Steady Stream Of Progress For The Oak Creek Watershed

Momentum continues to build toward sustainable, long-term solutions for the Oak Creek watershed.

Two key things happened this week in our ongoing work to clean up the watercourse and set us on a path to a healthier, more vibrant watershed, one that we and our kids our kids’ kids can be proud of.

• First, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council — a group comprised of each mayor and village president in the county — unanimously endorsed this week a resolution in support of the development of an Oak Creek watershed restoration study. You can see the resolution they endorsed here. It’s similar to the one endorsed by the South Milwaukee City Council in May, and it reinforces how much broad support there is for what we’re doing here. I thank my colleagues for their support. Next up: Securing funding for a January 1, 2016, start, and we’re working hard to make that happen.
• Also this week, the Fund for Lake Michigan announced $107,500 in grant funding for a water quality testing initiative in the Oak Creek watershed. The Racine Health Department is leading these efforts, and I can’t thank our neighbors to the south enough for stepping up here. Testing has already begun, and that data will be instrumental in informing the watershed restoration study to come, and in efforts to improve Lake Michigan water quality. Here is the Fund for Lake Michigan news release, which details $1.9 million in overall funding for 27 projects across the region. I thank the Fund for their strong support.

And that’s not all. We’re also making investments in the creek today, from the upcoming replacement of the Beech Street Bridge to installation of new fascia underneath the Milwaukee Avenue bridge to vegetation removal in the channel near 15th and Milwaukee.

None of this would happen alone. MMSD, the county, communities across the region, grant funding agencies like the Fund for Lake Michigan, Friends groups and more … they’re all uniting around this common cause. And that’s what has me so excited.

Here’s to a cleaner Oak Creek!