Our Waterways

Meet the Milwaukee River Basin

We work to protect, restore, and advocate for waterways in the Milwaukee River Basin. The Basin is composed of the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds and is located within Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Dodge Counties.

The Basin goes far beyond Milwaukee!

  • The Basin covers 882.3 square miles
  • Flows through 7 Wisconsin counties
  • Includes 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline
  • Affects over 1.3 million Wisconsinites
Wisconsin County Map with Milwaukee River Basin Overlay
Collage of three images showing an agricultural landscape, a woodland landscape, and kayakers in the city

Let’s Dive in a Little Deeper

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A river basin is an area of land where all water that falls onto the land drains into the same river. A river basin also includes the river and its smaller streams or tributaries. A watershed generally includes the land draining to a river, but not the river itself. In the case of the Milwaukee River Basin, rain and melting snow flow over the land into streams and creeks, which connect to the larger Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers. From there, local rivers move water into the Milwaukee Estuary, where the 3 rivers connect, and finally flow to Lake Michigan.

Think of a river basin like a giant bathtub. Just as a bathtub collects all the water that falls inside it, the river basin collects all the water from the surrounding land and channels it into the Milwaukee River. From Lake Michigan, the water eventually travels through the lower Great Lakes and to the Atlantic Ocean.

There are many factors that influence the health of our rivers. When Europeans settled this area and eventually built cities, they hardened, rerouted and channelized many sections of our river in order to build roads, infrastructure, and housing, and to facilitate deeper and straighter rivers for shipping. There was little consideration or regard for the negative impacts of these changes to our freshwater and the health of both humans and wildlife.

When we assess the health of a waterway, we’re looking at factors like:

  • Pollution: runoff, industrial pollution, untreated sewage, litter & plastic
  • Urban Development: habitat loss, dams & barriers to fish passage, connectivity, infrastructure impacts
  • Fish & Wildlife Populations: native species, indicator species, & invasive species
  • Climate Change Impacts: flooding, drought, warmer temperatures, water levels & flows
  • Agricultural Impacts: nutrient pollution, soil erosion, bacteria pollution

While we assign the Milwaukee River Basin a letter grade each year based on water quality data, the health of our rivers is difficult to quantify. In some ways, the Milwaukee River Basin is flourishing and healthier than it’s been in many decades due to watershed improvements, dam removals, and improving sewage treatment. In other ways, increasing development and runoff of pollutants like phosphorus, chloride and bacteria continue to greatly impact water quality, and require significant commitment and investment to improve.

You can learn more about water quality in each watershed in our annual Milwaukee River Basin Report Card.

Each year, Milwaukee Riverkeeper releases an Annual River Basin Report Card, detailing the health of the Milwaukee River Basin’s three major waterways: the Milwaukee River, the Menomonee River and the Kinnickinnic River.

Explore All Report Cards

When It Comes to Water, We’re All Connected

Just like an artery connects the different parts of our body to one another, our rivers thread together our creeks and streams, valleys and hills, lakes, and underground springs and groundwater. Our rivers connect us, and changes to the surface water or groundwater in one part of the Milwaukee River Basin can impact other areas of the Basin, potentially affecting communities tens or hundreds of miles away.

The Milwaukee River Basin, like all basins, comes closer than any other defined area of land, with the exception of an isolated island, to meeting the definition of an ecosystem in which all things, living and non-living, are connected and interdependent.

Wood Frog

Let’s Dive in a Little Deeper

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A watershed is an area of land where all water that falls as rain or snow is conveyed across the land, or below it, into a common river or lake or another body of water.

The Milwaukee River Basin is made up of six watersheds. Three of them—the Milwaukee River North Branch, Milwaukee River East-West Branch, and Milwaukee River South Branch—follow the Milwaukee River from its beginning to its end, covering about two-thirds of the basin. The other three watersheds are named after the rivers they include: Cedar Creek, the Menomonee River, and the Kinnickinnic River.

