Download - Rivers Report Summer 2013
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
1/8
Sweet Water and Root-Pike WatershedInitiative Network (WIN) are expandinga region-wide, two-year $260K campaigncalled Respect Our Waters, unded by WisconsinDepartment o Natural Resources (WI-DNR)grants written by Sweet Water and Root-Pike
WIN and with support rom more than 30municipal and private partners. Te eort israising public awareness o the harm caused bynonpoint source pollution and oers tips on ways
residents can help. Te education work is basedon the results o a recent survey which showedthat the public lacked an understanding o thepollution rom stormwater and their own potentialrole in reducing pollution carried by stormwaterdraining rom our streets, driveways, and yards.
Te 2013 Respect Our Waterscampaign isexpanding on last years eorts. Ater reviewingcompeting proposals rom area television stations,
WISN Channel 12 (an ABC aliate) wasselected as primary media sponsor this year.Te station will be providing a substantial boostin advertising coverage rom the 2012 televisioncampaign, oering almost a 3 to 1 ratio o
promotion value to cash investment. RespectOur Watersads will be running on Channel12 rom May 6 through September 29.
In addition, Sweet Water and Root-Pike WINwill be promoting the campaign at more than40 local events, including armers markets,National Night Out events, local estivals andsummer concerts. At our tables, area residentscan get ree Sparkles pins and pet poop bags,
learn simple tips on reducing stormwaterpollution impacts on our rivers and LakeMichigan, and register to win ree rainbarrels or a ree rain garden. Details aboutpast and uture community appearances areavailable at respectourwaters.orgat theCommunity Events tab.
Also new in 2013, our mascot Sparkles willbe appearing on 3 million Milwaukee JournaSentinel bags this summer and all. With asimple direct message on the bags, Sparkleshighlights the importance o public involvement
and directs readers to the Respect Our Waterswebsite. Te bags, themselves made rom partially
Coming inSeptember9th Annual Great LakesRestoration Conerence
to be held in Milwaukee
September 10 12.
Registration is open.
More inormation can
be ound at
conerencehealthylakes.org
RiversReportSUMMER 2013 | volUME 4 no. 3
The Respect Our WatersCampaign Growing in 2013JEFF MARTInKA , SWEET WATER
Wecme Gassa Kra ....... 2
Sweet Water Upate .............. 3
MiwaukeesMagifcet Waters ................ 4
J Guras Built on Water.... 5
Sweet Water Mii-Grats aFries te Parks ............... 6
Cserati Ag las ...... 7
Upcmig Eets ................... 8
Inside
this Issue
Learning for life
Respect Our Waters at
Fondy Food Market
Continued on bottom of page
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
2/8Page 2 SUMMER 201
An Exchange oTalents on theSweet Waters
Steering CouncilTInA KRoEnInG, SWEET WATER
MMSDsRegional GreenInrastructure PlanKAREn SAndS, MIlWAUKEE METRoPolITAn SEWERAGE dISTRIC
As Milwaukee Deputy Commissionero Public Works Preston Cole stepsdown as a Sweet Water Steering Councilmember, we are privileged to announcethe election o Milwaukee Commissionero the Department o Public WorksGhassan Korban, trading one valuableSteering Council member or another.
Preston Cole was a ounding member othe Sweet Water board, representing the
City o Milwaukee since the organizations incorporation. Mr.Cole is also the elected Chair o the seven-member WisconsinNatural Resources Board, rst appointed by Governor Doyleand recently reappointed by Governor Walker. His advice atSteering Council meetings will be greatly missed, but Prestonremains only a phone call away.
Ghassan Korban was elected to serve on the board at itsJune 18th bi-monthly meeting. Mr. Korban was appointedCommissioner o Public Works by Mayor om Barrett in2011 and conrmed by the Milwaukee Common Council.
He is responsible or a $500 million capital, operating andmaintenance budget and 2,500 employees.
Commissioner Korban has been with the Department oPublic Works or 25 years. Prior to being appointed asCommissioner, he was the Coordination Manager or theDepartment o Public Works where he was responsible oradministering Public Works contracts. Ghassan also servedas the liaison between the Department o Public Worksand the Department o City Development on developmentprojects to the Citys Business Improvement Districts.
Commissioner Korban earned a BS in Civil Engineeringand a MS degree in Construction Management rom
Marquette University. Mr. Korban is a board member othe Milwaukee Riverwalk District, the Advisory Committeeon ransportation Systems Planning and Programming orthe Milwaukee Urbanized Area, and the City o MilwaukeeCapitol Improvement Committee.
