EPA Chooses Milwaukee Region For New, Watershed Permit Procedure

This great news about our region's resource management from the water quality collaborative, Sweet Water Trust:

When: Wednesday, August 31st at 11:00 a.m.

What: Susan Hedman, Administrator for EPA Region 5 in Chicago, will make a formal announcement of a $100,000 grant to Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of MMSD, along with Sweet Water and other partners, to fund a pilot project to develop the framework for the development of a watershed-based permit for the Menomonee River watershed.

Where: Menomonee River at Hart Park (Riverside Picnic Area), 7300 Chestnut Street, in Wauwatosa - - (in the nearby Hart Park music pavilion in case of rain)

Background: The grant will be managed by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and will support work to be done by Sweet Water – the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. and its regional partners to create a watershed-based storm water permitting model for Menomonee River watershed communities.

A watershed-based permit can offer significant potential advantages over more conventional municipality-by-municipality permitting approaches, including cost-savings, one-stop shopping/permit streamlining and the potential for improved water quality.

Watershed-based approaches for storm water permitting were strongly recommended to the EPA in a 2008 National Research Council report on the NPDES storm water program. The innovative Menomonee River watershed permitting effort would be a national pilot for the EPA, one of just three planned across the country.


Additional remarks will be made by Cathy Stepp, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and Anthony S. Earl, Joyce Foundation Board Member and former Wisconsin Governor and WDNR Secretary.

The Joyce Foundation has made major multi-year investments in water quality work in southeastern Wisconsin.

Sweet Water’s Vice Chair Tom Grisa, of Brookfield, Mayor Jill Didier of Wauwatosa, and a variety of officials from other Menomonee River watershed communities and groups are expected to attend.

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