Mark Your Calendars -- Kinnickinnic and Menomonee Watershed Action Team Meetings -- Join us!

Kinnickinnic River Watershed Action Team Meeting

Wednesday July 21 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM

      Wilson Park Pavilion

      1601 W. Howard Ave.

      Milwaukee WI

Menomonee River Watershed Action Team Meeting

Thursday July 22 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM

      Elm Grove Village Hall, Courtroom

      13600 Juneau Blvd.

      Elm Grove, WI

This will be another opportunity for local residents, businesses, and property owners to share their knowledge of the rivers, and help us identify problems and opportunities. 

We hope you will be able to join us – and bring a friend! Help us spread the word by talking to others that may be interested.

Sweet Water Science Committee to Meet July 13

The Science Committee will meet July 13 from 3:00 - 5:00 at the UWM - Great Lakes WATER Institute, located at 600 E. Greenfield Ave in Milwaukee.

Main agenda topics include: 

For more details, see agenda.

For more information about the Science Committee, please contact Ezra Meyer, Science Committee Co-Chair at 608-251-7020, x 20 or emeyer@cleanwisconsin.org.

Hearings Set on Proposed DNR Rules to Implement Great Lakes Compact

Proposed rules that would implement the Great Lakes Compact and would affect municipal water suppliers, industry, irrigators and others who use large amounts of surface water or groundwater, are the topic of public hearings statewide later this month. The hearings will cover three of the seven water use rules the Department of Natural Resources will ultimately develop to carry out the Great Lakes Compact, formal agreements between the Great Lake states and two Canadian provinces, and the Wisconsin legislation, according to Shaili Pfeiffer, the Department of Natural Resources water specialist involved in conducting outreach on the rules.
(more)

Graphic by connectmidmichigan.com

Workshop for Best Management Practices for Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Mitigation Draws a Full House

If the attendance at last week’s workshop presented by American Rivers at Simon Landscape Company, best management practices for stormwater is a hot topic.  A packed room listened intently to the presentation by Dr. Robert Rossen, Director of the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Stormwater. 

The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer period.  Bryan Simon, president of Simon Landscaping, led the attendees outside on a walking tour of the various bmps he employs at his company including porous pavers, a fountain fed by recycled gray water, and a large bio-filtration area.  A green roof has been designed and will be installed in the near future.. 

American Rivers in conjunction with Simon Landscaping will be offering more workshops through the summer and fall. For more information about these upcoming workshops, contact: Sean Foltz, Associate Director, Clean Water Program, American Rivers - sfoltz@americanrivers.org or at 414-727-2292.

Multiple Milwaukee-Area GLRI Projects Advance

Thirteen Greater Milwaukee area watershed-related projects advanced in the first round of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project funding, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in late May. The projects are to receive $7,478,746 in GLRI funds. The grant requests are among the 270 finalists from 13 states and one Canadian province that are advancing for $161 million in GLRI funding. Congratulations to all the GLRI winners and their partners. These successes bode well for our joint work on the Milwaukee area waterways and Lake Michigan.
(more)

Graphic by Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Forum on Phosphorus – Topic of High Interest

Over 60 people attended Sweet Water’s Forum on Phosphorus held on May 27 at the UWM Great Lakes WATER Institute.  Representatives from municipalities, state agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations were in attendance.   Briefings were given by four experts:

Susan Anthony, Senior Staff Attorney, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District; James Baumann, Bureau of Watershed Management, WI Dept. of Natural Resources; Paul G. Kent, JD, Partner, Anderson & Kent, S.C.; and Betsy Lawton, Staff Attorney, Midwest Environmental Advocates.  The presentations were followed by an extended question and answer period.

Presentations from the forum:
   Susan Anthony
   Jim Baumann
   Betsy Lawton
   Iowa State Phosphorus Study Handout

Check out the first RiversReport on Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds

The RiversReport is a quarterly compendium of news concerning the watersheds of the Greater Milwaukee area. In a new joint effort, Sweet Water (Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc.), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin-Extension have joined in promoting the efforts in our region that advance water quality and water resource restoration in the format of a quarterly e-newsletter. Together, the three partners will bring the latest events, programs, projects and people who move our region closer to fishable and swimmable waters. Click here to read the first issue.  And, your comments are always welcomed!

Inside RiversReport spring 2010 issue:

p2    Record-sized Greater Milwaukee river cleanups

p3    Free water quality monitor trainings

p4    Projects get state Coastal Zone funding

p5    Industrial point source pollution primer

p6    Medicine Collection offered

p7    New Best Management Practice stormwater efforts in KK watershed

p8    Watershed Action Team updates

p9    Ozaukee Project employs youth

p10  Speakers Bureau offerings

p12  Greenseams project in Brookfield

100-Gallon Challenge to Commemorate 40th Earth Day

You can help reduce sewer overflows to Lake Michigan, basement backups at your home, and polluted stormwater runoff by taking the 100-gallon challenge whenever your favorite forecaster calls for heavy rain.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, the Urban Ecology Center, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), and Sweet Water are encouraging families and neighbors to customize their own plan to reduce water usage inside the home and increase water storage in the yard whenever your favorite forecaster calls for heavy rain.  Installing a rain barrel on your downspout alone can capture 55 gallons of water that you can use during dry weather to water trees, gardens, and flowers.

