Regional Water Quality Management Plan Update
Overview
The Commission is in the final stage of a long-range planning process to examine how to best meet the water quality needs for an important area, working in concert with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). The area involved includes all of the watersheds shown on Map 1, namely, the Kinnickinnic River, Menomonee River, Milwaukee River, Root River, and Oak Creek watersheds; the Milwaukee Harbor estuary; and the adjacent nearshore areas draining to Lake Michigan.
The interagency effort is using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended watershed approach to update the Regional Water Quality Management Plan and to develop the MMSD’s 2020 Facilities Plan for the study area, called the Greater Milwaukee Watersheds. The watershed approach uses nature’s boundaries instead of jurisdictional limits, it recommends decisions based on science and engineering, and requires strong partnerships and public involvement with people, interest groups, and agencies. Also helping to coordinate the effort is the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).
This may be regarded as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to examine and plan comprehensively for water quality on a multi-watershed basis. When completed, the plan will recommend the control of both point and nonpoint pollution sources, and provide the basis for decisions on community, industrial, and private waste disposal systems—all with ties to smart growth and sustained quality of life.
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