1. Restoring Fish and Aquatic Organism Passage:
A Milwaukee River Watershed Case Study
Clean Rivers, Clean Lakes Conference
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Andrew Struck, M.S., Director
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Ozaukee County (WI) – Planning and Parks Department

2. Presentation Outline
• Program Background
• Aquatic Connectivity to Existing Habitat
• Target Species - Native / Species of Concern
• Impediment Types
• Watershed-wide Conservation Approach
- Major Mainstem Dams
- Large Scale “Public Works”
- Small Scale “Conservation Corps”
• Environmental Monitoring
• GIS Habitat Tool / Habitat Restoration
• Lessons Learned – Adaptive Management
- Program Accomplishments and Setbacks
- Stakeholder Coordination
- Education and Outreach
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

3. Ecological Division – Fish Passage & Habitat Program
Planning and
Parks
Department
Parks,
Tourism Planning Ecological
Golf Division Trails Division Recreation, and
Division Division Division
Culture Division
Bird Fish Passage Invasive
Conservation Program Species
Fragmentation
Habitat Education and
& Impediment Monitoring Reporting
Restoration Outreach
Remediation
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

4. Program Location – Ozaukee County, WI
Milwaukee River Basin
Map courtesy of
http://basineducation.uwex.edu/mi
lwaukee/resources/rivers.html
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

5. Fish Passage Program Summary
• $5.24 Million NOAA/ARRA Grant
Awarded (2009 & 2010): Restore
Fish Passage in the Milwaukee
River Watershed
• $1.48 Million USEPA GLRI Grant
Awarded (2010): Enhancing
Ecological Productivity
• $491,000 USEPA GLRI Grant
Awarded (2010): Monitoring to
Address 7 of 11 BUIs
• Program Scope
• 18 tributaries
• 4 main-stem dams
• Develop GIS Model for
Prioritizing Habitat and
Restoration Activities
• Water Quality Monitoring
• Sediment Sampling
• Fisheries Monitoring
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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6. Theme – “Making Connections”
Renewing “Old” Connections….
Milwaukee River Basin
– Lake Michigan
– Milwaukee River
– Tributary Streams
– Spawning and Rearing Habitats
….and Forming “New” Connections (Non-
traditional Stakeholders) through…
Ozaukee County
Elected Officials
Municipalities
Businesses
Schools
NGOs
Citizens / Landowners Map courtesy of
http://basineducation.uwex.edu/mi
Volunteers lwaukee/resources/rivers.html
Collaborative Partnerships
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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7. Primary Program Goals – Making Connections
1. Removal of Fish Passage Impediments / Increased
Connectivity to Existing High Quality Habitat
Measures:
– Restored passability at inventoried impediments
– Number of passable stream miles
– Number of impediments removed
– Presence of target species after impediment removal
–Acres of existing wetland habitat made accessible
2. Support Career Development and Job Creation
Measures:
– Labor hours created
– Dollars expended
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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8. Making the Most of What’s Left
• Desirable aquatic habitat has been
lost or significantly altered
• Restored aquatic habitat is expensive
to create and is commonly inferior to
quality natural habitat
• Many pockets of quality natural
aquatic habitat remain and are
protected. However, many, if not
most, are ecologically isolated
• Reconnecting isolated habitat
restores its ecological function to the
watershed and saves resources
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

9. Fish Life Cycle – Aquatic Connectivity
Develop in
wetlands
and streams
Eggs
Spawning Larvae
Critical Critical
Migrate up from passage Drift downstream
passage
Lake Michigan barrier to Lake Michigan
barrier
Adults Fry
Juveniles
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

10. Native Fish Swimming Performance
• Good for short distance
“bursts” < 15 sec.
• Fair for “sustained”
movements in velocities
< 2 ft/s
• Poor for “prolonged”
swimming
• Very Poor jumpers
• Require Low velocity
(< 2 - 3 ft/s)
Short jumps < 8 inches
Frequent rest areas
Milwaukee River Watershed Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

11. Aquatic Species Passage
Wisconsin Endangered Species Program Target Species
• Striped Shiner •Northern Pike
Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu
Wisconsin Threatened Species •Walleye
Source: utoledo.edu
•Greater Redhorse
Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu
•Lake Sturgeon (WI Special Concern)
•Longear Sunfish Source: pond.dnr.cornell.edu
Source: library.marist.edu
•Ellipse Mussel
Source: library.marist.edu
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

12. Target Species: Northern Pike
• Valued Species
• Historically Spawned in
Milwaukee River Tributaries
• Require wetland vegetation
to spawn (e.g. sedges)
• “Burst Swimmers” –
Vulnerable to Barriers
• Adults and Larvae Affected
Differently
• Surrogate for a Wide Array
of Organisms
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

