multiple benefits: regional visioning to local engagement
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2014 Park Pride Parks and Greenspace Conference Presenter is Karen SandsTRANSCRIPT
Park Pride’s 13th AnnualParks and Greenspace Conference
Multiple Benefits: Regional Visioning to Local Engagement
(Milwaukee, WI)
March 31, 2014
Karen Sands, AICP
Manager of Sustainability
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• MMSD Background/Impetus for Going Green
• MMSD Regional GI Plan
• Pre-Plan Programs, including Greenseams®
• Project Examples
Today’s Talk…
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
We Serve:• 1.1 Million Customers• 28 Municipalities• 411 Square Miles
We Protect the Public & Lake Michigan:
• Convey/Store/Reclaim Wastewater
• Manage Flooding
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• Sewers
• Treatment Plants
• Tunnels/Storage Vessels
• Large-scale Flood Management
MMSD’s Grey Backbone…
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300 MilesMMSD Sewers
3,000 MilesMunicipally Owned Sewers
3,000 MilesPrivate Laterals
The MMSD Region’s Sewers
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Water Reclamation Facilities
Jones Island
South Shore
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Designed to minimize basement backups and for 1-
2 overflows per year.
300 FeetBelow ground
521 MillionGallons of Storage
28.5 MilesLong
17- to 32-feetIn Diameter
ISS/Deep Tunnels
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Also, Flood Management
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Lincoln Creek Example
BeforeAfter
• Concrete removal to naturalize channel• Minimized floodplain• Habitat enhancement
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The Deep Tunnel has kept
98+ Billion Gallonsof pollution out of Lake Michigan
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Overflow Reduction Plan
• $1 Billion Spent by 2010• Reclamation Facility
Upgrades• Deep Tunnels• Sewer Rehabilitation
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End Result!
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Despite An Extensive Grey Backbone, CSOs Still Happen
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• Is That Enough?
• Does Our Public Expect More?
• Are We “Sustainable”? What about “Regenerative”?
• What Does the Future Hold? What’s our Role? How Do We Plan For it?
We Meet Our Effluent & AQ Permits, So…
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We plan for it with vision…MMSD’s 2035 Vision and Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objectives For:
1. Integrated Watershed Management
2. Climate Change Mitigation/Adaptation with an Emphasis on Energy Efficiency
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2035 Vision’s Green Infrastructure Goals
• Capture the 1st 0.5” of rainfall
• Capture & reuse the 1st 0.25 gallon per SF
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To Serve Our Region…MMSD Implements Grey & Green Infrastructure
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Green Infrastructure In Our New Permit
4.10 Wet Weather Management – Green Infrastructure
“…The practices/control measures put in place in 2013 must cumulatively have a design retention capacity of at least 1
million gallons, and each following calendar year during the permit term an additional 1 million gallons of green
infrastructure retention capacity must be put in place...”
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Regional Green Infrastructure Plan: A Top-Down Approach
• Implement the 2035 Vision (740 MG!!)
• Help Prioritize GI Funding Decisions
• Provide Input to Next Facilities Plan
• Logically Implement WPDES GI Goals
What’s So Groundbreaking?
• Emphasizes Combined & Separate Sewer Service Areas
• Supports Private Property Inflow & Infiltration
• Promotes Turf Grass with Soil Amendments
What’s Next With GI?
• Existing Programs Continue/Expand• New Programs:
– Schools– Economic Development
• Ad-hoc Committee Tackles Policy• R&D:
– O&M: sensors– Behavior change study w/UWM
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The Business Case For Going Green
• Green Infrastructure Can Supplement Traditional Grey Infrastructure
• Green Infrastructure Provides Many Other Quantifiable Benefits
• Economic• Social• Environmental
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• “Every Drop Counts” Campaign
• Greenseams Property Acquisitions
• Flood Management Projects
• Increasingly Widespread Green…• Rain Barrels & Rain Garden Plant Sales• Downspout Disconnections• Green/Sustainable Infrastructure Partnerships• Studies to Justify the “Business Case”
Before There Was a Plan…
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Many Strategies, Many Pilot Projects, Multiple Scales
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GreenseamsSM
2,600+ Acres Since 2002
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Lake Michigan Rain Garden Initiative
Over 26,000 plants sold since 2006
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Rain Barrels
• Over 18,000 Sold
• Triple-bottom Line Story
• Over 1,000,000 Gallons/Event
• Benefits in Milwaukee• Widespread Implementation• Far-Ranging Outreach has Spill-over
Value• Unique Approaches• Culture Change• Volume of Interest• Technical Successes
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Green Roofs
MillerCoors
Mequon
MMSD
Clock Shadow Building 9+ acres
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Park/Park-like Installations
• Schule Center• S. 6th Street Gardens• Southshore Beach Parking• Bradford Beach Bioretention• Firefly Gardens, MKE County
Grounds• Oak Creek Wetlands• Brown Street Academy• Maryland Avenue School
• Urban Ecology Center• All-People’s Church• Menomonee Valley
Bioretention• Beerline Trail• Colectivo on the Lake• Mequon Nature Preserve• Boerner Botanical Garden• MKE County Zoo
Boerner Botanical Garden
Bradford Beach
Karen Sands, AICPMilwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
www.mmsd.comwww.h2ocapture.com