The Milwaukee Riverkeeper Hosts its 27th Annual Spring Clean-up following Earth Day

“A Clean River is a Happy River,” read the t-shirts of over 4,000 volunteers during Saturday’s 27^th annual Milwaukee River Cleanup.

“I like to fish in the river, and I know how much garbage is in it. I see all the trash and pollution accumulate every time I go fishing,” said Gunnar Kostka, a volunteer and student at Marquette University Law School. “I saw an opportunity to do something about it.”

The Milwaukee Riverkeeper hosts several volunteer events including its annual spring clean-up following Earth Day. With the help of thousands of volunteers across 68 locations along the Milwaukee River Basin, an estimated 100,000 pounds of trash were collected.

“I appreciate the fact that we were able to show up empty handed and were provided with gloves and trash bags to complete the job,” said Kostka.  

The Milwaukee River Basin is an 882.3-square-mile area that holds the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds that converge and connect to Lake Michigan.

The Milwaukee Riverkeeper was first established in 1995 under the name “Friends of the Menomonee River.” The organization then became one of the founders and official members of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international and nonprofit organization focused on the preservation and protection of clean water.

Other local organizations, such as Keeping Greater Milwaukee Beautiful and Milwaukee County Parks, joined together in the spring clean-up. These groups partner in additional restoration efforts that focus on achieving cleaner and stronger communities.

Elyse Lacy, an employee of Keeping Greater Milwaukee Beautiful and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, recruited several friends to volunteer at the Milwaukee Rowing Club Boathouse location.

“It’s important to keep our rivers clean because it is an essential part of the ecosystem and habitat for wildlife,” said Lacy. “It’s also beneficial to humans to have a clean river because we can then utilize the river for a freshwater source and recreation.”

Non-profit organizations like the Milwaukee Riverkeeper and Keeping Greater Milwaukee Beautiful work hand-in-hand in creating opportunities to improve the greater City of Milwaukee.

“Little do people know, the City of Milwaukee and Waukesha County recycle about 250 tons of recyclables a day,” said Lacy.

Milwaukee’s environmental organizations work to fight the causes of pollution. Road salt in the winter months, industrial facilities, rainwater runoff, oil, litter, and sewage are just some sources of pollution that have contaminated Milwaukee’s riverways.

The Milwaukee Riverkeeper encourages members of the Milwaukee community to identify and report sightings of pollution to help further address environmental problems. Witnesses of environmental abuse can submit a pollution report to the Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s website located here. Identified water pollution can be traced back to its source by testing for the presence of harmful bacteria.

“We can’t be everywhere all the time and we need your help identifying problems,” according to a statement on the Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s website.  

The Milwaukee Riverkeeper also measures water health through oxygen, pH, temperature, and additional quality indicator tests. Good quality indicators help determine if river conditions are capable of supporting fish and aquatic life.

Volunteer events like the annual spring clean-up have contributed to the city’s restoration efforts to increase healthier water quality, wildlife habitats, and minimize pollution.

“We envision a future in which people from all walks of life can enjoy the healthy waterways of the Milwaukee River Basin,” according to the Mission and Vision of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper.