Public hearing set for river cleanup
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold a public hearing Nov. 15 on the largest and most intensive effort to remove pollutants in the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers since the construction of the deep tunnel system.
A plan, which has been years in the making, aims to reduce runoff pollution in the 900-square-mile Milwaukee River basin. Options will include better street cleaning, green infrastructure projects that capture storm water, and the use of a financial tool known as pollution trading that pays parties such as farmers to reduce polluting runoff.
The hearing will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Firefly Room at the Wauwatosa Public Library, 7635 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa. The DNR said it is also accepting written public comments until Dec. 9.
The plan to reduce pollutants through a calculation known as a total maximum daily load was developed by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District in cooperation with the DNR. Such plans are required for waterways that fail to meet acceptable quality standards under the federal Clean Water Act.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2014 that despite $5 billion in government spending since 1980 — including the deep tunnel system that captures storm water — pollution problems persist in the watershed.
DNR to set pollution marks for Milwaukee River basin
Communities face a minimum cut of 14% for phosphorus, which spurs algae growth, and a minimum cut of 58% for total suspended solids, which affect water quality and harm aquatic habitat. But for many communities, including Milwaukee, the cuts will be higher in certain areas of the river system.
The new limits are potentially expensive, and a DNR official said Wednesday cost estimates are not yet available because, in most cases, communities are in the process of analyzing how they will meet limits imposed on them. For property owners, it could mean higher storm water management charges.
In the case of the Fox River and Green Bay in northeastern Wisconsin, the Green Bay sewerage district estimated the cost to communities and industry, if there is no help from agriculture, at $800 million to $1.1 billion.
Farms, however, are expected to play a significant role in the watershed by limiting top soil, manure and other contaminants flowing into waterways.
War over water in the land of plenty
Last week, the Great Lakes Commission announced the first financial trade of its kind between a farmer and a wastewater treatment facility in the United States' Great Lakes Basin. The aim is to reduce polluted runoff in the Fox River and end a "dead zone" in Green Bay where algae blooms have driven down oxygen levels.
The commission helped broker a deal between Bob Van De Loo & Sons Inc., a farm operation near Kaukauna, that pays the farm $9,856 for keeping more than 350 pounds of phosphorus out of the Apple Creek watershed from 2016 to 2021. The farm has agreed to use conservation practices such as crop rotation, buffer strips and tillage techniques to keep soil on the land.
The payments will be made by the Green Bay sewerage district. Officials expect to strike other deals across the watershed.
While the Milwaukee River watershed is more influenced by urban factors, parties involved in Milwaukee's TMDL process say they expect pollution trading will be used.