Federal Funds To Be Used To Remove Concrete From Suburban Milwaukee Riverbed

Ripping out more of a concrete channel in a suburban Milwaukee waterway will cost $11 million in federal funds.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative money will be used to remove about a mile of concrete stream bed and elevation controls called drop structures in Underwood Creek, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that advocates for improving the quality of waterways in and around Milwaukee County, said the concrete was put in decades ago. It was originally installed in hopes of reducing flooding, but wound up increasing the speed of the water and causing problems downstream.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District are other partners in the Underwood Creek project, which will take about 18 months to complete.

This will be the second phase of efforts to remove concrete from Underwood Creek. Another project was completed a few years ago.

Nenn said the project will give the waterway a more natural look and help fish swim from Lake Michigan.

“Removing those drop structures in particular, and removing the concrete that will minimize how fast the flow is coming through this section will really kind of make it much easier for northern pike and other native fish to pass upstream,” Nenn said.

Nenn said there are also plans to widen the floodplain in hopes of easing flooding in Wauwatosa.

“It is an expensive project to best manage flooding, better manage the flows going into this very urban creek,” she said “And along the way trying to provide as much ecological benefit as we can.”