13. Impediment Examples
• Major Dams
• Poorly designed/ installed
culverts
• Excessive water velocities
• Pervious fill deposits
• Channel-constricting bridge
abutments
• Debris jams and channel
aggradation
• Certain log jams
• Sediment deposits
• Invasive vegetation
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

14. Watershed-wide Conservation Approach
ADAPTIVE PROJECT Example PROGRAM Example
MANAGEMENT
Planning Opportunity Landowner / Measurable Metrics -
Impediment Outcomes Socioeconomic
/ Biological
Research / Design Immediate Permitting / Long term / Level of Effort
Needs Design & Watershed / Priority –
Engineering Scale Inventories /
Criteria GIS modeling
Implementation / Objectives Construct Multiple Dams and
Program Delivery Fish Passage Objectives Other Barriers
/ Remove to Achieve (Public Works /
Impediment Goal Cons. Corps)
Monitoring / Demonstrate Target Identify Next Beneficial Use
Evaluation Success Species Steps Impairments
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

15. Milwaukee River Mainstem Dam Barriers
Newburg Dam Removal, Ongoing
Bridge Street Dam – Passive
Fishway (Proposed)
Lime Kiln Dam Removal, 2010
Mequon-Thiensville Dam Passive
“Nature-like” Fishway, 2010
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

16. Mequon-Thiensville Dam, Village of Thiensville
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

17. Mequon-Thiensville Dam – Fishway Construction
• Fishway design
– Series of pools and riffles
– Meandering stream channel
– Less than 2% slope
• Entrance near face of the dam, exit
through former millrace entrance
• Program electrofishing and
underwater camera - passage
success
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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18. Mequon Thiensville Dam – Nature-Like Fishway
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

19. Mequon-Thiensville Dam - Fishway Construction
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

20. Lime Kiln Dam, Village of Grafton
Map courtesy of Bing Maps
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

21. Lime Kiln Dam – Removal and Restoration
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

22. Lime Kiln Dam – Removal and Restoration
– Removal incorporated slow draw-
down through historic raceway to
minimize sediment transport
– Used blasting to fracture the dam
structure – three separate blasts
– Long-term restoration strategies
(e.g. seeding and tree planting)
– Planned educational signage and
pedestrian bridge
– Budgeted Costs: $232,000 Photo Credit: Jerry Kiesow
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

23. Lime Kiln Dam – Restoration
11.19.10 – following removal 5.25.11 – 6 months after removal
6.16.11 – 7 months after removal 10.11.11 – 11 months after removal
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

24. Lime Kiln Dam – Public Access Amenities
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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25. Bridge Street Dam Passive Fishway Design
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed
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26. Bridge Street Dam, Village of Grafton
Map courtesy of Bing Maps
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

27. Bridge St. Dam – Potential Removal/Public Input
– NOAA funds allowed option of removal or fishway construction
– Public involvement process and April 2010 referendum – resident
support for keeping the dam
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

28. Bridge Street Dam Fishway Concept Design
– Design required close
coordination with US Army Corps
of Engineers, Wisconsin DNR,
Ozaukee County, US Fish &
Wildlife Service, Village of
Grafton, Interfluve, Bonestroo,
and local residents
– Design incorporates combination
of “buried box” through dam at
entrance and exposed naturalized
channel daylighting upstream
– AIS, <2% slope, landowner
preferences, upstream AND
downstream considerations
– Budgeted Costs: $1.3 million
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

29. Bridge Street Dam Fishway Final Design
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

30. Bridge Street Dam – Fishway Design
Aluminum
Stoplogs for
AIS Control
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

31. AIS – Program Response Summary
• Round goby
• Inconclusive ability to surpass existing
downstream natural Milwaukee River
gradient conditions or navigate fishway
• Predatory control increases as
populations of various species improve
• Tiered Monitoring Approach and Plan
• Sea lamprey
“Given what we know to date, the most likely
• USFWS criteria incorporated into fishway mechanism to infect new waters is through
design human actions that concentrate the virus in
one location. Diffuse movement of the virus
• VHSv by fish movements does not seem to be
• Bridge Street Dam not a full barrier to fish moving the virus significantly."
/ VHSv passage "We also considered closing all of our
• Inconclusive evidence of VHSv prevalence fishways, but decided that the risk was much
lower than human intervention vectors.“
in watershed
• Spread of VHSv by migrating fish far less - Michigan DNR Fisheries and USACE staff
likely than by human introduction
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

