$2 Million Kletzsch Park Improvements Up For Review: Report

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — Revised designs for a vital ecological and public access project along the Milwaukee River could be the key to unlocking funding for dozens of additional environmental projects in the region, Milwaukee County officials said Tuesday.

The $2 million project in Kletzsch Park, a collaboration between Milwaukee County Parks, Wisconsin DNR, and Fund for Lake Michigan, is part of an extensive plan to tackle environmental issues in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern. That area includes parts of the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic Rivers in eastern Milwaukee County including the near-shore waters of Lake Michigan, according to the EPA.

The latest plans for the Kletzsch Park River Access and Fish Passage Project are available to view at www.countyparks.com and a Public Information Meeting on the project will be held Sept. 17, 5:00-7:30 p.m. at the Glen Hills Middle School in Glendale.

The Kletzsch Park River Access and Fish Passage Project will improve water quality by making mandated dam repairs and creating universal public river access for people of all abilities with new pathways, paddlers’ portage, and scenic overlooks, officials said.

The updated plan also includes an in-river fish passage, designed to improve the health of native fishes such as northern pike and lake sturgeon by greatly expanding their available habitat.

Guy Smith, Executive Director of Milwaukee County Parks said, “The Kletzch Park improvements are an historic opportunity to improve our waterways for future generations, and success here will greatly improve our chances of securing additional available USEPA funding for over a dozen critical water quality projects in and around the County.”

Improvements at Kletzsch are part of a series of environmental projects in the region funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up AOCs around the Great Lakes. Initially, 43 AOCs were identified in the US and Canada as places where legacy pollution - caused by industry - severely interfered with the public’s use of water resources for activities like swimming and fishing.

The Milwaukee Estuary is one of five areas of concern in Wisconsin. Two of these areas, the Sheboygan River and Lower Menominee River areas of concern, have already gone through the cleanup and restoration process. The Milwaukee Estuary area of concern is poised to be next for federal investment, which would bring cleaner, healthier waters to the region and state.