2025 MMSD Annual Performance Report

03/26/26 12:00:pm

Message From Executive Director Kevin Shafer

In 2025, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) delivered a range of noteworthy operational results, projects, and programs to support a more vibrant, resilient, and sustainable region. Over the course of 2025, MMSD further demonstrated our organization’s commitment to a healthy Milwaukee region and a cleaner Lake Michigan. This 2025 Annual Performance Report serves as the first report under the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan and demonstrates continued progress towards achieving the goals set forth in MMSD’s 2035 Vision.

The guiding principles of the 2035 Vision are: a sustainable bottom line, water quality leadership, and collaboration. Within these principles are objectives for integrated watershed management and climate change adaptation/mitigation with a focus on energy efficiency. continued success.

Major 2025 accomplishments related to these objectives include:

The District’s comprehensive and effective response to the August 9-10th “1000 Year” flooding event.
Operational performance was exceptional in 2025, with only one combined sewer overflow and two sanitary sewer overflows due to the August 2025 major rainfall event. Resulting in a 92% wastewater capture rate throughout the fiscal year.
MMSD is currently using renewable energy to meet 25.9% of its energy needs, making the organization almost a third of the way to its overall goal of utilizing only renewable energy to fulfill its energy consumption needs.
MMSD’s Greenseams® Program, which preserves critical floodplain areas, saw increased participation in 2025 with 530 additional acres preserved for a total of approximately 6,200 acres preserved since 2001, resulting in a capture capacity of 173 million gallons in 2025.
Lastly, MMSD has reduced its overall carbon footprint in 2025, thereby making it one-third of the way to achieving its overall goal of a 90% reduction in its carbon footprint from 2005.

I encourage you to read further in this report and learn more about MMSD’s achievements over the past year and how its goals drive the region towards continued success. As always, we welcome your feedback.

Kevin Shafer

Kevin L. Shafer, P.E.
Executive Director - Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District