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Dear Santa:
I hope you won't think I'm greedy, but I would like to add 352,827,081 more things to my list this year. Actually, it's one big present with a lot of parts for all my neighbors here in the Milwaukee area to help protect homes, businesses, our rivers and Lake Michigan when Mother Nature doesn't play nice. Santa, we've had some big storms here in recent years that caused millions of dollars in flood damage. Some people lost their homes.
To make things better, we have a plan here at MMSD that is all about green and cost effective solutions for solving problems. You see, Santa, we've already invested $4 billion in gray infrastructure (pipes and plants) in our region and it's really helped. If we want to see
more improvements in our waterways and flood management efforts, we really need to supplement our grey infrastructure with green infrastructure. We're striving to build another 500,000,000 gallons of green infrastructure initiatives for better integrated water management. We already have 147,172,919 gallons completed. The rest is the reason for my 352,827,081 requests.
Green infrastructure in the Milwaukee region started in 2002 with the Greenseams® program that helps reduce future flooding risks by permanently protecting lands with sponge-like soils. We used to call it "The Conservation Easement Program”, but when I saw a map of the region, it reminded me of a patchwork quilt like Mrs. Claus sews, and I thought of the rivers as the green stitching or seams of
the region's quilt, thus the name Greenseams® was born. So far, the Greenseams® Program has protected more than 2,300 acres.
Then, Santa, we quickly started a rain barrel program that's sold more than 16,000 55-gallon barrels. You can do the simple math. 55 gallons times 16,000+ barrels is more than 880,000 gallons of water storage that can't cause flooding or enter people's basements during storms.
Santa, we've
also built more than 10 acres of green roofs on Milwaukee area buildings that help protect Lake Michigan and our area rivers. These roofs are not only absorbing water, but they are also reducing the air conditioning and heating costs of those buildings.
Finally, MMSD's rain garden program has provided low cost plants to make it easier to build rain gardens at homes, churches, and businesses. Rain gardens reduce the flow of water off yards, which ultimately helps infiltrate more water into the ground. Add to that parking lots, alleys, and streets that use porous pavement and bioswales to manage stormwater runoff, and we come back to those 352,827,081 reasons to think green.
Santa, we have done so much work with this integrated water management approach that cities around the world are "green with envy” of
Milwaukee for using grey and green infrastructure to reduce sewer overflows by more than 95%. It's funny, though, because I'm not sure that many people in Milwaukee realize how far ahead we are on these efforts.
So, as you are loading up your sleigh, please look at these Milwaukee area green approaches that total 147,172,919 gallons! That is almost a third the size of our Deep Tunnel! Just like I will track your approach around the world on the internet, you can track our efforts on integrated water management through a new website, www.H2ocapture.com, which allows anyone in the Milwaukee region to input their green infrastructure projects. This shows how our green footprint is growing. Our goal is 500,000,000 gallons of green infrastructure initiatives. We have
352,827,081 gallons to go, so, Santa, anything you can do to help this region be greener is much appreciated.
Sincerely,
 See, Santa? This is what MMSD's green roof looks like on our Headquarters building. Could you bring a few more for some of the buildings in the area? |
