Wisconsin Salt Wise Strategic Development Grant
Winter in Wisconsin creates tension between safety and water quality when excess salt from our roads and sidewalks flows into our waterways. As chloride levels rise, planning commissions, municipalities, water utilities, and sewerage districts are facing the problem without a statewide strategy. The Wisconsin Salt Wise Partnership has spearheaded salt reduction efforts to protect Dane […]
Milwaukee Estuary AOC Community Advisory Committee
After years of planning, organizing, and advocacy, Milwaukee is launching the clean-up of its Area of Concern (AOC). This massive effort brings together federal, state, local, and community-based partners for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally address the legacy pollution that has impaired Milwaukee’s waterways for decades. Community voice is an essential component of the AOC’s […]
Willow Creek Preserve Restoration
Decades of agriculture and urban development have severely degraded the natural ecosystem of Willow Creek, a rare cold-water system that supports reproducing migratory species of salmon and trout. Because of the Willow Creek Preserve’s importance as an Area of Special Natural Resource Interest within the Sheboygan River, the Glacial Lake Conservancy is working to restore […]
Improving Water Quality and the Visitor Experience at Lakeshore State Park
At Milwaukee’s popular Lakeshore State Park, Canada Geese feed on grass and leave waste along the lagoon, shoreline, and paths. Friends of Lakeshore State Park and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are partnering with Migratory Bird Management, LLC to use environmentally-friendly and non-lethal products to deter the goose population and thereby improve water quality, […]
Restoration of the Honey Creek Headwaters
The headwaters of Honey Creek flow through two of Greenfield’s community parks, but a recent feasibility study showed significant impairment of the waterway, with sediment loading and vegetative overgrowth. While much attention has been paid to Honey Creek’s downstream, concrete-lined segments, the City of Greenfield now turns their attention to urbanized headwaters by restoring stream […]
Spring Creek and Mills Creek Daylighting
Spring and Mills Creeks are currently buried beneath the slab foundation of an abandoned and blighted foundry building. The City of Brillion plans to free these streams from over 800 linear feet of box culverts and remediate the surrounding environment, creating a meandering stream and restoring fish and aquatic wildlife habitats. This restoration project will […]
Planning for a Community Resilience Hub
Although climate change most heavily impacts frontline communities, decision-makers and community partners often fail to recognize a clear connection between racial and environmental justice. Four Racial Equity in Climate Resilience Fellows will conduct a community needs assessment for the City of Racine, measuring residents’ experiences with environmental challenges related to water, climate change, housing, and […]
Evaluation of Shoreline Wall Structures and Utility Crossings in the Milwaukee Estuary AOC
The Redevelopment Authority of Milwaukee is one member of a long list of local and federal partners who have come together to address key environmental impairments, clean up the Milwaukee Estuary, and delist it as an EPA Area of Concern. This project contributes to that much larger, community-wide effort by evaluating shoreline wall structures and […]
Upper Fox-Wolf Demonstration Farm Network Cover Crop Implementation Initiative
A network of farms in the Upper Fox-Wolf basin was created to demonstrate cover crop, no-till, and soil health conservation practice systems, to establish an efficient and effective mechanism for the transfer of technology and information, and to create opportunities for other farms as well. The farms saw a need for a new inter-seeder and […]
Implementing Wisconsin Clean Marina Best Management Practices at Lake Michigan Marinas
The Wisconsin Clean Marina Program is a state-wide certification program that provides guidance, training, and technical assistance to help marinas adopt best management practices that reduce pollution and protect Wisconsin’s water resources. But some of these practices like boat wash collection systems and green infrastructure can be challenging for certain marinas and can have a […]