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In: Adam Bechle, East River Collaborative, flood resilience, Governor Tony Evers, Julia Noordyk, The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy's Kari Hagenow shows Governor Tony Evers a map of the East River watershed

The Nature Conservancy’s Kari Hagenow (left) shows Gov. Tony Evers (middle) and Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld (right) a map of the East River watershed. Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant

On a sunny Tuesday at Van Beaver Park in Green Bay, the East River Collaborative hosted Gov. Tony Evers on a walking tour that showcased four years of work building flood resilience along the East River.

Earlier this week, Evers announced $1.3 million in funding for Wisconsin’s Great Lakes communities through the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. The East River Collaborative — collectively supported by Wisconsin Sea Grant, The Nature Conservancy, and NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District — was one of 31 projects to receive grants. The Fund for Lake Michigan will also be providing financial support for the East River Collaborative’s project.

Julia Noordyk, water quality and coastal communities outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant, expressed gratitude for the program’s continued support of the collaborative. “They have really invested in the East River flood resiliency project since the beginning,” she said.

Spurred by historic flooding in March 2019, the East River Collaborative formed in 2020 to bring communities together to improve water quality and build resilience to floods.

The Nature Conservancy’s Kari Hagenow discussed this history while gesturing to flood maps on easels. Previous WCMP funding allowed the collaborative to create maps and models of the flooded area, conduct interviews and develop a framework for increasing flood resiliency in communities along the river.

“In terms of phosphorus and sediment, [the East River] is one of the highest loading tributaries to the bay of Green Bay, so we know that the work that we’re doing will not only benefit flood resilience, but it’s also going to benefit water quality in the bay of Green Bay and better fish and wildlife habitat in the system,” said Hagenow.

Six people of the East River Collaborative project time pose for a photo with Tony Evers.

The East River Collaborative project team poses for a photo with Gov. Evers. From left to right: Nicole Van Helden, Julia Noordyk, Kari Hagenow, Gov. Tony Evers, Whitney Prestby, Adam Bechle, Natalie Bomstad, and Angela Kowalzek. Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Gov. Evers and the tour group then crossed the park to get a better view of the river, which rolled peacefully as a great blue heron flew overhead.

The same park, however, was less serene in 2019 when nearby homes were evacuated and inundated with floodwaters. Noordyk discussed how the new grant will allow the collaborative to better engage with and elevate the concerns of residents hardest hit by flooding.

“We are really trying to expand our capacity to do more community engagement in underserved neighborhoods and try to get voices at the table, understand what’s going on and what people think,” said Noordyk.

The grant will fund a new partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension Natural Resources Institute and Wello, a local health equity nonprofit, to develop a survey and gather feedback from the community. The goal, Noordyk said, is to bring those perspectives to the table when municipalities start planning projects.

The tour also showcased the work that East River communities have already undertaken to soak up water and increase recreational opportunities. Brad Lange, village administrator of Allouez, discussed the development of a future “water trail” in the East River. 

“The state doesn’t have many water trails, but we are looking at creating kayak-canoe launches,” said Lange. The goal would be for paddlers to traverse the river unobstructed from the town of Ledgeview to downtown Green Bay. 

A kayaker in a red kayak paddles along the East River

A kayaker paddles down the East River at the perfect moment. Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Bellevue Village Administrator Ben Krumenauer also discussed the village’s improvements to the East River Trail, a 10-mile multi-use path along the river that experiences flooding throughout the year. The village will be repairing deteriorating boardwalks and repaving sections of the trail.

To the tour group’s delight, the value of recreation was on full display. While Krumenauer spoke, a kayaker appeared in the river behind him and paddled quietly downstream. It was a picture-perfect moment that someone jokingly questioned as orchestrated.

“We can’t pay [for] that perfection,” laughed Krumenauer.

In his final remarks, Governor Evers echoed the value of wetlands for soaking up water and supporting recreation. Not only will local communities benefit from these projects, he said, but also bikers, hunters, anglers and paddlers across the state.

