 The Greater Milwaukee Basin TMDL is entering it's fifth year of implementation. This major milestone represents an amazing amount of coordinated progress on implementation since the TMDL was published in 2018.
The greater Milwaukee Basin TMDL is actually a compilation of the following four TMDLs:
- Milwaukee River Watershed TMDL
- Menomonee River Watershed TMDL
- Kinnickinnick River Watershed TMDL
- Milwaukee Harbor/Estuary TMDL
Published in March of 2018, the Milwaukee Basin TMDLs have now entered their fifth year of implementation. Throughout this process, there has been an incredible amount of watershed restoration activities carried out by numerous partners across the greater Milwaukee Basin. We highlight a few here, with many more examples provided in past newsletters (links to past issues are available at the bottom of this newsletter).
For the remainder of 2022, the last of the original WPDES wastewater permits are scheduled for drafting and reissuance with TMDL compliant limits. In addition, DNR staff are already working on the process for the first round of TMDL-based WPDES permits to be renewed and reissued in their second 5-year term with TMDL limits in 2023. These are major milestones and reflect completion of the very first five-year WPDES permit term for the Milwaukee Basin TMDLs. The remaining permits for this year include:
- Milwaukee Regional Medical Center
- General Mitchell Airport
- Jackson (village) Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Briggs & Stratton Llc
- WE Energies - Germantown
- Newburg (village) POTW
Agriculture
With broad support from numerous partners, most importantly, the farmers themselves, our rural neighbors to the north have been working at a feverish pace to overhaul decades of historic farming practices to sustainable and regenerative farming principles based on building soil health and protecting water quality.
Stormwater
Every municipality within the basin is now covered by updated stormwater discharge permits (MS4) with new TMDL benchmarks, reduction targets, and Milwaukee specific implementation criteria! Communities are also working together, via partnerships with Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to significantly reduce the amount of urban stormwater runoff and pollutant loading to surface waters through Green Infrastructure.
Collaborative Watershed Planning (led by SEWRPC, MMSD, SWWT, Milwaukee RiverKeeper, and other partners)
Over half of the basin region now has published and approved nine key elements watershed plans for TMDL Implementation! These include:
Recreation & Residents
River and estuary recreation is at an all time high! Exciting news includes:
The greater Milwaukee Basin TMDL was specifically crafted to facilitate restoration and protection of the Milwaukee Harbor/Estuary, Area of Concern by significantly limiting the loading of sediment, nutrients, and bacteria to the AOC. Numerous partners are working together at an unprecedented scale to undertake and realize major restoration milestones via the Milwaukee Waterways Restoration Partnership. These protective measures have facilitated ongoing restoration initiatives, including the planned dredging and removal of remaining legacy sediments.
A draft of the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern Remedial Action Plan Update is available for public review and comments until May 31, 2022. The draft document is available on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website.
This document shares the progress made from January through Dec. 2021 on specific actions and important projects for reaching our Area of Concern pollution cleanup and restoration targets and sets milestones for continued work. For more info...
Please provide feedback by May 31, 2022. Send questions and comments to Brennan Dow, DNR Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern Coordinator, at Brennan.Dow@wisconsin.gov or 920-366-1371.
After the DNR reviews public comments, the final Remedial Action Plan Update will be shared and posted on the Milwaukee Estuary AOC website.
Sector Team Updates
The NPM Program announces the release of a new, online, self-paced Nutrient Management Farmer Education (NMFE) Curriculum. Since its original release in 1999, the NMFE Curriculum has been an evolving collection of instructional tools for educating farmers (and others) on improved nutrient management practices. The goal is to involve farmers in the design of their own nutrient management plans.
The year 2022 marks the release of a new platform and updated content for the NMFE Curriculum. An online, video-based instruction version allows for self-paced learning by users. The new curriculum is available at: https://nmfe.webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/. (Please allow a few minutes for the initial download.) Content of the digital curriculum is displayed in a modular format. Each module deals with a specific component of a nutrient management plan and features multiple, short, instructive videos along with linked resources.
Recently there have been changes to the Silurian Dolomite Areas layer in SnapMaps. These changes are based on recent research projects that have resulted in better quality depth to bedrock maps. Counties impacted by these changes include Kewaunee and Dodge Counties. These changes have been reflected in the Silurian Dolomite Areas layer in the SnapPlus program’s SnapMaps tool.
Farmers and producers in these counties that land apply manure are encouraged to update their manure spreading maps to ensure they have the best available data in their nutrient management plan. These map updates should be made prior to land applications, however the updated maps will be required to be submitted to the department at the next NMP Update.