With Commissioner Korbans experience and expertise, welook orward to his counsel on our board as our new City oMilwaukee representative, helping to guide Sweet Waterseorts in the region.
On July 22, 2013, the Milwaukee Metropolitan SewerageDistrict (MMSD) Commission approved a ground-breakinRegional Green Inrastructure Plan or the 411-square-mileMMSD planning area. Te Plan recommends adding 740million gallons o green inrastructurestrategies like rainbarrels, green roos and porous pavementacross the region. Bycomparison, the MMSDs tunnel system is 521 million gallons.Te new Plan is one part o MMSDs strategy to reduce the risko basement backups and sewer overfows when it rains heavily.
MMSDs plan ramps up implementation o green inrastructure,providing widespread benets. Trough its successul pilot projects
MMSD knows that green inrastructure works at the beginnino storms, right where rain alls. By catching and holding rainit treats water as a resource, saving capacity in municipal andMMSD sewers and ltering polluted stormwater runo beoreit reaches area waterways.
Te Plan was prepared or a number o reasons. It providesguidance or implementing MMSDs 2035 Vision to capturethe rst 0.5 inch o rain that alls on impervious areas o theDistrict. It complements MMSDs Private Property Infow andInltration (PPI/I) Reduction and Integrated Regional StormwatManagement (IRSWM) programs. It will likely help meetpollutant load reductions required to achieve water quality
standards to be outlined in third-party otal Maximum DailyLoads (MDLs) later this year. And, it will help meet MMSDnew discharge permit requirement or green inrastructure.
Te 740 million gallons o new green inrastructurecapacity recommended in the Plan will be implementedover the course o more than 20 years. It will involve
widespread public and private installations o all sizes.
You can read the Plan on MMSDs green inrastructurewebsite here: http://www.h2ocapture.com/en/GI-Plan.aspxFor more inormation, please contact Karen Sandsat (414) 225-2123 or [email protected].
Youth rom Neu Lie and their arty rain barrels
Ghassan Korban
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
3/8SUMMER 2013 Page
Ihope you are having a good summer.Heres a sampling o current projectwork involving Sweet Water partners:
Announcing the 2013 Sweet wAter
Mini-grAnt rFPS
Based on initial undraising success,
Sweet Water plans to host a 2013
mini-grant round this all. Community
and civic groups should start planning
their mini-grant proposals now, with an expected grant
submission deadline o November 1, 2013. Well post on
Sweet Waters website and Facebook pages and send out
more details in our next WatershedWatch e-newsletters.
I you are not on that listing already, add yoursel by writing
[email protected]. o learn about several recent Sweet
Water mini-grants, check out the story by Joan Herrigesin this RiversReport.
MilwAukee totAl MAx iMuM DAily loAD (tMDl)
Project ADvAnceS
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Districts MDL
consultants are condent the our Milwaukee area MDLs
will be completed and submitted by December. Sweet
Water continues work with MMSD in engaging MDL
stakeholders and our Sweet Water representatives serve
on the MDL Development eam.
Te next MDL stakeholder workshop is planned or
October at which time the allocated loads will be reviewedwith permit holders. Eighty to one hundred have attended
the ve prior sessions. Notes and slides rom all past MDL
stakeholder meetings are available atwww.mmsd.com.
Updated TMDL Schedule:
Water quality modeling completed:Late summer/all 2013
Allocated loads presented to stakeholders:October 2013
Final MDLs delivered to WDNR/US EPA:November/December 2013
MDL Implementation Plan development:January through September 2014
Tree additional stakeholder workshops are planned
or 2014. All inormation about upcoming stakeholder
workshops, as well as MDL e-updates, will be provided
via email. o be added to the e-list, send your email
address to [email protected].
MenoMonee wAterSheD-BASeD PerMit
PArtnerS Active thiS SuMMer
Te Menomonee River Watershed-Based Permit was approvedby the WDNR and US EPA in November 2012 and isthe rst true watershed-based stormwater permit in the
entire country. Te11 municipalities
joined by thepermit are now
working hard toorge newpartnerships. wosubcommitteesare underway, onechaired by JeNettesheim oMenomonee Falls is
working on eorts on illicit discharge detection and a second,chaired by im Tur o the City o Milwaukee, is working onselection o joint watershed projects. Te municipalities arebeing supported by Sweet Water partners Dennis Grzezinski(Midwest Environmental Advocates), Ezra Meyer (Clean
Wisconsin) and Cheryl Nenn (Milwaukee Riverkeeper).
SAve the DAte the 10th cleAn riverS
cleAn lAke conFerence - MAy 1St, 2014
Based on the strong attendee reviews, our Planning Committeevolunteers have chosen to return to the Harley-DavidsonMuseum next year, setting a date o Tursday, May 1, 2014.I you have great 2014 speaker or topic ideas, please send themto [email protected].
