After another significant flood, MMSD hopes speeding up four projects will make a difference
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- To prevent future floods, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is speeding up its timeline for building four new basins across the city.
MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer told CBS 58 in an interview Wednesday those basin projects were given higher priority following the thousand-year flood that devastated the Milwaukee area last August.
When heavy rains last week shattered April records and caused significant flooding, Shafer said it solidified MMSD's decision last summer to make flood-related infrastructure a higher priority.
"It was just another shot in the arm saying, 'We really have to do this,'" Shafer said. "It wasn't as bad as August, but it was bad."
The four new basin projects are at the following locations:
- N. 35th St. & W. Capitol Dr., with a targeted completion date of 2029
- Jackson Park, with a targeted completion date of 2030
- Wilson Park, with a targeted completion date of 2033
- I-43 and the Alro Steel plan, with a targeted completion date of 2033
Shafer said those projects would be able to contain a combined 200 million gallons of stormwater during a heavy rain event.
"Which means there's 200 million gallons where we want it to be," Shafer said. "Instead of in people's basements or the streets and so forth."
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) says it is speeding up its timeline for four key flood management projects.
MMSD said it has spent about $630 million on completed basin projects, including those in Bayside and Whitefish Bay. There is still an estimated $900 million worth of work still left to do.
MMSD handles the water treatment for a total of 28 communities in and around Milwaukee. On Friday, MMSD, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee announced the creation of a new task force dedicated to flood mitigation.
Officials and many climatologists believe high-intensity rain events will happen more frequently in southeast Wisconsin because of climate change.
“The work of the panel will prioritize mitigation in locations facing the highest risk including sites that have been flooded repeatedly in recent years," Mayor Cavalier Johnson said.
Shafer said the four high-priority basin projects are the first phase of a broader effort to build more flood prevention infrastructure.
He said, to date, about 2,400 homes have been removed from the 100-year flood plain because of completed projects. The ultimate goal is to remove flood risks for another 1,400 or so homes.
Pam Ryan, who lives near Jackson Park, said she supports any move that keeps floodwaters out of surrounding neighborhood. She added she hopes the basin project will also improve the park experience.
"There was so much damage last year to many of the houses just along the parkway and the creek," Ryan said. "One thing they should consider is looking at the street at Jackson Park, where it floods every year."
Shafer said MMSD does seek to make park enhancements when it partners with Milwaukee County Parks on basin projects. He pointed to Pulaski Park, also on the south side, as a recent example of work both improving the experience for neighbors and allowing the space to hold more water during future floods.
"They're gonna happen again," Shafer said. "I hate to tell people that, but it is gonna happen again."