“This is also going to offer opportunities for increased recreation,” said Evers, and “using the river in a good way.”

The post East River Collaborative garners a visit from the governor and new grant funding first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/east-river-collaborative-garners-a-visit-from-the-governor-and-new-grant-funding/

Jenna Mertz

On:
In: Adam Bechle, East River, East River Collaborative, flood resilience, green infrastructure, Julia Noordyk, The Nature Conservancy
A group of people stand on a paved path alongside the East River in Green Bay near the site of worst flooding in 2019

A group surveys a site along the East River in Green Bay that was hardest hit by flooding in 2019. Photo: Lamont Smith, The Nature Conservancy

Since 2020, the East River Collaborative has demonstrated that it takes a village—and coordination between municipalities, state and federal government, nonprofits and universities—to improve water quality and flood resilience at the watershed level.  

“It’s very challenging for municipalities to work across boundaries with other municipalities,” said Julia Noordyk, water quality and coastal communities outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant. Noordyk works alongside partners at The Nature Conservancy and NEW Water (the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District) on a core team that provides coordination and technical assistance to communities in the East River watershed. 

“Every community is extremely different, and we’re not there to tell them what to do,” said Noordyk. Municipalities in the watershed span the rural-urban spectrum and vary in population, budget size and capacity.  

“We’re there to listen and to figure out how to help them achieve flood resiliency based on what their community’s goals are.” 

The 40-mile-long East River spans three counties in northeastern Wisconsin—Calumet, Manitowoc and Brown—and passes through agricultural, suburban and urban landscapes before it meets the Fox River and empties into the Bay of Green Bay. Historic flooding in March 2019 resulted in 50 houses being condemned and spurred the creation of the East River Collaborative the following year. 

Since that time, the collaborative has worked with communities to identify shared goals across the watershed and developed maps and models to visualize flooding impacts. Now, with a new wave of grant funding, the collaborative is moving to the next phase: developing an implementation plan to identify and prioritize new projects. 

People plant pollinator plants along the East River

Volunteers replace turf grass with native plants along the East River in Ledgeview. Photo credit: Stephanie Schlag, town of Ledgeview

To help communities make these decisions, the East River Collaborative team is building a new tool to evaluate how well different nature-based solutions capture, slow and clean stormwater on the landscape. Nature-based solutions include practices like planting native plants, using rain barrels, building agricultural runoff storage systems and stabilizing streambanks.

Even though the tool is still in the planning stages, communities aren’t waiting to get local projects off the ground.  

At the fourth annual East River Collaborative Winter Forum in February, partners gathered virtually to share their work restoring wetlands, removing invasive species, planting pollinator plants and designing canoe/kayak launches for the East River water trail—among many other projects.  

“[The implementation plan] has really been a catalyst for other communities to think about this and start moving forward on resiliency themselves,” said Noordyk. 

Another goal of the implementation phase is to build relationships with underserved residents who are likely to experience flooding and need the most support to recover from it due to factors like income, language and age.

A federal grant from NOAA Digital Coast will allow partners to connect with and learn from other municipalities that have worked with underserved communities on similar projects. The team is also pursuing funding for a survey that will gather residents’ feedback on strategies to prepare for and reduce flooding.

Adam Bechle, Wisconsin Sea Grant coastal engineering specialist and member of the East River Collaborative core team, is particularly excited to work with partners on establishing a flood warning system for the river. 

“We worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service and other partners to figure out what needs to happen so that the Weather Service can start putting together a forecast model,” said Bechle. 

Both he and Noordyk said it’s been encouraging to see communities’ sustained interest in working together on these issues, even when flooding isn’t an imminent threat.  

“We still have the same number of people showing up to meetings as when we kicked off,” said Bechle.

The East River Collaborative has been funded by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Fund for Lake Michigan and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. To learn more, visit the East River Collaborative’s website.

The post Northeastern Wisconsin communities build flood resilience at the local and watershed level first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/northeastern-wisconsin-communities-build-flood-resilience-at-the-local-and-watershed-level/

Jenna Mertz