on June 16, 1938. It was in charge of reporting to Congress on abuses of monopoly power. The committee was defunded in 1941, but its records are still under seal by order of the SEC.[58]

text: The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) was established in 1975 by Congress to develop rules for companies involved in underwriting and trading municipal securities.  The MSRB is monitored by the SEC, but the MSRB does not have the authority to enforce its rules.

text: While most violations of securities laws are enforced by the SEC and the various SROs it monitors, state securities regulators can also enforce statewide securities blue sky laws.[4] States may require securities to be registered in the state before they can be sold there. National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 (NSMIA) addressed this dual system of federal-state regulation by amending Section 18 of the 1933 Act to exempt nationally traded securities from state registration, thereby pre-empting state law in this area.  However, NSMIA preserves the states' anti-fraud authority over all securities traded in the state.[59]

text: The SEC also works with federal and state law enforcement agencies to carry out actions against actors alleged to be in violation of the securities laws.

text: The SEC is a member of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and uses the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding as well as direct bilateral agreements with other countries' securities commissions to deal with cross-border misconduct in securities markets.

text: Related legislation[edit]

text:
1933: Securities Act of 1933
1934: Securities Exchange Act of 1934
1938: Temporary National Economic Committee (establishment)
1939: Trust Indenture Act of 1939
1940: Investment Advisers Act of 1940
1940: Investment Company Act of 1940
1968: Williams Act (Securities Disclosure Act)
1982: Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act
1999: Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act
2000: Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000
2002: Sarbanes–Oxley Act
2003: Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003
2006: Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006
2010: Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
2012: Volcker Rule (a specific section of the Dodd–Frank Act)
Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations


document_title: Chicago River

question_text: how do they make the chicago river green

root

text: Chicago River

text: Course[edit]

text: When it followed its natural course, the North and South Branches of the Chicago River converged at Wolf Point to form the Main Stem, which jogged southward from the present course of the river to avoid a baymouth bar entering Lake Michigan at about the level of present-day Madison Street.[11] Today, the Main Stem of the Chicago River flows west from Lake Michigan to Wolf Point, where it converges with the North Branch to form the South Branch, which flows southwest and empties into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

tag: p

text: North Branch[edit]

text: Early settlers named the North Branch of the Chicago River the Guarie River, or Gary's River, after a trader who may have settled the west bank of the river a short distance north of Wolf Point, at what is now Fulton Street.[12][13] The source of the North Branch is in the northern suburbs of Chicago where its three principal tributaries converge. The Skokie River—or East Fork—rises from a flat area, historically a wetland, near Park City, Illinois to the west of the city of Waukegan.[14] It then flows southward, paralleling the edge of Lake Michigan, through wetlands, the Greenbelt Forest Preserve and a number of golf courses towards Highland Park, Illinois.[15] South of Highland Park the river passes the Chicago Botanic Gardens and through an area of former marshlands known as the Skokie Lagoons. The Middle Fork arises near Rondout, Illinois and flows southwards through Lake Forest and Highland Park. These two tributaries merge at Watersmeet Woods west of Wilmette. From there the North Branch flows south towards Morton Grove.[16] The West Fork rises near Mettawa and flows south through Bannockburn, Deerfield, and Northbrook, meeting the North Branch at Morton Grove.[17] In recognition of the work of Ralph Frese in promoting canoeing on and conservation of Chicago-area rivers, the forest preserve district of Cook County, Illinois has designated a section of the East Fork and North Branch from Willow Road in Northfield to Dempster Street in Morton Grove the Ralph Frese River Trail.[18][19]

text: The North Branch continues southwards through Niles, entering the city of Chicago near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Devon Avenue,[20] from where it serves as the boundary of the Forest Glen community area with Norwood Park and Jefferson Park. This stretch of the river meanders in a south-easterly direction, passing through golf courses and forest preserves until it reaches Foster Avenue, where it passes through residential neighborhoods on the north side of the Albany Park community area.[21] In River Park the river meets the North Shore Channel, a drainage canal built between 1907 and 1910 to increase the flow of the North Branch and help flush pollution into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.[3] From the confluence with the North Shore Channel south to Belmont Avenue the North Branch flows through mostly residential neighborhoods in a man-made channel that was dug to straighten and deepen the river, helping it to carry the additional flow from the North Shore Channel.[22]

text: South of Belmont the North Branch is lined with a mixture of residential developments, retail parks, and industry until it reaches the industrial area known as the Clybourn Corridor.[23] Here it passes beneath the Cortland Street Drawbridge, which was the first 'Chicago-style' fixed-trunnion bascule bridge built in the United States,[24] and is designated as an ASCE Civil Engineering Landmark and a Chicago Landmark.

