Care and Equity in our Water Infrastructures
In this research team, we’ll be partnering with Heartlands Conservancy and the Jackie Joyner Kersee Food Agriculture and Nutrition Innovation Center (JJK-FAN) to help imagine more sustainable and socially just approaches to water infrastructures. The world economic forum has called water security “our most urgent challenge today.” Flash flooding, contaminants, disappearing habitats, and lack of access to clean drinking water make water infrastructure fundamental for the health of our communities, our access to food and clean drinking water, and our biodiversity.
JJK-FAN is situated in the Southern American Bottom, a collection of smaller watersheds that form the flood plain for the Mississippi River. These watersheds are pivotal to the health of several under-resourced towns in East St. Louis School District 189, including East St. Louis, Cahokia, Washington Park, Fairmont City, and Brooklyn, IL. Because ecosystems rarely follow municipal boundaries, it has been pivotal for these towns to collaborate across governmental boundaries to address flooding and wastewater management.
This area flows with a bioregional history directly tied to water infrastructure. People, plants, and animals have relied on the area’s rich alluvial soil, and the region is part of the Mississippi Flyway, a major migratory route for birds. The region was home to the Pre-Columbian Cahokia Mounds Civilization and its central trading network, and Mississippi’s frequent flooding may have led to the civilization’s decline. Later, deforestation of the riverbanks due to increasing steamboat transportation resulted in transformation to the river’s channel and to the floodplain itself. The 20th century brought expanding industries and pollutants to these Southern Bottom’s watersheds. Industrial attempts to mitigate flooding, including a complex levee system have resulted in increased flooding in some areas. We’ll dig into SIUE’s archives to trace the long history of connection between natural and build environments in the Southern American Bottom.
Faculty Reflection
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