Summertime at Sweet WaterJEFF MARTInKA, SWEET WATER
Je Martinka
Ezra Meyer, Cheryl Nenn, and
Dennis Grzezinski
Some o the Menomonee River partners
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
4/8Page 4 SUMMER 201
People have long been attracted to the rivers and lakes thatcharacterize present-day Milwaukee. Troughout historyMilwaukees rivers have tremendously aected the people o thisarea. People have relied on these now-urban waterways or ood,travel, trade, industry, and recreation. But just as MilwaukeesMagnicent Waters have aected us, our actions and behavioraect the rivers we love and rely on.
In 1987, the Milwaukee Estuary was designated an Area oConcern (AOC) by the ederal government. Te waters o theMilwaukee Estuary are considered impaired as the result ohistorical modications like dredging and straightening, androm heavy pollutant loads. Te Milwaukee Estuary is one o
orty-three AOC-designated Great Lakes watersheds in theU.S. and Canada.
Areas o Concern are evaluated on ourteen characteristics calledBenecial Use Impairments. o reach the ultimate goal obecoming delisted, an AOC must reverse degradation oBenecial Use Impairments. Currently, the Milwaukee Estuary
AOC has eleven Benecial Use Impairments, but state agenciesand local partners are working on projects throughout the
watershed that improve sh and wildlie habitat, remove
contaminated sediments, and improve the aesthetics andrecreational opportunities on the rivers.
Get more involved in the watershed where you work, live,and recreate through these opportunities:
AttendBuiltonWaterLectureSeries. Discover therivers past and uture with a visual lecture series byMilwaukee historian John Gurda. Starting in September,these lectures exploring the history o our relationship withour waterways will take place throughout the region.
ParticipateinanExploreandRestoreExpedition.
Experience Milwaukees Magnicent Waters with eldtrips to AOC project sites with the Urban Ecology Center.
BecomeaCitizen-BasedAestheticsMonitoring
Program(CAMP)VolunteerorRiver/BeachAmbassador.Collect data that contributes to assessing the appearanceand enjoyment o the rivers and inorm others o the issuesand eorts that aect us and our rivers.
Grants have been written, unds secured, and projects areunderway the only thing missing is YOU! Get inormed, getinspired, and get involved with Explore and Restore: MilwaukeesMagnicent Waters. Register or events through Urban EcologyCenter at urbanecologycenter.org.
Explore and Restore Milwaukees Magnifcent WaterslESlEy ShERIdAn, URbAn EColoGy CEnTER
Ph
oto:UrbanEcologyCenter
Photo:UrbanEcologyCenter
Paddling the Milwaukee River
KK River Clean-up Team
recycled product, encourage newspaper readers to reuse thebags to pick up ater their pets.
In addition, Respect Our Watersads will be promoted onregional social media to supplement the other parts o thecampaign. WISN.com will be eaturing ads on its home pageand news sections and the campaign will also be promoted ona variety o partner websites and Facebook pages.
Te campaign is supported by unding rom a partnership omore than 30 municipalities rom Kenosha County to Ozaukeeand Washington Counties, matched by unds rom the WI-DNR.
Communities that joined in Sweet Waters portion o theunding this season include Brookeld, Brown Deer, Cudahy,Elm Grove, Fox Point, Germantown, Glendale, Greeneld,Menomonee Falls, Mequon, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County,Ozaukee County, South Milwaukee, St. Francis, West Allis,
West Milwaukee, and Whitesh Bay. Te support rom thosecommunities is backed by voluntary contributions rom 17additional governmental partners o Root-Pike WIN to thesouth. More inormation on the campaign is available atrespectourwaters.org.
Continued from page 1
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
5/8SUMMER 2013 Page
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
6/8Page 6 SUMMER 201
Sweet Water Mini-Grants andFriends o the Parks Go Together
JoAn hERRIGES, SWEET WATER
Sweet Waters Water Quality Mini-Grant Program has beenin existence since 2010 and has awarded 43 mini-grants roma total o 90 submissions over the our separate unding yearso the program. Last year, the mini-grant range was between$1,000 and $5,000.
During the three years o the mini-grant program, a number o
applications have been rom groups that are riends o the various
Milwaukee County Parks. Tese Friends groups are composed odedicated volunteers who are very aware o the needs o their
neighborhood park. Since the County Parks have experienced
several decades o budget cut-backs which have aected physical
upkeep o the parks, Friends groups have sprouted to ll someo the void.