Water in the Milwaukee River Basin flows over the land in the watershed through creeks, streams, and rivers, similar to a network of roads and highways all leading to the same destination. Rain, snow, or other water sources flow downhill due to gravity, following natural paths such as streams, creeks, and rivers. These smaller waterways act like side streets, merging into larger rivers (the main highways), which eventually lead to a central low point, such as a lake.

Along the way, water interacts with the land—soaking into the ground, replenishing groundwater, or running across the surface, picking up soil, debris, and pollution. This movement connects everything in the basin, making it a shared system where what happens upstream can affect the water quality and ecosystem downstream.

Our communities are connected by this shared water system, much like neighbors sharing the same plumbing. Our actions too, are interconnected. What we do to the land and water in one part of the Basin can impact others. For example, if someone uses fertilizers on their lawn or farm, those chemicals can seep into the groundwater, or wash into rivers, impacting water quality for our neighbors both near and far. Similarly, cities downstream that rely on that water for drinking or recreation are affected by how well upstream areas protect the waters from pollution or manage their stormwater.

In a river system like ours, we depend on each other to take care of the land and water because the health of the system—and the people, plants, and animals living within it—is shared. Working together to protect clean water is necessary, and it benefits everyone.

When you turn on the tap, there are many places water may originate. There are three main sources of water:

  • Ground Water: water that is stored underground, filling the spaces between rocks and soil particles, and is usually replenished by rain or melted snow seeping into the ground
  • Surface Water: any water that is found on the Earth’s surface, like rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, and oceans, basically any body of water you can see above ground
  • Drinking Water: is water that is safe to drink. It can come from surface or groundwater sources. Drinking water is treated to meet federal and state standards.

Although your water may start in different places, they are connected. Surface water like rain or melted snow seeps into the ground to become groundwater, and sometimes that groundwater can flow back up to the surface through springs, replenishing rivers and lakes, slowly releasing water over time; think of it like a sponge where the top layer is surface water and the inside is groundwater. Once it’s been treated, it becomes drinking water and our wastewater is treated and returned to the source through outfalls.

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The Milwaukee River Estuary

Where Our Rivers Connect to Lake Michigan

The Milwaukee River Estuary is a geographic area in downtown Milwaukee where the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers meet and flow into Lake Michigan. Critically degraded due to decades of pollution and industrial activity, the Milwaukee River Estuary was deemed an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 by the US EPA, marking its dire need for cleanup and restoration to overcome many years of industrial contamination.

Once part of a large, natural wetland, rivers in the Estuary were hardened, deepened, and widened to support shipping and manufacturing industries. The Estuary serves as a transitional space for sturgeon, suckers, and other migrating fish species. Despite the urban modifications to the estuary, it still plays a critical role in the aquatic life cycle and is an integral part of a healthy ecosystem.

Collage of images showing Milwaukee waterways

Let’s Dive in a Little Deeper

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A Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC) is a region within the Great Lakes Basin that has been contaminated from past industrial pollution to such a degree that the waters cannot be fully used and enjoyed by the public as they should for uses such as drinking or swimming. These areas were formally designated in 1987 as part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada, which set a roadmap to protect and clean up the Great Lakes, which are “boundary waters” both nations depend on.

In 1987, 43 AOCs were designated with 26 located in the U.S. and 17 in Canada, with 5 shared between the two countries. As of 2024, 7 AOCs in the US and 3 AOCs in Canada have been delisted.

While Milwaukee was designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern in 1987, thanks in part to advocacy by Milwaukee Riverkeeper and others, the Milwaukee River Estuary has been designated as a priority area by the US EPA. This designation will expedite funding and restoration efforts over the next 5-8 years.

By prioritizing cleanup, restoration, and community engagement, an AOC can be successfully rehabilitated into a more healthy, thriving ecosystem. Each Area of Concern is different, and so is the approach to address areas of need or impairment that keep the community from using waterways for different purposes. Since its designation, many different property owners, experts, scientists, and community members have come together to assess the issues impacting the Milwaukee Estuary AOC, and develop plans to address them.