For any questions regarding these updates, please contact Joe Baeten, DNR NER Regional Supervisor (Joseph.Baeten@Wisconsin.gov) or Aaron O'Rourke, DNR Nutrient Management Coordinator (Aaron.Orourke@Wisconsin.gov)
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Clean Boats - Clean Waters Training
AIS Coordinator Amanda Schmitz, Washington and Waukesha Counties, has announced the annual spring Clean Boats / Clean Waters Training events for Lake County. If you are interested in participating, please email Amanda Schmitz at amanda.schmitz@washcowisco.gov or aschmitz@waukeshacounty.gov with training date and number of attendees to RSVP.
Clean Boats, Clean Waters (CBCW) Volunteer Trainings:
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May 9th at 5:00pm - Big Cedar Lake PRD - 4480 Gonring Dr, West Bend, WI 53095
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May 11th at 5:00pm - Oconomowoc Community Center (lower community room) - 220 W Wisconsin Ave, Oconomowoc, WI 53066
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May 18th at 5:00pm - Retzer Nature Center - S14 W28167 Madison St, Waukesha, WI 53188
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May 24th at 5:00pm - Public Agency Center - 333 E Washington St (Room # 3224), West Bend, WI 53095
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is excited to announce that a Wisconsin family has rediscovered a rare cliff-dwelling fern not seen in 90 years.
Ben Redding, a DNR Rare Plant Monitoring Program volunteer, was hiking with his kids and their dog at a state natural area in Sauk County when they discovered a population of maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes). Their find and those of many more volunteers are featured in the program’s recently released annual report.
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Virtual Public Meeting Monday, May 9th, 5:30 pm
Join us to learn about the planned clean up of contaminated material in the Milwaukee River Greenway and in various sanitary sewer pipes near the Greenway. Find out why the cleaning of Milwaukee's waterways is important, what planning efforts are underway, the results of contaminated soils sampling in the floodplain areas along the east and west sides of the river between Estabrook Dam and the former North Avenue Dam, and what to expect when an upcoming sanitary sewer cleanup project along Humboldt Avenue between Capitol Drive and Locust Avenue begins. This section on the Milwaukee River is one part of over 12 miles of the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic rivers that will be cleaned up to protect our drinking water, lead to healthier fish and wildlife, and improve recreational opportunities. Learn more about these efforts by watching the Dec 2021 Milwaukee River Floodplains community meeting and the March 2022 Sediment Removal community meeting. This community meeting is part of a larger initiative to clean up the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern (AOC). Learn more.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reminds anyone hitting the water this weekend to wear a life jacket.
Winds and summer-like temperatures are in the forecast for Saturday, making the water more inviting than ever after weeks of winter. While Saturday’s temperatures may flirt with summer, the water is cold and rough, and life jackets are a must before you shove from the shore for the year’s first paddle.
“Safety is an important part of water fun. Most drowning victims on Wisconsin waterbodies were not wearing life jackets,” said DNR Lt. Darren Kuhn, DNR Boating Law Administrator. “Putting safety first by wearing a life jacket and having respect for the water are two important things to remember when going to any Wisconsin river and lake to enjoy warm spring days.”
Nearly 80% of last year’s 25 boating fatality victims were not wearing life jackets. Of those, 91% were male, with an average age of 46. Read more...
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The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking public comment on the draft Technical Standard 1056 Perimeter Sediment Control and Slope Interruption. The deadline to submit comments is May 13, 2022.
This standard represents the consolidation and updating of two existing technical standards: 1056 Silt Fence and 1071 Manufactured Perimeter Control and Slope Interruption Products. Consolidating these technical standards is proposed because the purpose and conditions where practices apply are the same. Updates emphasize the contributing drainage area limitations of these practices and several new figures. The DNR is now soliciting comments from the public in this Broad Review.
The revised draft Technical Standard 1056 was updated using the Modified Process framework of the Standards Oversight Council as outlined in the Technical Standards Process Handbook.
How To Submit Comments
- Review the draft Technical Standard 1056 Perimeter Sediment Control and Slope Interruption here.
- Submit comments via email to soc@wisconsinlandwater.org by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 2, 2022.
- Keep comments specific and directly related to this technical standard.
- You may insert your comments into the Adobe PDF document or indicate the page or line numbers to which your comments refer. If you have general comments applicable to the entire standard, please note them as such.
- Respond in the same order as the sections appear in the draft.
After the notice period is complete, all comments will be considered and responded to by DNR. Revisions may be made to the document, and the final updated technical standard will then be published and made available to internal and external stakeholders.
The DNR maintains, implements and develops Storm Water Construction and Post-Construction technical standards to assist with the compliance of Chapter NR 151, Wisconsin Administrative Code. The process established by the Wisconsin Standards Oversight Council is the process the agency uses to develop or revise technical standards pursuant to Subchapter V of NR 151. The DNR is a member of the Wisconsin Standards Oversight Council along with several other federal and state agencies and conservation organizations to ensure that technical standards used for soil and water conservation in Wisconsin are science-based and involve collaboration with other impacted agencies.
You can also view this published notice here.
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