In April 2019, USACE received a request under the Planning Assistance to States authority to assist the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) in updating and expanding physical and social data on the inland waterways. Given the input from the River Ecology and Governance Task Force, DPD requested assistance in developing a comprehensive planning framework for the Chicago waterways. USACE and DPD invited the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC), and the Chicago Park District (CPD) to join the partnership, starting a robust collaboration to develop the Chicago Waterways Restoration Framework Plan.