In Milwaukee, there are three main areas of focus: cleaned-up waterways, restored ecosystems, and swimmable beaches. Within each of these areas, there are many projects in different stages of planning and implementation. Learn more about the projects at mkewaterwaypartners.org

It is critical that the community, especially those that have been historically excluded from environmental decision-making, have a voice in prioritizing and shaping work to clean up and restore the Area of Concern. Milwaukee Riverkeeper staff serve on the , as well as various technical, project, and implementation teams, and can help ensure the community is an active participant in this process. To learn more about the Community Advisory Committee Network, visit here: https://www.cacmke.org

Lake Michigan & The Great Lakes

Lake Michigan & The Great Lakes

Honoring the Largest Freshwater System On Earth

While Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes are not technically a part of the Milwaukee River Basin, they are ultimately connected as the Basin empties into Lake Michigan. This means that anything affecting the Basin will make its way to Lake Michigan, the main drinking water source for millions of people throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana.

In fact, more than 30 million people, including Wisconsin residents, live within the Great Lakes Basin, relying on this precious shared resource for drinking water as well as recreational and economic opportunities.

These lakes are home to over 3,500 species of plants and animals and more than 170 fish species. This special ecosystem needs strong protections in place to preserve these waters for future generations.

Let’s Dive in a Little Deeper

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Lake Michigan, as well as our rivers, are considered to be public trust resources, meaning these waters belong to all of us, but are held in trust by federal and state government for public use and enjoyment. Lake Michigan is the second largest Great Lake by volume, and the only one completely located within the United States.

The Great Lakes are managed by the US and Canadian governments, through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and also by the 8 States and 2 Canadian Provinces that border them. Each Great Lake, like Lake Michigan has a Lakewide Action and Management Plans (LAMPs) that are action plans for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem. The lakes are managed for purposes such as navigation, fishing, recreation, and environmental protection, but the lakebed and waters themselves are publicly owned and, as such, we are all responsible for protecting them.

All residents and visitors in Wisconsin have the right to access and use the waters of Lake Michigan for recreation, fishing, boating, etc. as well as drinking. Lake Michigan supplies drinking water for over 2 million Wisconsinites. Likewise, residents and visitors of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan also retain the same rights.

Only 1% of the Great Lakes are renewable from rain or snowmelt. They were a one-time “gift” from the glaciers. If we consume Great Lakes water, without returning it, we threaten the long-term viability of these amazing resources, which provide 95% of the US fresh surface water supply and 20% of the world’s fresh water. To protect this precious resource, an International Agreement between the US and Canada and a Compact between the States and Provinces was passed in 2008, called the Great Lakes Compact, which requires large-scale withdrawals of water (over 100,000 gallons per day) to obtain permits. The Compact prohibits water diversions outside of the Great Lakes Basin, with several exceptions for straddling communities (like New Berlin and Somers) and for communities in straddling counties (like Waukesha) where there are no reasonable water supply alternatives. When diversions occur, they must primarily be used for residential water supply

The Great Lakes are vast, but they are also vulnerable. Only 1% of the Great Lakes are renewed annually by rain or snowfall. Pollution accumulates, contaminants can persist for decades, invasive species have dramatically affected lake ecology, and water levels and wildlife are vulnerable to climate change impacts. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and provide drinking water for over 40 million people. Losing access to this resource because of overuse, misuse, or pollution would be devastating.

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The Milwaukee Urban Water Trail

Get to Know the Basin By Experiencing Its Wonders

The Milwaukee Urban Water Trail map was developed in a cooperative effort to help residents in Southeast Wisconsin gain safe and legal access to the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers.

The map includes access points, portages, hazards, and resting sites (e.g. sites accessed only from the water), and also includes information on historic, cultural, ecological, and scenic points of interest along the way.

Explore the Map Get My Water Trail Map

Kayakers on Milwaukee River
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