When citizens and businesses demanded flood protection, a state agency got creative in finding solutions.

By Mark L. Kass

After the Milwaukee area was hit hard by floods in June 1997 and August 1998, flood control projects moved to the top of the agenda for many communities across southeastern Wisconsin.

The floods, which dropped as much as 8 in. of rain over four hours in several communities, caused more than $35 million in damages and killed two young boys who drowned in a raging culvert in the village of Elm Grove. Basements were filled with water, streets were so flooded that emergency vehicles were unable to get through, and residents lost many of their possessions.

Many portions of the community were declared federal disaster areas, prompting state and federal agencies to try to help the rebuilding. Former First Lady Hillary Clinton even made a special trip to Milwaukee in August 1998 to view the extensive damage in one neighborhood.

Residents packed city halls over the next several months demanding that municipalities step up and put flood control projects in place that would protect their homes from the so-called 100-year floods that had hit the Milwaukee area twice in 14 months.

"It was a wake-up call, no doubt about it," recalls Wauwatosa Mayor Theresa Estness, whose community's downtown business district was ravaged by both floods. "All of sudden, flood control projects became a high priority for all levels of government in the Milwaukee area. We couldn't afford to have another flood and have all the damages all over again. We had to respond to the need because residents were demanding it."

The work over the next five years resulted in more than $300 million in flood control projects being implemented throughout the area, from small streams such as Southbranch Creek on the north side of Milwaukee to the 30-mi. Menomonee River, whose watershed includes 17 different communities. The projects have ranged from pump stations to floodwalls to berms. The largest project proposed so far is a 260-million-gal. detention pond.

The work came from all levels of government: from the local level, where projects were implemented; from the state level, where some grant funding was made available; and from the federal level as the United States Army Corps of Engineers got involved in several projects. The Wisconsin congressional delegation also was able to secure several million dollars in federal funding for the flood control projects.

"It has definitely been a cooperative effort, but it has taken a lot of work to bring everyone to the table and get all of the projects accomplished," Estness relates. "But in the end these projects have provided a perfect model of how various levels of government can come together to address a problem quickly and efficiently."

A Question of Jurisdiction

The biggest problem facing the area was that most of the rivers and streams cross community lines; thus, no single agency had jurisdiction. Each community had land-use jurisdiction, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had water-quality jurisdiction. But no agency, much to the frustration of many local politicians, was responsible for water quantity.

That's where the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) stepped in. The district is a state-chartered agency providing wastewater services for 28 municipalities. The district's 420-mi.² service area includes all cities and villages, with the exception of South Milwaukee, within Milwaukee County, and all or part of 10 municipalities in the surrounding counties of Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, and Racine.

The district has some flood control responsibilities because if the Milwaukee area's rivers overflow, some of the water ends up in the regional sewer system, causing capacity problems for MMSD's two wastewater treatment plants and its Deep Tunnel System for excess wastewater storage.

"Luckily for the area, there was an agency in place that could cross municipal lines and try to bring these projects together," remarks former State Representative Antonio Riley, who was chair of the MMSD Commission during some of the work. "We were able to get a lot of the parties to the table and create plans that were in the best interests of the residents."

In 1998, MMSD began updating its Watercourse System Management Plan, aimed at developing strategies to reduce the risk of flooding in six Milwaukee-area watercourses encompassing 24 tributary streams and rivers. The district sought significant public input from members of the community and other local and regional government agencies in the development of each watershed plan. The six watersheds are the Kinnickinnic River, Menomonee River, Oak Creek, Root River, Lake Michigan tributary drainage, and various tributaries of the Milwaukee River. The plan's objectives were to alleviate future flood damages and solve current flooding problems at the 1% flood recurrence level and to preserve the existing natural functions of the drainage systems of each watershed.

"Our goal was to accomplish flood protection for the residents but at the same time implement projects that would be beneficial to the environment," explains Kevin Shafer, executive director of MMSD, who started with the agency as its chief engineer in October 1998. "It was very important to get a consensus from the residents and communities involved because we wanted to complete projects that would become assets to the community."

