MILWAUKEE — City officials and climate leaders gathered at the Pierhead Lighthouse in Milwaukee on Tuesday. It was a celebration of a $450,000 grant given to the Milwaukee Harbor District. The money will be used to plan and design a major reconstruction of Milwaukee’s breakwater.
The money came from the National Coastal Resilience Fund through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
What You Need To Know
- City officials and climate leaders gathered at the Pierhead Lighthouse in Milwaukee on Tuesday to celebrate a $450,000 grant given to the Milwaukee Harbor District
- The money will be used to plan and design a major reconstruction of Milwaukee’s breakwater
- The project has two main goals: improve protection to critical infrastructure at the port from large storm events and incorporate habitat improvements for wildlife
Aaron Zeleske is the environment director at Milwaukee Harbor District. He said the project has two main goals.
“One is to improve protection to critical infrastructure at the port from large storm events, and to do that in such a way that it incorporates ecological benefits to fish and other wildlife,” said Zeleske.
He said the expansion will incorporate habitat improvements for fish and other aquatic species and migratory birds.
“We think about how great it is to have Great Blue Herons, but you don’t have Great Blue Herons if you don’t have fish for them to eat,” said Zeleske.
Zeleske said once the plans are in place, new jobs will be created to build the addition to the breakwater.
“That’s a big opportunity that sometimes people miss — this is money that’s coming to our community. That isn’t necessarily directed at addressing social issues but that infusion of money into the economy does have a big impact,” said Zeleske.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson also attended the event. He said he is excited about the economic growth.
“We are tackling climate, we are pairing that with jobs, and we are making a stronger community in Milwaukee with both of those issues,” said Johnson.
Zeleske said this addition to the breakwater doesn’t prevent climate change, but it protects the city from increased risks that are caused by it. The addition to the breakwater is positioned to help protect the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility and Port Milwaukee.
“It gives us an opportunity to better protect some really critical infrastructure on Jones Island, the water treatment plant … if there was a storm event that knocked that out, we would be in big trouble from a water quality standpoint and it protects the Port of Milwaukee, where there’s millions of dollars of commercial shipping happening a year,” said Zeleske.
Zeleske said the positive impact on the environment, in addition to this, is what makes this project so important to Milwaukee.