(more)

Press Release 100 Gallon Challenge

From Ken Leinbach at Urban Ecology Center

Take the 100 Gallon Challenge NOW

Reminder – Watershed Action Team Meetings June 23 & 24

Watershed Action Team (WAT) meetings for the Kinnickinnic and Menomonee Watersheds will be held this week.  We are gathering your input to help set priorities and identified potential first projects that will protect and restore the health of the rivers and habitats.  This will be an opportunity for local residents, businesses, and property owners to share their knowledge of the rivers, and help us identify problems and opportunities.  We hope will be able to join us – and bring a friend!

May Menomonee WAT meeting. 

Co-chairs, Cheryl Nenn and Gail Epping Overholt leading the mapping activity.

Joyce Grant NGO Partners Complete 6 Month Interim Report

On March 12, the Joyce Grant NGO Partners presented their interim report to the Sweet Water Grant Review Board and to Joyce Foundation staff Molly Flanagan, Program Manager, and Charlie Boesel, Director of Communications.  

The review, six months into the three-year project, highlighted progress to date in the main areas of focus: modeling, monitoring and science work; development and implementation of watershed restoration plans, legal and policy analysis for implementation of watershed restoration plans; development of an outreach and communications strategy; and Sweet Water administrative and committee support.

The grant, awarded June of 2009, funds the work of eight nonprofit organizations partnering to advance restoration efforts in the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds with initial work in the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Watersheds.  

The Joyce Grant NGO Partners include: Sweet Water, River Revitalization Foundation, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, 16th St. Community Health Center, Clean Wisconsin, River Alliance of Wisconsin, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and Midwest Environmental Advocates. 

Interim Report - February 2010

Moving from Planning to Action

With the completion of Watershed Restoration Plans for the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers, Watershed Action Teams are moving into a new phase of work.  After months of working with the consultant team from HNTB through the development of the plans, the Watershed Action Teams, or WATs, will now identify priority actions, gather the necessary people for projects, and engage in project implementation.

The restoration effort will be led and coordinated by Sweet Water and its partners.  Projects will be prioritized to have the greatest impact on the health of our rivers and Lake Michigan.  They will focus on reducing nutrients flowing into our waterways, protecting and restoring habitats and the natural beauty of our rivers, and addressing the problem of bacteria and pathogens entering our rivers and streams.

This exciting next phase of work will begin at the April WAT meetings.  The next meetings for the WATs are:

Kinnickinnic River – April 21 at 4:00 – 6:30 at Wilson Park Pavillion

Menomonee River – April 22 at 4:00 – 6:30 at Milwaukee County Cooperative Extension Office

(more)

Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust Announces New
Executive Director

The Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust is pleased
to announce the successful recruitment of a new Executive
Director. Jeff Martinka will begin working with the Trust on
January 1, 2010. Mr. Martinka brings to the Trust broad
experience managing nonprofit organizations and urban
planning. The Search and Screen Committee was
impressed with his record of developing new sources of
funding for the organizations he has operated in the past.
His enthusiasm for the work of the Trust will be a real
asset.

(more)

A Forum on Phosphorus – May 27

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is now developing new phosphorus standards for the water bodies in the State of Wisconsin. Those rules will have a significant impact on water quality criteria and limitations and effluent standards, leading to important revisions to Chapters NR 102 and NR 217 of the Wisconsin Administrative Codes concerning phosphorus water quality standards for Wisconsin water bodies and effluent limits for Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (WPDES) permits.

Come to a free Phosphorus Forum, sponsored by Sweet Water: the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. and hosted by the UWM’s Great Lakes WATER Institute.   The event will feature briefings by four experts on the developments in the phosphorus situation in Wisconsin.  There will also include an opportunity for questions and open discussion.

(more)

Milwaukee River near Cedarburg, September 2009

Join the Fun at the Lakefront!

Gathering Waters Festival, Saturday, June 12

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Head down to Lakeshore State Park for the Gathering Waters Festival. This free festival will be located along 1.7 miles of trail, beach, short grass prairie, rain gardens, boat docks and fishing pier of the Park. The Park opened in 2007 and is a 17-acre peninsula located off the coast of the Summerfest grounds.

This is a family event with many activities for kids and adults with local music, food, beverages and more. It's also a great place to watch the Milwaukee Air & Water Show going that day. Amongst all the fun, visitors can check out how to build a rain garden, use a rain barrel, create beautiful and safe gardens and lawns, and check their own health vitals.

Visitors are encouraged to walk, skate, or ride their bike to the Park to enjoy Milwaukee's lakefront and just get outdoors after a long, cool spring.

www.GatheringWatersFest.org

Upcoming Workshop on Best Management Practices

What: Free Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Workshop featuring Dr. Robert Roseen, P.E., University of New Hampshire - Stormwater Center Director

Where: 4121 S. 6th St., Milwaukee

Simon Landscape Company, Inc. / Energy Exchange

When: Thursday, June 17, 12:30-3:00 PM (Free lunch provided)

Dr. Roseen is a licensed professional engineer and Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. He has been the Director of the UNH Stormwater Center since 2004. Dr. Roseen is a renowned national spokesperson on the study of stormwater management BMPs, with a special expertise in successful cold weather stormwater mitigation practices.

This free workshop is presented by American Rivers.  To RSVP or for more information: Sean Foltz, Associate Director, Clean Water Program, American Rivers - sfoltz@americanrivers.org or 414-727-2292