32. Aquatic Invasive Species – Conclusions
• WDNR issued permit for “active” fishway,
requiring:
• Construction of trap and sort facility
• Only passage of lake sturgeon allowed
• Fishway closure if impoundment water levels
rise within .25’ of spilling over western open
channel wall
• V. Grafton (dam owner) rejected permit in 2011
“Take Home Messages”
• Develop, publish and adopt objective, science-based
criteria for defining Great Lakes “boundary dams”
• Recognize demonstrated value of passive fishway
designs for sustainable aquatic connectivity
• Identify and involve regulatory “decision-makers”
early in the process
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

33. Newburg Dam, Village of Newburg
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

34. Newburg Dam - Structural Issues
2009 WDNR dam safety inspection identified:
–Right abutment leakage
–Cracking present across
entire crest
–Inoperable gates
–Embankment repairs
–Need for a detailed
engineering study to
determine necessary repairs
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

35. Newburg Dam – Removal
Village of Newburg voted unanimously to remove the dam on 10/27/11
• Tight timeline – substantial completion by September 30, 2012
• Removal will reconnect 37.25 mainstem river miles (13 from Newburg
Dam to Barton Dam in West Bend, 24.25 from Newburg Dam to Bridge
Street Dam in Grafton), passively reconnect 33 upstream tributary miles
• Sediment characterization
work completed
• Engineering and design ongoing
• Available NOAA funds - up to $650,000
• WDNR Dam Removal Grant $50,000
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

36. Ozaukee County Road/Stream Crossing Barriers
• 644 Public Road / Stream Crossings
• Even More Private Road Crossings
• Even More Farm / Trail Crossings
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

37. “Large-Scale” Impediments
Fredonia Creek – Lac Du Cours Creek–
Low-Head Dam Trinity Creek– HWY 57 River Road
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

38. “Large-Scale” Impediments
Fredonia Creek – Ulao Creek – Stone Riveredge Creek –
Snowmobile Crossing Ford Utility Bridge
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

39. “Small Scale” Impediments
• 110 NOAA Sites
• Up to 100 EPA Sites
• Impediments Include
– Log Jams/Debris Jams
– Sediment Aggradations
– Invasive Vegetation
– Pervious Fill Deposits
– Railroad Ballast Deposits
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

40. Unreliable Fish Passage Techniques
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

41. Fish Passage Program - Monitoring
Monitoring
Sediment
Fish Surveys Water Quality
Contamination
Larval Fishway
Fyke Netting Creel Surveys Visual Surveys Electrofishing eDNA
Trapping Camera
Continuous Discrete
Coring
Monitoring Sampling
Lab Analysis Lab Analysis
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

42. Fisheries - Fyke Netting and Larval Trapping
• Fyke Netting (2010)
– Four Program streams
– Six locations
– 100 fish from 15 species
• Larval Trapping (2010/2011)
– Nine Program streams and two
“control” streams
– 36 pike larvae from one stream
(2010)
– 34 pike larvae and young-of-year
from three streams (2011)
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

43. Tributary and Milwaukee River Electrofishing
• Tributary Electrofishing
(2010)
– Five Program streams
and two “control”
streams
– Over 2,800 fish
– Confirmed upstream
passage at four of five
remediation sites
• Milwaukee River E-fishing
(2011)
– Over 4,900 fish from six
sites
– Over 400 fish tagged
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

44. Mequon-Thiensville Fishway Camera
• Underwater Camera and PIT Tag
Readers
• Since June of 2011:
– Thousands of fish
– 30 species
– 12 PIT-tagged fish
– Other Wildlife (e.g. Beaver)
Beaver
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

45. Environmental Monitoring – Tagged Fish
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

46. Mequon-Thiensville Fishway Camera
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

47. Water Quality and Sediment Contamination
• Water Quality Sampling (2011/2012)
– Three continuous monitoring stations
– 30 discrete sampling locations
• Baseflow and high flows
– Biological Impacts (Fish and Wildlife)
• Sediment Contamination Sampling
(2011/2012)
– Four sampling reaches
• Two impoundments
• Two free-flowing reaches
– Biological Impacts
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

48. GIS Tool & Habitat Restoration: USEPA & WCMP
• Program staff and partners will
refine existing GIS Tools to:
• Overlap existing and
potentially restorable pike
spawning habitat with
highest value riparian wildlife
habitat to rank and direct
restoration priorities
• Conduct habitat
improvement demonstration
projects (stream
meandering, wetland
restoration)
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

49. Habitat Restoration – Wetland and Floodplain
• GIS Tool Outputs
– Future wetland, in-stream,
and/or floodplain restoration
projects
• Sweet Property (Town of
Fredonia)
– Wetland enhancement and
floodplain connectivity project
on Program stream (Sandhill
Creek)
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

