Friday marks the unofficial start to summer, with the city’s lakefront beaches opening for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Water supplies vary across the state because different regions rely on different sources, and some water is easier to access than in other regions.

Pepper has been spotted on a Waukegan beach, where he and mate Blaze nested in 2024 and '25.

The Chicago Harbor Lock was built in the 1930s as part of the project that famously reversed the flow of the Chicago River. WTTW News explains.

The Great Lakes provide water to hundreds of cities and tribal nations, from Chicago to Duluth to Toronto. Leaders are joining together to advocate for their shared needs and to protect the shared resources of the lakes.

If landscapes could talk, the 61-acre Greene Nature Preserve in Lake Forest would have quite the tale to tell.

The explosives had been deployed earlier in May, and failed to activate, during a joint military exercise conducted by the Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force off the shore of Milwaukee.

The Navy Pier Marina is expected to officially open to the public June 14. The opening of the marina, located on the north side of Navy Pier, comes as this year’s boating season kicks off.

Officials are asking for help identifying the body of a person pulled from Lake Michigan along the Indiana Dunes shore over the weekend.

In just a handful of decades, the rusty crayfish has become dominant in the Great Lakes. Join us on a deep dive into this elusive invader.

Community volunteers helped Shedd Aquarium researcher Karen Murchie discover an important trigger of sucker fish migration and along the way they've become vital advocates for freshwater animals.

Only a fraction of the Great Lakes’ bottom has been mapped, and those low-resolution charts were completed decades ago, according to the Great Lakes Observing System, a nonprofit that manages data from a network of lake observers and makes it easily accessible.

Local officials celebrated the completion of the Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project, which will protect the state’s only remaining natural shoreline from the devastating effects of erosion.

The National Weather Service is forecasting the worst to hit late Friday afternoon. Expect strong wind gusts from the northeast, reaching 45 to 55 miles per hour.

Jim Dreyer, 61, has tried four times since 2023 to swim across Lake Michigan, including an effort just a few weeks ago, but has been unsuccessful due to lake conditions or other factors.

Organizers of the Chicago River Swim have taken the city’s suggestion and will hold the open-water swim event in Lake Michigan on Sept. 22, with the goal of proving themselves for a 2025 plunge in the river.