text: At North Avenue, south of the North Avenue Bridge, the North Branch divides, the original course of the river makes a curve along the west side of Goose Island, whilst the North Branch Canal cuts off the bend, forming the island. The North Branch Canal—or Ogden's Canal—was completed in 1857, and was originally 50 feet (15 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep allowing craft navigating the river to avoid the bend.[25] The 1902 Cherry Avenue Bridge, just south of North Avenue, was constructed to carry the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway onto Goose Island. It is a rare example of an asymmetric bob-tail swing bridge[26] and was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2007.[27] From Goose Island the North Branch continues to flow south east to Wolf Point where it joins the Main Stem.

text: Main Stem[edit]

text: The source of the Main Stem of the Chicago River is Lake Michigan. Water enters the river through sluice gates at the Chicago River Controlling Works with a small additional flow provided by the passage of boats between the river and Lake Michigan through the Chicago Harbor Lock.[28] The surface level of the river is maintained at 0.5 to 2 feet (0.15 to 0.61 m) below the Chicago City Datum (579.48 feet [176.63 m] above mean sea level) except for when there is excessive storm run-off into the river or when the level of the lake is more than 2 feet below the Chicago City Datum.[29] Acoustic velocity meters at the Columbus Drive Bridge and the T. J. O'Brien lock on the Calumet River monitor the diversion of water from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River basin, which is limited to an average of 3,200 cubic feet (91 m3) per second per year over the 40-year period from 1980 to 2020.[30]

text: The Main Stem flows 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west from the controlling works at Lake Michigan;[31] passing beneath the Outer Drive, Columbus Drive, Michigan Avenue, Wabash Avenue, State Street, Dearborn Street, Clark Street, La Salle Street, Wells Street, and Franklin Street bridges en route to its confluence with the North Branch at Wolf Point. At McClurg Court it passes the Nicholas J Melas Centennial Fountain, which was built in 1989 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; between May and October the fountain sends an arc of water over the river for ten minutes every hour.[32] On the north bank of the river, near the Chicago Landmark Michigan Avenue Bridge, is Pioneer Court, which marks the site of the homestead of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable who is recognized as the founder of Chicago.[33] On the south bank of the river is the site of Fort Dearborn, an army fort, first established in 1803. Notable buildings surrounding this area include the NBC Tower, the Tribune Tower, and the Wrigley Building. The river turns slightly to the south west between Michigan Avenue and State Street, passing the Trump International Hotel and Tower, 35 East Wacker, and 330 North Wabash. Turning west again the river passes Marina City, the Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building, and Merchandise Mart, and 333 Wacker Drive.

text: Since the early 2000s, the south shore of the Main Stem has been developed as the Chicago Riverwalk. It provides a linear, lushly landscaped park intended to offer a peaceful escape from the busy Loop and a tourist attraction. Different sections are named Market, Civic, Arcade, and Confluence. The sections between State Street and Lake Street are currently under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016. The plans reflect ideas first proposed by the Burnham Plan as early as 1909.

text: South Branch[edit]

text: The source of the South Branch of the Chicago River is the confluence of the North Branch and Main stem at Wolf Point. From here the river flows south passing the Lake Street, Randolph Street, Washington Street, Madison Street, Monroe Street, Adams Street, Jackson Boulevard, Van Buren Street, Congress Parkway, and Harrison Street bridges before leaving the downtown Loop community area. Notable buildings that line this stretch of the river include the Boeing Company World Headquarters, the Civic Opera House, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Union Station and Willis Tower.

