Fresh Coast Guardians (and Fresh Coast 740) is the new Green Infrastructure Center for Excellence in the Milwaukee River Basin. This resource is offered by Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and an integral component of the plan to absorb 740M Gallons of stormwater (equivalent to 0.5" of rainfall across the service area) and greatly reduce runoff and pollutant loading to surface waters.
Who We Are & What We Do:
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MMSD is regarded nationally as a leader in water reclamation, flood management, green infrastructure, and much more!
- GI helps MMSD (and our 28 municipalities) holistically manage water BEFORE it enters local sewers, the MMSD system, and area waterways.
Green Infrastructure Center of Excellence:
- The GI Center of Excellence connects to MMSD through the MMSD's goal of adding 740 million gallons of green infrastructure capacity across the region.
- We can help you help us manage stormwater where it falls...with green infrastructure!
Services Offered:
The TMDL Implementation Team met in March to discuss the formal approval of the Milwaukee Basin TMDLs and future steps. We will be working on the following over the next few months;
- Planning for next meeting
- Planning for stormwater/MS4 stakeholder meeting
- Planning for next Monitoring meeting
- Developing updates for the Milwaukee Basin TMDL website
Future meeting plans will be published in this newsletter. If you are subscribed to this newsletter, and/or have participated in past meetings, you will receive notifications.
Conservation partnerships and Farmer-Led Soil Health and Watershed Initiatives are a couple of the exciting new developments helping address TMDL nonpoint source reduction goals. Within the Milwaukee River Watershed, both Ozaukee and Washington Counties have active farmer-led groups. These farmer-led groups are working with numerous partners to implement soil health practices that are economical for farmers, while also beneficial in protecting water quality.
Cedar Creek Farmers
Cedar Creek is a tributary of the Milwaukee River in Washington County. Cedar Creek Farmers has developed an incentive payment plan for conservation practices to offset costs of establishing grasses in concentrated flow channels, reduced and no-tillage, fall cover crop establishment, and nutrient management planning. The goal is to spend 80 percent of the grant on incentive payments, with the remainder going to host field days and distribute informational materials. Washington County Land and Water Conservation Division is their collaborator.
Learn more about this group in this video
Contact: Allen Schmidt, (262) 483-0683
Milwaukee River Watershed Clean Farm Families
Improving soil health and water quality in the Milwaukee River watershed. Collaborating with Ozaukee County Land Conservation Department and the Milwaukee River Watershed Conservation Partnership, the group sought funding to add financial incentives to farmers for nutrient management planning, conservation tillage and low-disturbance manure injection to its existing cover crop, harvestable buffer and tillage demonstrations. The group will also host field days, workshops and trainings. Read more about this group in this article from last year.
Contact: Jim Melichar, 262-206-1731
In Fond du Lac County, the Bord family has implemented various conservation practices to protect the land they operate and meet their bottom line. See how this former dairy operation transitioned to make their farm work.
The
Washington-Ozaukee and Sheboygan County Farm Service Agency, along with the UW
Extension Office is hosting two Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP)
informational meetings. The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 8, 2018
at 1:00 PM at the Sheboygan County FSA Office located at 650 Forest Ave.,
Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085 in room 105. The second meeting will be held on
Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the Washington-Ozaukee County FSA Office
located at 333 E Washington Street, West Bend, WI 53095 in room 3224
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Water Action Volunteers (WAV) is a statewide program for Wisconsin citizens who want to learn about and improve the quality of Wisconsin's streams and rivers. The program is coordinated through a partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin - Cooperative Extension. Citizens, civic groups, 4-H clubs, students and other volunteer groups are participating in WAV programs across the state.
There are numerous training opportunities every year throughout the state. The schedule of events can be found here. Locally, the next training is May 5 in Newburg. To register;
Milwaukee area - Zac Driscoll, Milw. Riverkeeper, 414-287-0209
Ozaukee or Washington Counties - Mary Holleback, Riveredge, 262-416-1224
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Future meeting plans will be published in this newsletter. If you are subscribed to this newsletter, and/or have participated in past meetings, you will receive notifications. Past editions of this newsletter are available;
2018: April, March, February, January
2017: December, November, October, September, August,
July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2016: December, November
Join Milwaukee Riverkeeper and Lakefront Brewery for an afternoon of creatively decorating rain barrels awhile enjoying the relaxing lakefront view. For $30, you will receive a 60-gallon blue barrel and all the supplies necessary to turn it into a rain barrel!