50. Major Program Successes
• Lime Kiln Dam Removal
• M-T Dam Nature-Like Fishway
• Bridge Street Fishway Engineering & Design
• 35 Road/Stream Crossing Reconstructions,
22 Additional Planned
• 138 Small-Scale Impediment Removals
• Reconnection of 75 stream miles
• 175+ Volunteers = 1,869 Volunteer Hours
• Over 50,000 Labor Hours Created
• Over $1.75 million Invested in Ozaukee
County Infrastructure Improvements
• Info to over 5,251 people at 66 events
• Agreements with 75 Different Landowners
• National Awards & Recognition
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

51. Lessons Learned -- Stakeholder Buy-In is Crucial
Improve fish passage AND meet infrastructure needs…….
• Program works
closely with nine
Cities, Villages and NOAA/ARRA-Funded Expenditures, by Municipality (4/16/12)
Towns Municipality Conservation Corps*
$26,728
Public Works ** Dam Projects Totals
$83,249
T of Fredonia $56,521
V of Fredonia $6,013 $106,636 $112,649
• 35 road/stream T of Saukville $61,706
$60,739
$519,362
$130,000
$581,068
$643,793
crossings & low- C of Mequon
V of Grafton $13,172
$453,054
$110,273 $123,445
flow dams T of Grafton $6,082 $13,908 $19,990
T of Cedarburg $58,928 $58,928
• Three large dams V of Thiensville $867 $130,000 $130,867
Total $234,233 $1,149,481 $370,273 $1,753,987
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

52. Lessons Leaned -Stakeholder Support
• NGO’s
– Develop/expand relationships,
utilize mutually-beneficial
efforts
• Landowners
– Program staff working with
over 150 landowners
throughout 2010-11
• Volunteers
– Fulfilled time-intensive
environmental monitoring
activities
• Universities
– Internship opportunities and
student projects
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

53. Education & Outreach – Awareness/Stewardship
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

54. Fish Passage Program – Education & Outreach
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

55. Media Coverage – Fish Passage Program
Lime Kiln Dam removal and Mequon Thiensville Fishway featured in:
fisheries featured in:
• Outdoor Wisconsin
• Outdoor Wisconsin • Discover Wisconsin
• Discover Wisconsin • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• On Wisconsin Outdoors • Aqua Kids
• National and International Conferences • 2010 and 2011 Sturgeon Fest
• National and International Conferences
• Underwater camera “live” on web soon
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

56. Fish Passage Program - Partners
• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration • Ozaukee County Tourism Council
• US Environmental Protection Agency • Milwaukee Audubon Society
• WI Department of Natural Resources • Wisconsin Youth Conservation Corps
• Milwaukee Community Service Corps • Community High Schools
• US Geological Survey - Conte Anadromous Fish • River Revitalization Foundation
Laboratory • Treasures of Oz
• US Fish and Wildlife Service • Urban Ecology Center
• Ulao Creek Partnership • Ozaukee Washington Land Trust
• Riveredge Nature Center • Ozaukee County Land Conservation
• Mequon Nature Preserve Partnership
• Carroll University • Ozaukee County (multiple departments)
• Concordia University • Ozaukee County Volunteer Center
• Marquette University • Ozaukee County Master Gardeners
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station • Bonestroo
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee • Environmental DNA Solutions
• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point • City of Mequon
• University of Wisconsin Extension Service • Village of Thiensville
• University of Notre Dame • Village of Grafton
• Milwaukee Area Technical College • Town of Grafton
• Wisconsin Lutheran College • Town of Saukville
• Great Lakes Sport Fisherman • Village of Fredonia
• Trout Unlimited • Town of Fredonia
• Milwaukee Riverkeeper • Town of Cedarburg
• Inter-Fluve • AECOM
• Kapur and Associates • Short Elliott Hendrickson
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

57. Acknowledgements
2011 Ozaukee Fish Passage Program Staff
Program Officers
Jessica Berrio, NOAA
Terry Heatlie, NOAA
Julie Sims, NOAA Matt Aho, Ozaukee County
Rajen Patel, USEPA Luke Roffler, Ozaukee County
Jennifer Conner, USEPA Ryan McCone, Ozaukee County
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

58. Acknowledgements - Funding
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration –
Great Lakes Program - American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act
US Environmental Protection Agency –
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
US Fish and Wildlife Service – Partners for Fish &
Wildlife
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection – Soil and Water Conservation
Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed

59. Making Connections Across Our Watersheds
QUESTIONS ?
Photo Credits: Larry Polenske
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Ozaukee Fish Passage Program -- Making Connections Across Our Watershed