A positive outcome o some Friends groups eorts has been goingbeyond traditional physical upkeep by using green inrastructure to
solve problems caused by storm water runo. Green inrastructure
takes many ormsincluding rain gardens, native and prairieplantings, plant buers next to streams and rivers, and bio-swales
or water retention and cleansingto name a ew. wo examples
o these groups are Friends o Grant Park and Friends o EstabrookParkboth were 2012 Sweet Water Mini-Grant Program winners.
Te Friends o Grant Park began their mini-grant project this
spring to restore eroded ravine slopes. In 2010, a severe rain storm
washed-out a ravine bridge that lead to the beach on Lake Michigan.When visitors traversed the steep blu to the beach, plants and
ground cover were trampled, causing severe erosion. Te bridgewas replaced this spring with unding rom FEMA. Te $5,000mini-grant awarded by Sweet Water, along with matching unds,
was used by the Friends volunteers to replace lost soil and plant
native plants that wil l keep the soil in place, absorb water, andprevent erosion. Local middle school students grew some o the
plants rom seed, and planted them alongside the adults, as did a
local Boy Scout troop. In addition to using native plants, othererosion control measures were used.
Te Friends o Estabrook Park have used green inrastructure
this spring and summer to install a rain garden with its $1,500mini-grant award rom Sweet Water. Te purpose o the rain
garden is to catch storm water runo and prevent erosion o soil
and silt to the Milwaukee River rom a nearby dog park. Americorps
workers excavated the garden and the Friends group planted thearea. Some o the spring plantings were eaten by rabbits and will be
replaced later this summer with species less attractive to rabbits.
Sweet Water will oer another round o mini-grants this allkeep
abreast o application inormation starting in September on ourweb site at www.swwtwater.org. Sweet Water invites diverse
organizations to apply, and were always del ighted to make more
Friends along the way.
Photo:FriensofEs
tabrook
Park
Friends o Grant Park at work on trailFriends o Estabrook Park Rain Garden
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
7/8SUMMER 2013 Page
Conservation on Agricultural LandsChRIS ClAyTon, RIvER AllIAnCE oF WISConSIn
Smooth Transition or GIS StabEn GRAMlInG, 16Th STREET CoMMUnITy hEAlTh CEnTER
Conservation on agricultural landsthings such as buerstrips, grassed waterways, and the use o cover cropsisnot always practiced in locations or in ways that improve andprotect water quality.
A project in the Ulao Creek Watershed, located in OzaukeeCounty, aims to address this issue by using conservation inspecic elds that contribute the highest amount o pollutantsto the creek, which fows into the Milwaukee River.
With help rom the Fund or Lake Michigan, the OzaukeeCounty Land and Water Management Department is leadingthis project along with the River Alliance o Wisconsin.Tese partners understand the impact agricultural runo
has on water quality in the Milwaukee River Basin, and theyunderstand the importance o taking dierent approaches toreduce agricultural runo.
Several years ago, the DNR implemented the PriorityWatersheds Program, and as a result, many gains were madeto improve water quality. In the Milwaukee River Watershed,direct runo rom many barnyards to streams was addressed,and a number o armers began using conservation tillage.
However, water quality studies have shown that agricultural landsannually contribute about 30 percent o all phosphorus and 68percent o all total suspended solids to the Milwaukee River
watershed. Tese pollutants play a signicant role in the annualalgae blooms that occur at dierent locations in the watershed.
In July, Sweet Water bid arewell to its most recent GIS(Geographic Inormation Systems) Intern, William Mobley.Will completed his graduate studies in urban planning and GISat UW-Milwaukee earlier in the year and is now headed o totackle a Ph.D. program at exas A&M University. Will also
worked with CH2M Hill on GIS aspects o MMSDs RegionalGreen Inrastructure Plan.
With Wills departure, Sweet Water welcomed VincentFerguson to its GIS Intern position. Vincent is currently
working on a graduate degree in urban planning atUW-Milwaukee, and is excited to bring his GIS talentsto the eld o water resource protection.
Ongoing GIS projects that Vince is taking over include:
Geographic prioritization o Commercial/IndustrialStormwater BMPs in the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic
Watersheds with American Rivers
Analysis o existing land use policies on stormwatermanagement in the Menomonee Watershed with 1000Friends o Wisconsin
Development o a web-based map showing the locations oprojects unded with past Sweet Water mini-grants, and asimilar map showing the locations o Sweet Water PriorityProjects as identied in its 2011 Implementation Plan.
