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“In the Great Lakes region, what cities choose to do with their waterfronts will be the lynchpin to their future success.”
David Ullrich, executive director, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative |
As a result of exploring new directions for restoring rivers, the River Alliance is building on past success by bringing the same tools it used in restoring rivers through dam removal -- public education, strategic partnerships, community organizing and good public process – to urban rivers.
Urban river revitalization emerged as a clear direction for us to explore because many communities recognize that long-neglected and abandoned industrial waterfronts can in fact become economic and aesthetic assets to urban centers.
A river runs through almost every city in Wisconsin -- no surprise, as most of these cities came to be precisely because the river was there. Those flowing waters powered the progress of our cities and towns, transporting goods, flushing away our wastes and generating power. However, progress came at a price: many of our urban rivers became polluted and degraded eyesores from decades of abuse and neglect.
In Wisconsin, Lake Michigan cities such as Milwaukee and Sheboygan have invested millions of dollars into major waterfront redevelopment projects along both the lakeshore and their riverfronts. This growing interest in urban waterfront redevelopment also brings with it a need for a more holistic vision that focuses not only on the built environment but also human needs, such as public access, affordable housing, cleaner water, and open space.
A key step to achieving economically, environmentally and socially beneficial riverfront redevelopment is to have good public participation in the decision-making. This is how the River Alliance makes an important contribution: we build on our work in dam removal to educate people about the benefits of beautifying urban rivers and encourage effective public participation in policy-making.
Our Winter 2008 Newsletter features several articles about urban rivers. Stories of the Baraboo, Fox, Milwaukee, Root, Wausau show why urban rivers matter.
Since early 2006, we have engaged with citizens and elected officials in the city of Racine to restore the Root River, where it courses through the city’s downtown, to an urban gem. With the help of the Root River Council, a citizens’ organization formed to champion the urban Root, we have developed a restoration plan, and we will promote the plan’s implementation through ordinances and possibly a riverfront development district. Learn more on the Back to the Root Web site.
The city of Manitowoc is developing a comprehensive plan, with special emphasis on its riverfront/lakefront and downtown areas. The River Alliance participates in the planning as a member of the Downtown and River Corridor Steering Committee.
Especially intriguing to us in Manitowoc is the possibility of tying together urban and rural interests to clean up the sediment-laden Manitowoc River. The city faces big outlays to reduce sediments running to the river within its limits, but it also recognizes that much of that sediments comes from upstream and a heavily agricultural watershed.
We think this offers citizens and public officials a chance to “think like a watershed” and challenge some long-standing policies about river protection.
The River Alliance is actively involved in a collaborative project in the Menomonee River sub basin of the larger Milwaukee River Basin, investigating innovative ways of reducing polluted runoff. A new organization known as the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust (SWWT, pronounced Sweetwater), comprised of local governments and utilities, representatives of agriculture and other business interests, scientists and non-profit groups will oversee and guide the project. The ultimate goal of the pilot project is to determine if and how jurisdictions can work together and commit to projects with the biggest positive impact on the river as a whole.
We are working with Milwaukee Riverkeeper to monitor bacteria at city stormwater outfalls, and will conduct a thorough assessment of ongoing monitoring activities in the basin to determine gaps in data collection and where more monitoring efforts are needed. We are also working with elected officials, staff and concerned citizens at several of the cities and villages along the Menomonee River to learn how they are progressing with their stormwater runoff control programs, what obstacles they have encountered in meeting their requirements, and their potential interest in working across jurisdictional boundaries to improve water quality.
Other tasks undertaken by our project partners include reviewing existing water quality data and modeling with the goal of reaching agreement on its validity, and compiling examples of stormwater control practices that are working well. If preliminary findings indicate we have a good base of data to work from, and multiple jurisdictions are interested in working together to address shared goals, a new, watershed-wide approach to controlling stormwater in the Menomonee sub basin could result, with the hope it could become a model for other watersheds in the state.
Ecological Riverfront Design: Restoring rivers, connecting communities (AR and APA, 2004)
A great 2001 companion article in Open Spaces
Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
Sarakinos, H. 2009. The Root River in Racine, Wisconsin: Planning for Riverfront Revitalization. In: River Voices, vol.19, issue 1.
Funding sources
DNR River Protection and Planning Grants, Brownfield Redevelopment Grants, Municipal Flood Control Grants, Recreational Boating Grants
Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund – Urban Rivers Program
National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program
Restoring Riverfronts: a guide to selected federal funding sources
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