93 virtually no correlation between drownings and activities the victims were partaking in before they occurred. When looking for the rules for the recreational use of the river, there don’t seem to be any. Besides the general, if you want to drive a boat, you must have a boat license. This is problematic because the river can be quite dangerous if you are unfamiliar with it. Dams, fluctuating water levels, downed trees and branches, and seasonal river changes can become life-threatening hazards.9 Swimmers and recreational users of the river must be aware of these dangers and take necessary precautions in certain situations. However, the dams along the river are far more dangerous than a casual swim might seem. Even scarier than the lack of rules surrounding swimming in the regular parts of the river, there are no rules regarding swimming around the dams. Although the churning waters may look intriguing, even the most experienced swimmers can’t maneuver out of the rapids. There must be some signage or posted warnings about the dangers of swimming near the dams and the hidden dangers lurking beneath those structures. There is no way to calculate the statistics for the number of drownings from the 1910s through the 1920s in relation to the statistics from nearly 50 years later without individually counting the victims. However, in the past quarter of a century, eighteen people have died near one dam on the river.10 This explains why there has been such a large push for ridding the river of the dams altogether, as they no longer power mills or cities like they did when they were first built. In addition to causing numerous deaths and serious dangers to recreational users, they also harm the natural environment and the river's ecosystem. Currently, there are virtually no regulations or signage warning users of the dangers that lurk underneath the dams on the river. This needs to change. 9 “Safety Info for Paddlers - Fabulous Fox Water Trail,” Fabulous Fox Water Trail -, October 27, 2022, https://fabulousfoxwatertrail.org/safety/#:~:text=Although%20most%20sections%20of%20the,it's%20a%20proven% 20life%2Dsaver. 10Susan Cosier, “After a Century of Being Dammed up, Illinois Rivers Get to Go with the Flow,” NRDC, March 7, 2022, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/after-century-being-dammed-illinois-rivers-get-go-flow.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjg3OTMy