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

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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

Gre

en In

fras

truc

ture

Pr

ogra

m

New Partners – American Rivers

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