Last week, a 3-foot-long bighead Asian carp was found in the Chicago waterway system about six miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline. If these invasive fish establish in the Great Lakes, they risk destroying our way of life -- threatening fishing, boating, native species, and our ability to use and enjoy the lakes.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper is part of a coalition of environmental organizations asking President Barack Obama to take control of the Asian carp fight.
Please help us in urging the President to act swiftly and appoint a "federal incident commander" to coordinate the federal agencies' responses, ensure accountability, and hasten action.
A long-anticipated cleanup of PCBs in the Milwaukee River has been pushed back to next year. Officials had originally hoped to begin work this year but are still determining how, exactly, to remove about two tons of the hazardous industrial waste from about 100,000 cubic feet of river sediment. Using state and federal funds, the cleanup is expected to cost about $20.2 million.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper is pleased to report that the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board took an important step toward reducing unsightly algae blooms and cleaning Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers and streams by voting to strengthen rules that reduce phosphorus pollution from farms, factories and sewage treatment plants.
Nearly one-half of Wisconsin’s waterways are so polluted due to runoff that the federal government lists them as impaired, and reports of human illness and dog deaths resulting from blue-green algae blooms have been rising in recent years.
For more information see the recent Journal Sentinel article below:
Milwaukee Riverkeeper's Executive Director was recently interviewed by FOX 6 regarding MMSD's recent Combined Sewer overflow into Lake Michigan. The amount of gallons released into our local waterways is not available as of yet.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper continues to monitor the situation and will share details as they become available.
For more information watch the video below or at Fox6.com.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper was recently quoted in a recent article pertaining to the new protection ordinances for the Milwaukee River Greenway (aka Central Park).
It took years of negotiations among diverse stakeholders, but in May the Milwaukee Common Council passed new protections for the Milwaukee River corridor, from North Avenue to the city limits at West Silver Spring Drive.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper worked for several years with the DNR, Trout Unlimited, and MMSD to initiate the removal of an 1000 foot stretch of concrete on the Menomonee River. Next summer, most of the concrete in that area between Miller Park and Miller Brewery will finally come out and fish will be able to migrate an additional 17 miles up river to the Lepper Dam at Mill Pond Park.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper will be organizing volunteers to cleanup the area, perform water quality monitoring, and habitat restoration. Watch your RK News for upcoming opportunities on how to get involved.
[excerpted from JS-Online]
Grafton - The Village Board has directed Ozaukee County to build a fish passage around the Bridge St. dam on the east bank of the Milwaukee River to avoid a public river walk on the west bank, Village Administrator Darrell Hofland said Tuesday.
A fish passage on the west bank would require demolition and replacement of the river walk and an overlook at the dam, Hofland said.
We are in congruence with the DNR's assessment that Waukesha's recent application for Great Lakes water did not include enough alternatives or return flow options.Milwaukee Riverkeeper and other environmental groups continue to monitor Waukesha's application for Lake Michigan water.
This is the first application of its kind since the Great Lakes Compact was passed.
The DNR recently returned the City of Waukesha's application for a diversion of Lake Michigan water because the application did not include alternative options for potential future municipal water sources, nor did they include return flow options for their three proposed withdrawal sources.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper supports the DNR's decision and urges the City of Waukesha to further research possible alternatives.
WAUKESHA—Today the Department of Natural Resources returned the City of Waukesha ’s application for a diversion of Lake Michigan water. The Department identified a number of deficiencies in the application relating to key requirements under the Great Lakes Compact.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper urges citizens to object in person (or by mail/phone) to the Great Lakes Compact Regional Body (representatives of all Great Lakes States and 2 Canadian Provinces) and the Great Lakes Compact Council's (representatives of just the US States) proposal to issue “guidance” in lieu of “rules” to Great Lakes States acting on applications for diversions of Great Lakes' water.
Last week, a 3-foot-long bighead Asian carp was found in the Chicago waterway system about six miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline. If these invasive fish establish in the Great Lakes, they risk destroying our way of life -- threatening fishing, boating, native species, and our ability to use and enjoy the lakes. 
A long-anticipated cleanup of PCBs in the Milwaukee River has been pushed back to next year. Officials had originally hoped to begin work this year but are still determining how, exactly, to remove about two tons of the hazardous industrial waste from about 100,000 cubic feet of river sediment. Using state and federal funds, the cleanup is expected to cost about $20.2 million.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper is pleased to report that the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board took an important step toward reducing unsightly algae blooms and cleaning Wisconsin’s lakes, rivers and streams by voting to strengthen rules that reduce phosphorus pollution from farms, factories and sewage treatment plants.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper worked for several years with the DNR, Trout Unlimited, and MMSD to initiate the removal of an 1000 foot stretch of concrete on the Menomonee River. Next summer, most of the concrete in that area between Miller Park and Miller Brewery will finally come out and fish will be able to migrate an additional 17 miles up river to the Lepper Dam at Mill Pond Park.
We are in congruence with the DNR's assessment that Waukesha's recent application for Great Lakes water did not include enough alternatives or return flow options.Milwaukee Riverkeeper and other environmental groups continue to monitor Waukesha's application for Lake Michigan water.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper urges citizens to object in person (or by mail/phone) to the Great Lakes Compact Regional Body (representatives of all Great Lakes States and 2 Canadian Provinces) and the Great Lakes Compact Council's (representatives of just the US States) proposal to issue “guidance” in lieu of “rules” to Great Lakes States acting on applications for diversions of Great Lakes' water. 