text: The river continues southwards past railroad yards and the St. Charles Air Line Bridge. Between Polk and 18th Streets the river originally made a meander to the east; between 1927 and 1929 the river was straightened and moved 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) west at this point to make room for a railroad terminal.[34] The river turns to the southwest at Ping Tom Memorial Park where it passes under the Chicago Landmark Canal Street railroad bridge. The river turns westward where it is crossed by the Dan Ryan Expressway; these immovable bridges have a clearance of 60 feet (18 m) requiring large ships that pass underneath to have folding masts.[35]

text: At Ashland Avenue the river widens to form the U.S. Turning Basin, the west bank of which was the starting point of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.[36] Prior to 1983, this was where the US Coast Guard Rules of the Road, Great Lakes ended & Rules of the Road, Western Rivers began. Since 1983, there is just a single Inland Navigational Rules passed by Congressional Act in 1980 (Public Law 96-591). At the basin the river is joined by a tributary, the South Fork of the river, which is commonly given the nickname Bubbly Creek. A bridge used to span the South Fork at this point that was too low for boats to pass meaning that their cargo needed to be unloaded at the bridge, and the neighborhood at its east end became known as Bridgeport.[37] The river continues to the south west, entering the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal at Damen Avenue. The original West Fork of the South Branch, which before 1935[38] led towards Mud Lake and the Chicago Portage, has been filled in; a triangular intrusion into the north bank at Damen Avenue marks the place where it diverged from the course of the canal.[37] From there, the water flows down the canal through the southwest side of Chicago and southwestern suburbs and, in time, into the Des Plaines River between Crest Hill on the west and Lockport on the east, just north of the border between Crest Hill and Joliet, Illinois, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

text: Discharge[edit]

text: The United States Geological Survey monitors water flow at a number of sites in the Chicago River system. Discharge from the North Branch is measured at Grand Avenue; between 2004 and 2010 this averaged 582 cubic feet (16.5 m3) per second.[39] During the winter months as much as 75% of the flow in the North Branch is due to the discharge of treated sewage from the North Side Water Reclamation Plant into the North Shore Channel.[40] Flow on the Main Stem is measured at Columbus Drive; between 2000 and 2006 this averaged 136 cubic feet (3.9 m3) per second.[41]

text: History[edit]

text: Name[edit]

text: The name Chicago derives from 17th century French rendering of a Native American term for a type of wild leek, which grew abundantly near the river. The river, and its region, were named after this edible plant.[42]

text: Exploration and settlement[edit]

text: Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, though probably not the first Europeans to visit the area, are the first recorded to have visited the Chicago River in 1673, when they wrote of their discovery of the geographically vital Chicago Portage.[43] Marquette returned in 1674, camped a few days near the mouth of the river, then moved on to the Chicago River–Des Plaines River portage, where he stayed through the winter of 1674–75. The Fox Wars effectively closed the Chicago area to Europeans in the first part of the 18th century. The first non-native to re-settle in the area may have been a trader named Guillory, who might have had a trading post near Wolf Point on the Chicago River in around 1778.[44] In 1823 a government expedition used the name Gary River (phonetic spelling of Guillory) to refer to the north branch of the Chicago River.

text: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is widely regarded as the first permanent resident of Chicago; he built a farm on the northern bank at the mouth of the river in the 1780s.[45] The earliest known record of Pointe du Sable living in Chicago is the diary of Hugh Heward, who made a journey through Illinois in the spring of 1790. Antoine Ouilmette claimed to have arrived in Chicago shortly after this in July 1790.[46]

text: In 1795, in a then minor part of the Treaty of Greenville, an Indian confederation granted treaty rights to the United States, to a parcel of land at the mouth of the "Chicago River".[n 1][48] This was followed by the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis and Treaty of Chicago, which ceded additional land in the Chicago area.[49] In 1803, Fort Dearborn was constructed on the bank opposite what had been Point du Sable's settlement, on the site of the present-day Michigan Avenue Bridge.[50] Lieutenant James Strode Swearingen, who led the troops from Detroit to Chicago to establish the fort, described the river as being about 30 yards (27 m) wide and upwards of 18 feet (5.5 m) deep at the place where the fort was intended to be built; the riverbanks were 8 feet (2.4 m) high on the south side and 6 feet (1.8 m) on the north.[51]

text: Early improvements[edit]

text: Between 1816 and 1828 soldiers from Fort Dearborn cut channels through the sandbar at the mouth of the river to allow yawls to bring supplies to the fort.[52] These channels rapidly clogged with sand requiring a new one to be cut. On March 2, 1833 $25,000[n 2] was appropriated by Congress for harbor works, and work began in June of that year under the supervision of Major George Bender, the commandant at Fort Dearborn.[52][54] In January 1834 James Allen took over the supervision of this work[55] and, aided by a February storm that breached the sandbar, on July 12, 1834 the harbor works had progressed enough to allow a 100-short-ton (91 t) schooner, the Illinois to sail up the river to Wolf Point and dock at the wharf of Newberry & Dole.[52] The initial entrance through the sandbar was 200 feet (61 m) wide and 3 to 7 feet (0.91 to 2.13 m) deep, flanked by piers 200 feet (61 m) long on the south wall and 700 feet (210 m) long to the north. Allen's work continued, and by October 1837 the still unfinished piers had been extended to 1,850 and 1,200 feet (560 and 370 m) respectively.[56]