Te work o Sweet Waters GIS Intern is an extension o itsGIS Committee, which unctions to connect GIS skills anda growing array o GIS data sets with projects that are workingto improve Southeastern Wisconsins water resources.Project sta or organizations that have unmet GIS needsare encouraged to contact the Sweet Water WatershedCoordinators identied below to discuss how the GIS Interncould be o help to their project.
Menomonee Watershed Coordinators:Sean Foltz ([email protected]) andCheryl Nenn ([email protected])
Kinnickinnic Watershed Coordinator:Ben Gramling ([email protected])
Continued on page 8
Photo taken on June 19 o a newly planted feld in the Ulao Creek
Watershed. Because o the requent early-season rains and presence
o clay soils in the watershed, planting was delayed.
Photo taken on July 17 o a feld planted with soybeans in the Ulao
Creek Watershed. Many crops, like these soybeans, are growing behind
schedule. Frequent early-season rains coupled with an extended period
o bare soils oreshadow a relatively poor year or water quality.
Photo:RiverAllianceofWisconsin
Photo:RiverAllianceofWisconsin
-
8/22/2019 Rivers Report Summer 2013
8/8Page 8 SUMMER 201
University o Wisconsin Extension
9501 W. Watertw Pak Ra
Wauwatsa, WI 53226
PHONE (414) 256-4632
WEB aturaresurces.uwex.eu
EMAIL [email protected]
Learning for life
Sweet Water
600 East Greefe Aeue
Miwaukee, WI 53204
PHONE (414) 382-1766
WEB swwtwater.rg
EMAIL [email protected]
MAnAGInG EdIToR
Kate Mrga, Sweet Water
ConTRIbUTInG EdIToRS
Je Martika, Sweet Water
Gai Eppig oert, UW-Ex tesi
Tis puicati mae pssie i part trug
te geerus supprt
RiversReport PARTnERS
Friday, August 9
GreatLakesWaterLevelsCommunityWorkshops1:00 PM - 3:30 PMPort o Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI2323 South Lincoln Memorial Drive
For more information, [email protected]
Saturday, August 20HankAaronStateTrail5KRun/WalkRegistration: 7:00 8:15 AMRace start: 8:30 AM
Info and registration athankaaronstatetrail.org
September 10 129thAnnualGreatLakesRestorationConferenceMilwaukee Center400 West Wisconsin AvenueMilwaukee, WI
Inormation and registration athttp://conerence.healthylakes.org
September 9 12
GreatLakesWeek:
InConjuctionwiththeGreatLakesRestorationConference Events in various locations in Milwaukee
Inormation and registration athttp://glweek.org
Now through September 6
2013RiverAllianceofWisconsinPhotographyContestDeadline or submissionsSeptember 6 at 11:59 pm
http://www.wisconsinrivers.org/get-involved/photography-contest
Fall Courses or Water
Technology CertifcateUWMSchoolofContinuingEducation
SePteMBer 12 - 13: Design andMaintenance o StormwaterInltration Practices
SePteMBer 25: Introduction
to WastewateroctoBer 9: Sustainable WaterManagement
octoBer 17: Native LandscapeDesign or Stormwater
Contact Murali Vedula or moreinormation at [email protected] 414-227-3121
http://www4.uwm.edu/sce/certifcate.cm?id=1341
October 15 - 17
LakeMichigan:StateoftheLakeConferenceBlue Harbor Resort | Sheboygan, WI
Inormation and registration athttp://aqua.wisc.edu/solm/Home.aspx
Upcoming Events
Continued from page 7
Wisconsins water quality standards orphosphorus cannot be met in the MilwaukeeRiver without addressing both urban andrural pollution sources. A water qualitystudy due to be completed this all willdocument the kinds o phosphorus andsediment reductions that must take placein small watersheds throughout the Basin,
like the Ulao Creek Watershed, to achievewater quality standards.
Te Ulao Creek project takes astraightorward approach to reducingpollutants; do an inventory o thephosphorus levels present in the soilso roughly 4,000 acres o armland,then use a nutrient management planningtool to estimate the risk o phosphorusruno rom each arm eld to Ulao Creek.
With those results in-hand, well beginto discuss implementing conservation
practices with the armers who can havethe greatest impact on improving the
water quality o Ulao Creek.
Te inventory and data-crunching phaseso the project will be nished by the endo the summer, allowing us to work withthe agricultural community to reducephosphorus runo. In the meantime,Ozaukee County, Milwaukee Riverkeepervolunteer stream monitors, and the River
Alliance o Wisconsin are all pitching in tocollect data detailing Ulao Creeks current
water quality conditions.Te Ulao Creek project is just one exampleo multiple partners working togetherthrough Sweet Water, and in new ways,to make progress toward achieving theregions water quality goals.