Great Waters Group monitors local environmental issues that might need action at both the state and national levels. Below are some of the important and controversial issues we are working on in Milwaukee and the southeastern region of Wisconsin.

• The Great Lakes Compact: This compact is an agreement reached among the governors of the eight Great Lakes States setting clear limits on diverting water from the Lakes. It also calls for water conservation throughout the Great Lakes’ region. Wisconsin, along with the other seven States, must approve the Compact through implementing legislation. That legislation should be brought out in the form of a State Senate Bill and a State Assembly Bill. As soon as it arrives, we will notify you and ask you to contact your State legislators and encourage them to support these Bills and pass a strong Compact for a strong Wisconsin. Keep watching!

• St Francis Green Space Preservation: We are continuing to advocate for significant greenspace in planning for the vacated We Energies property in St. Francis.  This land serves as a buffer to the outstanding Seminary Woods property to the north.  We do not oppose all development in the area, but we are looking to preserve access to the lakefront and protection of the forest.  The Friends of St. Frances Greenspace are our allies in this effort. Mark Gill is leading our involvement in this issue.

• Little Menomonee River Superfund Site: Cleanup work continues on the Little Menomonee River Superfund Site on Milwaukee's northwest side.  Over the next two years, two segments of the river are being temporarily rerouted, from Bradley to Good Hope Roads and from Good Hope to Mill Roads.  Riverbed sediments will then be cleaned to remove cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons discharged there by the Moss-American railroad tie operation. These are segments 2 and 3 of 5 that must be cleaned up by Kerr-McGee Corp., former owner of the Moss-American property.  The river will be returned to the floodplain and some areas will be re-vegetated.  In one area of segment 2, a new wetland will be created in exchange for lost wetland and trees in segment 1, between Brown Deer and Bradley Roads.  See also: http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/mossamerican/.

• Kenosha - Racine - Milwaukee (KRM) Commuter Rail: The project is languishing at present because the legislature could not agree on a way to fund this when it negotiated the recently approved State budget. Over the past couple of months the Wisconsin Department of Transportation proposed expansion of the I-94 corridor that would not be needed if this commuter rail were made available.  For more on this, go to our Transportation page.

• Global Warming: Check out our Presentations on Global Warming being offered by a group of volunteers from our local Sierra Club group and RENEW Wisconsin. These volunteers plan to work with local “Cool Cities” municipalities to offer help in developing their plans that need to be implemented to reduce energy consumption.  Please contact the Sierra Club office for scheduling or any of our group's Volunteer Leaders for additional information.