- Stop by and pick up your rain barrel
- Assemble your rain barrel with the help of our staff
- Start priming and painting your barrel with paint and paint brushes supplied by Milwaukee Riverkeeper
- Join our rain barrel design contest. Teams will be able to work on their designs from 11 a.m. –2 p.m.
- Take it home with you at 2 p.m. to start using it right away
Already have a rain barrel? Stop on by and check out the artists’ designs!Have a great time by the river, make some functional art to help protect the river, enjoy camaraderie and enjoy a cold one! Two dates to choose from;
May 20: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
June 3: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Registration before the event is required. We have a limited number of barrels so be sure to reserve yours today.
Questions? Please email christina@milwaukeeriverkeeper.org
Location: Lakefront Brewery
1872 N. Commerce St., Milwaukee, WI 53212
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Draft guidance concerning storm water is now available for review and comment on the Proposed DNR Program Guidance web page. "Rain Garden - Technical Standard 1009” and “Trackout Control Practices - Technical Standard 1057” are open for comment until May 9, 2018.
The proposed “Rain Garden - Technical Standard 1009” has been created based on the 2003 “Rain Garden – A How to Manual for Homeowners” (created by the UW-Extension and DNR) and will address the design of residential and commercial rain gardens. Additionally, it will be available to assist counties to meet the impervious surface standard provision of their shoreland zoning ordinances they must establish per NR 115, Wis. Adm. Code.
The proposed “Trackout Control Practices - Technical Standard 1057” (formerly named Stone Tracking Pad and Tire Washing) has been updated to include a suite of tracking control options, incorporate an avoid/minimize/mitigate approach, bring in additional technology, and incorporate implementation experience.
The Department is soliciting comments from the public on these draft guidances. Once the 21 day notice period is complete, all comments will be considered by the Department. After considering all public comments, revisions may be made to the guidance documents and final guidance will be made available to internal and external stakeholders. Comments related to this draft guidance document should be sent to: DNRTECHNICALSTANDARDS@Wisconsin.gov.Please indicate in the subject line which Technical Standard the comments pertain to.
The Wisconsin Association for Floodplain, Stormwater, and Coastal Management will be having their 2018 Annual Conference Nov 7-9 at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee, WI. Visit the conference website for preliminary details, with more details and abstract submission coming soon.
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With formal approval and publication of the Milwaukee River Basin TMDLs, facility managers and communities will begin to address the challenges of meeting TMDL-based limits in future WPDES permits.
One question we are frequently asked is, "How soon will TMDL limits start to show up in permits?" Answer, we are already working on drafting permits with new TMDL-based limits. We encourage our communities to work closely with DNR staff - we are here for you and happy to help explore all of your options, answer any questions, and provide timely customer service and assistance.
One of the more frequent scenarios we see with facilities adapting to new TMDL-based limits is, they can get part of the way there through optimization. These facilities often then look to watershed permitting/trading to make up the difference. If we look to the Rock River Basin map, there are a number of communities that have opted to go with these watershed-based permit compliance options because they are more cost-effective. The following communities are formally executing their projects (many others are actively considering similar options);
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 Grant Information
Sweet Water announced the winners of their 2018 Mini-Grant Program at their annual Clean Rivers Clean Lake Conference. They will begin accepting grants for 2019 this fall, so now is a great time to start getting ready with ideas for submissions.
Sweet Water’s signature Water Quality Mini-Grant Program distributes grants of $1,000 - $5,000 to non-profit community and civic groups for projects or activities that advance Sweet Water's mission and vision.
Funding is available for eligible projects located in any of the five watersheds located in Southeastern Wisconsin: the Kinnickinnic, Menomonee, Milwaukee, Root, and Oak Creek.
The aim of the Water Quality Mini-Grant Program is to support efforts that make use of green infrastructure practices or other approaches to improve water quality, enhance environmental conservation, restore aquatic habitat, or educate people about these issues. A mini-grant project can be implemented at an individual site, as a neighborhood project, or as a community-wide initiative.
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