Milwaukee River habitat restoration project to begin - Work will begin next week to benefit fish and other aquatic life

MILWAUKEE – Work will begin next week on a $100,000 project to restore up to 40,000 square feet of rocky habitat for bass, walleye and other fish on the Milwaukee River in the City of Milwaukee between the site of the former North Avenue dam and the Humboldt Avenue bridge.

“This project should result in a more abundant and diverse fish population in the Milwaukee River and complement other improvements that have taken place on the river in recent years,” said Will Wawrzyn, a fisheries biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.

Stone ranging in size from 3 to 6 inches in diameter will be placed along 400 feet on the bed of the river and below the ordinary high water mark. The stone will restore some of the river habitat that has been lost over the years and provide a clean, coarse substrate for spawning and feeding that will benefit walleye, smallmouth bass, lake sturgeon and the greater redhorse, a state listed threatened fish species.

The project is being funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Walleyes for Tomorrow.

Wawrzyn said preliminary site preparation is underway and construction is expected to begin Oct. 9 and take about two weeks to complete.

“This project is a little more complex than other habitat construction projects because it’s located in the heart of the city, involves multiple landowners and there’s limited access to the river,” explained Wawrzyn. “We are very fortunate that one of the landowners is providing a temporary site to access to the water, an area to place the stone, and to store the materials and equipment.”

The Milwaukee River and its estuary once provided quality habitat that supported diverse and abundant fish species and other aquatic life. Beginning in the mid-1880s, the river was significantly modified and much of the habitat was destroyed by the construction of dams, pollution discharges, and dredging and filling the shoreline and wetlands to accommodate commercial shipping and development along the river banks.

Wawrzyn noted that several recent actions have resulted in great improvements within the Milwaukee River and estuary, including the abatement of point and non-point sources of pollution, the removal of the North Avenue Dam in 1997, and discontinuing the practice of large-scale dredging.

“This project complements the work we are doing to stock and restore sustainable populations of native lake sturgeon and walleye,” Wawrzyn said. “In addition to improving the status of fish, this habitat restoration project will also improve water quality and increase recreational fishing opportunities on the Milwaukee River.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Will Wawrzyn, Fisheries Biologist - (414) 263-8699 or Randy Schumacher, Regional Fisheries Supervisor - (414) 263-8672