text: In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan canal linked the river to the Illinois River and the Mississippi Valley across the Chicago Portage. This canal was the farthest west, and the last, of a series of United States' government land grant canals. It provided the only water route from New York City to New Orleans through the county's interior and Chicago.[57]

text: Reversing the flow[edit]

text: During the last ice age, the area that became Chicago was covered by Lake Chicago, which drained south into the Mississippi Valley. As the ice and water retreated, a short 12-to-14-foot (3.7 to 4.3 m) ridge was exposed about a mile inland, which generally separated the Great Lakes' watershed from the Mississippi Valley, except in times of heavy precipitation or when winter ice flows prevented drainage.[58] By the time Europeans arrived, the Chicago River flowed sluggishly into Lake Michigan from Chicago's flat plain. As Chicago grew, this allowed sewage and other pollution into the clean-water source for the city, contributing to several public health problems, like typhoid fever.[59] Starting in 1848, much of the Chicago River's flow was also diverted across the Chicago Portage into the Illinois and Michigan Canal.[60] In 1871, the old canal was deepened in an attempt to completely reverse the river's flow but the reversal of the river only lasted one season.[61]

text: Finally, in 1900, the Sanitary District of Chicago, then headed by William Boldenweck, completely reversed the flow of the Main Stem and South Branch of the river using a series of canal locks, increasing the river's flow from Lake Michigan and causing it to empty into the newly completed Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. In 1999, this system was named a "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).[6] Before this time, the Chicago River was known by many local residents of Chicago as "the stinking river" because of the massive amounts of sewage and pollution that poured into the river from Chicago's booming industrial economy.

text: Through the 1980s, the river was quite dirty and often filled with garbage; however, during the 1990s, it underwent extensive cleaning as part of an effort at beautification by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

text: In 2005, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created a three-dimensional, hydrodynamic simulation of the Chicago River, which suggested that density currents are the cause of an observed bi-directional wintertime flow in the river. At the surface, the river flows east to west, away from Lake Michigan, as expected. But deep below, near the riverbed, water seasonally travels west to east, toward the lake.[62]

text: All outflows from the Great Lakes Basin are regulated by the joint U.S.-Canadian Great Lakes Commission, and the outflow through the Chicago River is set under a U.S. Supreme Court decision (1967, modified 1980 and 1997). The city of Chicago is allowed to remove 3200 cubic feet per second (91 m³/s) of water from the Great Lakes system; about half of this, 1 billion US gallons a day (44 m³/s), is sent down the Chicago River, while the rest is used for drinking water.[63] In late 2005, the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes proposed re-separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to address such ecological concerns as the spread of invasive species.[64]

text: Eastland disaster[edit]

text: In 1915, the Eastland, an excursion boat docked at the Clark Street bridge, rolled over, killing 844 passengers.[65] Many of the passengers were trapped by moving objects such as pianos and tables. The site is now the location of a memorial dedicated in 1989. The marker was stolen in 2000 and replaced in 2003. There are plans to build an outdoor exhibit at the site as well.

text: Chicago flood of 1992[edit]

text: On April 13, 1992, a flood occurred when a pile driven into the riverbed caused stress fractures in the wall of a long-abandoned tunnel of the Chicago Tunnel Company near the Kinzie Street railroad bridge. Most of the 60-mile (97 km) network of underground freight railway, which encompasses much of downtown, was eventually flooded, along with the lower levels of buildings it once serviced and attached underground shops and pedestrian ways.

text: Bridges[edit]

text: The first bridge across the Chicago River was constructed over the North Branch near the present day Kinzie Street in 1832. A second bridge, over the South Branch near Randolph Street, was added in 1833.[66] The first moveable bridge was constructed across the main stem at Dearborn Street in 1834.[67] Today, the Chicago River has 38 movable bridges spanning it, down from a peak of 52 bridges.[68] These bridges are of several different types, including trunnion bascule, Scherzer rolling lift, swing bridges, and vertical lift bridges.