Solving Four Decades of Flooding Problems

Lincoln Creek restoration project completed

The most extensive project undertaken by MMSD was the Lincoln Creek Environmental Restoration and Flood Control Project, which has won national attention for an example of how to undertake a flood control project in a heavily urbanized area. The project was designed to protect 2,000 homes and businesses within the floodplain from the 100-year storm.

The creek drains a 21-mi.² urban watershed on the north side of Milwaukee and portions of the city of Glendale and village of Brown Deer. Between 1960 and 1997, more than 4,000 separate flooding problems were reported along the creek. Correcting the problem required years of planning, 10 separate projects, and the removal of more than 2.1 million yd.³ of earth. The major components of the project are two large detention basins, including the 32-ac. Green Tree Detention Basin, which is capable of storing up to 52 million gal. of water during a rainstorm.

Although the project's main focus was to reduce the risk of flooding for homes and businesses from the 1% probability storm, it also included measures to enhance the attractiveness of the corridor; improve water quality; restore, stabilize, and protect eroding banks; and provide a suitable habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife. MMSD had to acquire only three homes to make way for the project. As a result of the project, home and business owners once located in the floodplain eventually will not have to pay for flood insurance any longer, a condition typically required for structures located within a floodplain.

"Instead of destroying a neighborhood to provide flood control, we've been able to enhance [it] while at the same time significantly reducing the risk of flooding to thousands of residents," Riley declares. "They will now be able to sleep well at night even when it rains."

To help ensure the ongoing success of the project, MMSD is working with the Urban Open Space Foundation to create the Lincoln Creek Stewardship Council. The council is responsible for promoting citizens' management of the Lincoln Creek watershed's natural resources, including streambank cleanups and invasive species removal.

"We need to stay involved with this creek. We are looking for more partners to keep [it] an asset to this community," emphasizes Geri Weinstein of the Urban Open Space Foundation. "This is so much more than a flood control project. It is a social and economic investment in this community. It is something that we will all remember and enjoy for many years to come."

A Three-Pronged Approach

Valley Park Project

The other major watercourse in the Milwaukee area was the 30-mi. Menomonee River and its several tributaries, running from the northern part of the area to the downtown harbor. Extensive flooding had occurred in Wauwatosa and parts of Milwaukee in the lower sections of the river. Three projects were proposed for the watershed, one of which has been completed, one that is underway, and a third‹the most extensive‹that still is working its way through the approval process.

The first project, completed in 2001, was the $12 million Valley Park project in a historic Milwaukee neighborhood not far from downtown and within sight of Miller Park, a new $300 million professional baseball stadium. The project included the construction of a 7-ft.-high floodwall and berm to protect 130 neighborhood homes from flooding and construction of a million-gallon, belowground stormwater holding tank. The project also required the acquisition of 18 homes to allow for construction of the levee and floodwall.

Because residents desired to stay in the historic neighborhood, some of the homes acquired by the district were replaced within the neighborhood but outside the floodplain. District officials worked closely with neighborhood residents to develop a relocation plan. Residents were involved in selecting an architect and working closely with the contractor on home designs and met frequently with district staff.

"This project is remarkable because instead of destroying a neighborhood due to flooding, we made it stronger," notes Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.

Just upstream in Wauwatosa, MMSD, along with the city, acquired 69 flood-prone properties and 10 businesses to make way for the expansion of a city park for more than $10 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided funds for 23 of the homes in 2000. The houses have been demolished, and construction was to begin in 2003 on lowering the floodplain in the park by 3 ft., allowing the river to spread out during a heavy rain. The park will then be expanded to include a performance area and a play area for children.

The final project on the Menomonee River is the proposed $68 million construction of multiuse flood control basins on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa. The site is the largest vacant parcel of land in Milwaukee County. The 90-ac. project, which would be part of a state forest on the site, would be able to retain about 260 million gal. of water from the Menomonee River and Underwood Creek during an extreme rainstorm.

The basins would not store water during all rainstorms but only during significant rains with the potential for flooding, and they will be used only a few times per year. Officials from the district and from Milwaukee County, which owns the land, have discussed having both of the basins remain in a natural state with walking trails, wetlands, and other environmental amenities, such as a forestry education center. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker recently conditionally endorsed the project, contingent upon the state of Wisconsin providing funding for a state forest at the site. It is expected that construction could begin in 2004 and be completed by 2007.

