friends with green benefits shafer
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Watershed Collaboration = Friends with Green Benefits
Milwaukee’s Watersheds
Area Watershed (square miles)
Kinnickinnic River 24.7
Menomonee River 135.8
Milwaukee River 700.0
Oak Creek 28.2
Root River 197.6
Lake Michigan Direct 40.7
Drainage Area
Total 1,127.0Number of Counties 9
Number of Local Municipalities 83
Deep Tunnels
Designed to minimize
basement backups and for 1-2
overflows per year.
300 FeetBelow ground
521 MillionGallons of Storage
28.5 MilesLong
17- to 32-feetIn Diameter
2000 through 2005 were not good years
Media BlitzMistrust
Public Outrage
Politics
Lawsuits
So, what did we do?I decided we had to do something different, so we:
• Continued building grey infrastructure(we excelled at this and it needed to be done)
• Develop better science(People believe scientists)
• Start speaking to the public(Sewer School)
• Seek out collaborations(We are all environmentalists!)
• Initiate green infrastructure program(I knew I would “own the risk”, so it is personal)
Start with a grey backbone…
• Treatment Plants
• Sewers
• Storage Vessels…
But then go Green…
• Rain Barrels
• Rain Gardens
• Bioretention…
I knew we needed to integrate Grey and Green:
Beac
h Cl
osin
g St
udy
New Partner – The UWM Great Lakes Water Institute and Marquette University
Stor
m s
ewer
sam
plin
g
Clad
opho
ra S
tudy
Man
y, m
any
mor
e
Fate
and
Tra
nspo
rt
Stud
y
Gre
ense
ams
Greenseams®
2,300 Acres Since 2002
New Partner – The Conservation Fund
Rain
Bar
rels
New Partner – The Milwaukee Community Service Corps and individuals
Wat
er Q
ualit
y In
itiati
ve
1975
Rural-Agricultural
Runoff21%
CSO's49%
Urban-Non-Agricultural
Runoff23%
WWTP5%
SSO's2%
2000
Rural-Agricultural
Runoff21%
CSO's7%
Urban-Non-Agricultural
Runoff68%
WWTP2%
SSO's2%
Greater Milwaukee Watersheds
Fecal Coliform Loadings
Estimated Pollutant Reduction over 25-Year Period About 50 PercentCONCLUSION: Focus on abating stormwater runoff pollution
New Partner – The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
Gre
en R
oofsGreen Roofs
MillerCoors
Mequon
MMSD
MilwaukeeCountyZoo
New Partners – Multiple Organizations
Rain
Gar
dens
New Partners – Multiple Individuals
A simple thought…
Editorial: Watershed trust can be a force for regional unity - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 4, 2008
Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust
1000 Friends of Wisconsin
River Revitalization Foundation
Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers
Clean Wisconsin
16th Street Community Health CenterRiver Alliance
New Partners – The Joyce Foundation
So, Watershed Collaboration = Friends with Green Benefits
•Sustainable Infrastructure•Climate Adaptation and Mitigation•A regional green infrastructure program•Improved understanding of the W’s (what, why, when)•Increased financial resources (Joyce Foundation and GLRI)•As collaborations grow, they multiply•And to me most importantly, true friendships
Mayor Barrett
But we are not done…
And, • Partner with Agricultural Community• Continue to educate stakeholders• Finalize the watershed permit on the Menomonee River• Develop a water quality trading program that works in
Wisconsin
• Attain our 2035 Vision AND – we need your help
For more information, Visit MMSD.COM