GRAFTON — The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is teaming up with private landowners to mitigate flooding in southeastern Wisconsin.
Their program, known as Greenseams, aims to acquire undeveloped private properties along streams, shorelines and wetlands in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
Kristin Schultheis is a soil scientist and senior project manager for MMSD.
“We are really looking to preserve these hydric soils, nature’s sponges,” said Schultheis as she dug up soil from a property they purchased in Grafton. “This was created by nature, so we are working with her and we are listening to her. She said, ‘this is where you need to store. This is where water needs to be stored.’”
As she dug the soil back up, Grafton said it reminded her of when Wisconsin experienced heavy rainfall in September.
“Seven inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours. That water needs a place to move. That’s why wetlands and floodplains are incredibly important to that whole flood water management system,” said Schultheis.
One property that is part of the program belongs to Kurt Gruetzmacher.
He said under the agreement, he can still use the land as he likes except for paving and building on it.
For Gruetzmacher, selling the land to MMSD was an easy decision to make.
That’s because he said he wanted to preserve the land for generations while also mitigating flooding to the surrounding areas.
“We… actually took this acreage of crop and planted 13,000 saplings out here and trees and help bring it back to its native stance,” said Gruetzmacher. “Another good thing about that for the area as a whole is the lack of fertilizer that will be added to it that there would have been if it was still crop fields, so that will help keep some of the chemical or some of the levels out of the creeks that help add to the algae blooms and things like that.”
Under the Greenseams program, MMSD has purchased 126 properties.
Schultheis said that means there are more 5,000 acres of protected land.
“It’s a system, and it’s all connected, whether you are up in Fond du Lac, whether you are in West Bend, or Mequon or downtown Milwaukee. We are all connected and so we have to work like a watershed to preserve these types of areas that are already doing the work,” said Schultheis.
Schultheis said she believes the protected lands will make a big difference for southeastern Wisconsin flood management as the region continues to grow.