District officials have been discussing federal participation in the project with the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal agency is reviewing several applications for funding for the project, along with the possibility that it would actually undertake construction of the detention pond, with MMSD providing a portion of the funding. The corps also has provided about $500,000 for two smaller flood control projects in Milwaukee: a weir removal project on the Oak Creek in southeastern Milwaukee County and a shore erosion project on the Kinickinnic River in the central part of the city.

Several other significant flood control projects are either underway or completed in the Milwaukee area.

The $3.5 million Southbranch Creek Flood Management Project included removal of about 800 ft. of concrete lining and the construction of four detention basins on a small creek that ran through Milwaukee and Brown Deer. For this project, MMSD had to get consensus from six other governmental agencies, including two school districts that owned land where detention basins were built.

On the Root River in southern Milwaukee County, MMSD and the City of West Allis have built a $3.3 million pump station that will reduce the risk of flooding to 28 West Allis homes. Other work on the Root River includes construction work on two heavily traveled bridges to allow more water to flow through during heavy rains. On Whitnall Park Creek, six homes were acquired and demolished and an improved conveyance system and wet detention pond were built. The floodproofing of seven commercial properties was also completed in 2002. In addition, the district acquired three homes along the Root River in Franklin, which had been severely damaged during heavy rains that occurred in July 2000. Two other homes along the North Branch and eight mobile homes along the east branch of the Root River are slated for acquisition in 2003.

A $14.1 million flood management plan will move the floodplain away from 39 homes along Indian Creek in northern Milwaukee County while providing additional green space within the county. Five of the remaining six homes remaining in the floodplain will be purchased and razed. The sixth flood-prone home also will be purchased and razed if the homeowner agrees to sell the property to MMSD. Under the proposed plan, two floodwater storage basins will be built in Fox Point. A third basin providing relief to a portion of the watershed was constructed in 1999 in the village of Bayside. The project also calls for removing concrete lining from the bed of the creek and reshaping the creek channel to increase floodwater storage. The flood control projects have helped the district continue to reduce the number of sewer overflows that occur in the Milwaukee area. A $2.3 billion, 19-mi. tunnel system was built in the 1980s to reduce sewer overflows. It stores 405 million gal. of untreated wastewater.

Deep Tunnel System

hen the district's Water Pollution Abatement Program began in 1977, the Deep Tunnel System emerged as the best solution to overflow problems because it fulfilled two functions simultaneously: storing excess wastewater until it could be treated and then conveying the wastewater to the treatment plant. Deep tunnels mined in bedrock were seen as the right answer for Milwaukee because they could be built without tearing up the city and required a minimum of expensive, high-tech equipment.

The Deep Tunnel System has reduced the number of sewer overflows from an annual average of 50 a year to 2.6 since it was put in operation in 1994. In addition, the tunnel system has reduced the overflow volume from an average of 8 billion gal./yr. to an average of 1.7 billion gal./yr.

"The Deep Tunnel System has dramatically improved water quality in the Milwaukee area," remarks Anne Spray Kinney, former MMSD executive director. "All [you have] to do is look at the activity now occurring on the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers and you can see the positive results."

The district remains concerned about the number of sewer overflows in the Milwaukee area and is taking several steps to further reduce the number of overflows, Shafer says. "Improving water quality is the highest priority for MMSD. No sewer overflow is a good sewer overflow. We believe even fewer sewer overflows should be achieved. MMSD has initiated a number of key projects to minimize sewer overflows, and each project is taking into consideration a watershed approach to planning the future."

The district's plans include the implementation of an initiative that will increase the system's storage capacity by 116 million gal., or about 30%. Construction recently began on the $131 million Northwest Side Relief Sewer, which will add about 88 million gal. of storage and provide additional capacity to several communities in the northwestern portion of the district's service area.

Fully lined with 1-ft.-thick concrete, the Northwest Side Relief Sewer will store untreated wastewater and rainwater that enters the system, eventually discharging it to the western leg of the Deep Tunnel System.

"This project is an important piece of that blueprint for the future, one that will help protect the environment and public health and ensure that the district remains at the forefront of environmental agencies nationwide," Riley predicts.

Guest author Mark L. Kass is the former head of media relations for MMSD.

SW November/December 2003

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