text: Pollution[edit]

text: The Chicago River has been highly affected by industrial and residential development with attendant changes to the quality of the water and riverbanks. Several species of freshwater fish are known to inhabit the river, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, rock bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish, and carp. The river also has a large population of crayfish. The South Fork of the Main (South) Branch, which was the primary sewer for the Union Stock Yards and the meat packing industry, was once so polluted that it became known as Bubbly Creek.[69] Illinois has issued advisories regarding eating fish from the river due to PCB and mercury contamination, including a "do not eat" advisory for carp more than 12 inches long.[70] There are concerns that silver carp and bighead carp, now invasive species in the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, may reach the Great Lakes through the Chicago River.[71] Despite the pollution concerns, the Chicago River remains a very popular target for freshwater recreational fishing. In 2006, the Chicago Park District started the annual "Mayor Daley's Chicago River Fishing Festival", which has increased in popularity with each year.

text: Mouth of the River[edit]

text:
Near the mouth of the Chicago River 1838

Near the mouth of the Chicago River 1893

Near the mouth of the Chicago River circa late 1800s

Mouth of the river in the early 20th century

tag: ul

text: Dyeing the River Color[edit]

text: St. Patrick's Day[edit]

text: As part of a more than fifty-year-old Chicago tradition, the Chicago River is dyed green in observance of St. Patrick's Day.[72] The actual event does not necessarily occur on St. Patrick's Day and is scheduled for the Saturday before March 17, unless the 17th falls on a Saturday (when the event takes place on St. Patrick's Day).

text: The tradition of dyeing the river green arose by accident when plumbers used fluorescein dye to trace sources of illegal pollution discharges.[73] The dyeing of the river is still sponsored by the local plumbers union.[74]

text: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlawed the use of fluorescein for this purpose, since it was shown to be harmful to the river.[73] The parade committee has since switched to a mix involving forty pounds of powdered vegetable dye.[75] Though the committee closely guards the exact formula, they insist that it has been tested and verified safe for the environment.[76] Furthermore, since the environmental organization Friends of the Chicago River believes the dye is probably not harmful, they do not oppose the practice.[77]

text: In 2009 First Lady Michelle Obama, a Chicago native, requested that the White House fountains be dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.[78]

text: Chicago Cubs Rally[edit]

text: For the Chicago Cubs rally and parade for their 2016 World Series Championship celebrations, the river was dyed Cubs blue.[79]

text: Monitoring the impact of extreme weather events on the Chicago District[edit]

text: The US Army Corps of Engineers have monitored the development of harbors and channels for navigation on the Great Lakes since the early 1800s. They began monitoring hydrological conditions and lake levels in 1918. A December 26, 2012 report revealed that Chicago District navigation infrastructure did receive significant impacts from Hurricane Sandy with some areas experiencing severe shoaling. Chicago Shoreline Project mitigated the damage of the storm event.[5]

text: The same report noted that the low Great Lakes levels were drought-induced, caused by a very hot, dry summer and a lack of a solid snowpack in the winter of 2012. At the time of the report, December 2012, Lake Michigan-Huron was 28 inches below its long-term average which is near the record lows of 1964.[5] Historic lake levels for Lake Michigan reported from 1918 to 1998 show that the low levels observed in 1964 were the lowest since 1918.[4] In 2012 Lake Michigan-Huron’s seasonal rise was about 4 inches where it usually is about 12 inches. Normally the Chicago River water level is two feet lower than the lake and therefore does not flow into the lake. If the lake level falls too low threatening to reverse the river flow, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago would be forced to close locks between the lake and river for longer periods of time limiting navigation. A reversal flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan would have a negative impact on navigation and on the quality of Lake Michigan water which is the source of drinking water.[5] Chicago's raw sewage in the river is normally carried upstream toward the Mississippi River which flows south towards the Gulf of Mexico. On January 9, 2013 Chicago meteorologists announced 320 days without at least one inch of snowfall. Water levels in the lake started to level off with the river and sewage was visible at the cusp of the locks, just a few hundred feet from Lake Michigan. David St. Pierre, executive director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago warned the low lake levels were nearing a point of real concern.[80] However, the District maintains that it is not possible for the River to reverse due to low lake level alone.[81][82]

text: Measurements taken by the US Army Corps in January 2013 revealed that both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron had reached their "lowest ebb since record keeping began in 1918, and the lakes could set additional records over the next few months, the corps said. The lakes were 74 centimetres (29 inches) below their long-term average and had declined 43 centimetres (17 inches) since January 2012".[83]