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KANKAKEE–MOMENCE, Illinois — Officials are warning residents to stay off the Kankakee River after the Will County Emergency Management Agency announced Friday afternoon that the warm water siphon from the Dresden Cooling Lake has been activated to manage dangerous river ice conditions.
The siphon was turned on Friday, January 30, as subzero air temperatures move into northern Illinois, increasing the risk of unstable ice. The system is designed to open channels in the river, allowing ice to move downstream instead of piling up. While effective for flood mitigation, officials stress that it also makes river ice highly unpredictable, capable of melting, shifting, or breaking apart with little to no warning…