About Sweet Water

An Introduction to Sweet Water

The Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. (Sweet Water) is a unique partnership established in 2008 to achieve healthy and sustainable water resources throughout the 1,100 square mile Greater Milwaukee Watersheds through coordinated, collaborative efforts.  Our members include independent units of government, special purpose districts, non-profit organizations, local residents and representatives of business and academia, all sharing common goals for our shared waters.  Recognizing that our rivers travel through our region irrespective of municipal or sewerage district boundaries and that the health of our waters reflects our shared land use and common stressors, we have unified to address the issues facing our rivers and Lake Michigan through a basin-wide, collaborative approach.

The Joyce Foundation and the Sweet Water

In 2008, the Joyce Foundation funded several environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) to participate in the creation of the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. (Sweet Water) collaboration and the development of the watershed restoration plans for the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers. In April 2009, the Joyce Foundation awarded Sweet Water a $1.9 million grant over three years to continue the NGOs’ work with other Sweet Water partners to develop and implement the watershed restoration plans and for the administration of the collaboration. This project is leveraged by the extensive efforts of the other Sweet Water partners.

General objectives of the project:

The Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc.’s (Sweet Water) purpose is to achieve significant improvements in water quality, esthetics and habitat in the southeastern Wisconsin watersheds and move the region forward toward the primary goals of the Clean Water Act—fishable, swimmable waters. The Joyce Foundation is providing support to Sweet Water and key non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) to assist Sweet Water in achieving its overall goals.  The collaboration activities focus on regional implementation of a variety of projects to reduce pollution from point and non-point sources.  Sweet Water was formed to be a regional collaboration consisting of non-governmental organizations, municipalities, business, industry, state and local government agencies, academia and community groups to address and implement both the point and non-point source pollution reduction recommendations that are a part of an integrated water resources management strategy for the long-term improvement and stewardship of the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds and Lake Michigan.

As part of this grant, the NGOs are performing the following activities to further the objectives of Sweet Water:

1.      Monitoring, Modeling and Science Work

2.      Participate in the Development and Implementation of the Watershed Restoration Plans

3.      Legal and Policy Analysis for Implementation of the Watershed Restoration Plans.

4.      Developing an Outreach and Communications Strategy

5.      Sweet Water Administration and Committee Support

Mission

The Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust (Sweet Water) is a collaborative effort to achieve healthy and sustainable water resources throughout the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds.

Goals

1. Make measurable progress toward improving the water resources in the region.

2. Identify/support land use practices and designs that enhance/improve water resources and promote and restore ecological benefits.

3. Forge and strengthen relationships to leverage funding and recommend policies to assist in the implementation of projects to produce lasting water resource benefits and cost savings
throughout the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds and nearshore Lake Michigan.

Primary Purposes of Sweet Water include:

Primary Purpose 1.

To achieve water resource goals and objectives – such as clean water, conservation, and ecological function – through innovative and sustainable practices.

Primary Purpose 2.

To improve water quality in the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds to support a healthy regional economy and improve quality of life.

Primary Purpose 3.

To test and then implement innovative approaches and practices that will achieve improvements in water resources in a cost-effective way.

Primary Purpose 4.

To build partnerships and enhance collaborative decision-making and joint project implementation, engaging government, business, the building industry, agriculture, environmental, and other stakeholder organizations to obtain broad agreement and recommend where to invest funds to get the greatest benefit.

Primary Purpose 5.

Through collaborative action, to increase the region’s success in attracting new funding and leverage existing funding for water quality and water resource improvements.

The Greater Milwaukee Watersheds are defined as the watersheds of the Kinnickinnic River, Menomonee River, Milwaukee River, Root River, and Oak Creek; Lake Michigan direct drainage; the Milwaukee Harbor estuary; and nearshore Lake  Michigan.  These are the watersheds that were included in the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's Regional Water Quality Management Plan.

Join Sweet Water by signing the MOU (dated 3/23/2010)

Sweet Water Policies and Procedures(dated 7/8/08)