The Conservation Fund, a national non-profit conservation organization, is working with local community groups, municipalities, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and others to acquire critical properties in the Menomonee, Oak Creek and Root River watersheds. From this location, north of Freistadt Road and east of Fond du Lac Road in Germantown, you can see the headwaters of the Menomonee River. This is the type of land The Conservation Fund is interested in preserving.
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This stormwater detention pond stores runoff from new and redeveloped areas to help manage flooding and improve water quality. Located near the intersection of Highway Q (County Line Road) and Rivercrest Drive in Menomonee Falls, this pond slows down excess water and removes pollutants during heavy storms. Similar ponds can be found throughout southeast Wisconsin.
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People are drawn to our many local waterways for a variety of recreational activities from swimming to fishing. Here a family enjoys a pleasant summer's day along the Menomonee River in downtown Menomonee Falls.
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Grantosa Creek, a small tributary to the Menomonee River, begins at Timmerman Airport near Hampton Avenue. Flooding of Hampton Avenue was a common occurrence during heavy rainfalls until recently. A dry, stormwater detention basin was constructed on Timmerman Airport in 2002. It alleviated the frequent flooding in the neighborhood.
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Bluegills, large mouth bass, northerns, and muskie call this lake home. Lake Evinrude is located in the Milwaukee County Zoo, and the Zoo uses these fish in its Lake Wisconsin Nature Exhibit. The manmade lake drains into the south branch of Underwood Creek.
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Sections of Underwood Creek in Milwaukee County were lined with concrete in the 1960s and 1970s for flood management. Because of concrete lining the aquatic habitat is lacking and the water warms more easily, making it harder for fish and aquatic organisms to survive. However, concrete lining can help protect local area homes and businesses from flooding. Water resource tradeoffs like this are common in highly urbanized environments. Milwaukee County Park's Oak Leaf bike trail is seen following along the Creek to the left.
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MMSD is working to improve flood management with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Today, there is ongoing coordination on Milwaukee County Grounds to develop a plan for the area, pictured here, keeping a natural landscape that would temporarily hold flood water during heavy rains.
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The Menomonee River flows through downtown Wauwatosa and through the Hart Park area. Looking east, a pedestrian bridge crosses the river between area businesses and restaurants. This area is in the Menomonee River floodplain, and once was severely flooded in 1997 and 1998.
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The Menomonee River travels through Hart Park in Wauwatosa. The old stone retaining wall along the right bank was built during the Great Depression as part of the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. The wall is eroded on both sides. Honey Creek joins with the Menomonee River just downstream from this location (on the right).
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Did you know that you are walking over a river when visiting State Fair Park? Here, Honey Creek is below ground and runs under the Milwaukee Mile racetrack at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Honey Creek is enclosed for about 2.3 miles (12,150 feet) from W. Arthur Avenue in the City of West Allis to I-94—about 40.5 football fields long!
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This is a concrete-lined section of the Menomonee River in the historic Valley Park (Piggsville) neighborhood in Milwaukee. The new floodwall, completed in 2001, skirts the east bank of the Menomonee River near Interstate 94. The project reduces the risk of flooding, protecting 139 homes. Seen in the background is the roof of Miller Baseball Park.
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Originally built in 1835, the North Avenue Dam was put in place as part of a Milwaukee Canal project, set to guide vessels and cargo from Milwaukee to Janesville. However, the canal project was never finished and has since become Commerce Street. The dam took its toll on water quality in the area and in 1997 the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Milwaukee County, the City of Milwaukee, the Village of Shorewood, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission removed the Dam. Since its removal, 30 species of fish now inhabit the area north where the Dam was taken out of the river.
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Before Milwaukee was settled, the Potowatomi tribe had three villages in Milwaukee. They would hunt, fish and grow rice in the Menomonee Valley. During the Trail of Tears, the tribe was forced out of the Menomonee Valley and the area. One tribal band moved to Forest County. They have now returned to Milwaukee and are known as the Forest County Potowatomi Tribe.
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A surface water or river water storage facility that is often dry but is designed to hold (detain) the water temporarily during and immediately after a heavy rainfall.
The physical location or type of environment in which an organism or biological population lives.
Rainfall not absorbed by soil, often carrying pollutants from the land into nearby waterways.
A stream or river flowing into a larger river or lake.
Each having its own characteristics, a watershed is an area of land that captures water and drains it to a particular body of water. If a drop of water falls outside of the boundary, it will drain away from this watershed and become part of another watershed.
An area that is saturated by surface or ground water with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions, as swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries.
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