County to acquire Port park to restore stream

Ozaukee County officials last week voted to accept ownership of a City of Port Washington park and contracted with an Illinois firm to further shore up the embankments of Mineral Springs Creek in the city.

The county Natural Resources Committee voted to accept the 1.85-acre Oakland Green Park east of Ravine Street, which has a 910-foot frontage along the banks of the creek.

The committee also agreed to pay Living Water Consultants Inc. of Burr Ridge, Ill., up to $57,137, which includes a 15% contingency, for design and engineering services for Mineral Springs Creek resiliency and habitat restoration in Port.

The work will include restoring and stabilizing embankments along the creek and at Oakland Green Park, a grassy area along the creek east of Ravine Street.

In August 2018, an intense rainstorm dropped more than nine inches of rain in less than 24 hours on the area, exceeding a 500-year storm event, scouring the stream bed and causing it to drop about four feet downstream of Ravine Street. That exposed an 18-inch sanitary sewer line.

In response, the City of Port Washington encased the pipe in concrete after checking with the state Department of Natural Resources, which told city officials to do what was needed and apply for the needed permits later.

But the Department of Natural Resources later determined the repair effectively created a dam that impedes fish passage, and the city must remove the obstruction.

Working with the county, which secured $730,000 in grants to restore fish passages in the creek, habitat along the waterway was restored.

The city contributed $65,000 over three years toward the work, and has agreed to consult the county before any future work on the creek is done so officials can assess the impact on fish.

The creek, which originates in Ulao Swamp, runs through the Port Washington industrial park northeast until it joins Sauk Creek at Coal Dock Park, is considered one of the most important in Ozaukee County for spawning fish, including salmon, white suckers and forage fish.

One reason for that is the creek is largely fed by ground water, making the water colder than other streams.

Work on the stream already completed  by the county has been recognized by two awards, but continued erosion threatens that progress, officials say.

“Mineral Springs Creek is an extremely valuable resource,” Living Waters Project Engineer Ted Gray said in a memo to the county. “However, the value of Mineral Springs Creek has become severely compromised by such problems as severe stream erosion and severe channel downcutting, including undermining of past restoration projects.

“Downstream reaches of (the creek) remain unstable and are actively eroding, which could impact adjacent utilities and utility structures. In addition, associated instream and riparian habitat conditions are marginal including a stretch immediately adjacent to the We Energies power plant.

“The overall goal of this project is to restore long term resiliency to the creek and to protect critical infrastructure by restoring the stream and riparian corridor to withstand larger future flood flows and increased stormwater resulting from climate change and watershed land use changes.

“Lessons learned from this project will inform decisions for similar projects in the basin to protect critical infrastructure while improving habitat conditions tributary to Lake Michigan,” Gray said.

Living Waters will present a plan for work to be done later this year.

The park land was originally owned by We Energies and was donated to the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust for conservation purposes. OWLT subsequently donated the parcel to the city, requiring the property be maintained for open space uses.

The property will be managed as part of the Ozaukee County Parks System. Only passive recreational uses will be allowed.

“Inclusion into the Ozaukee County Parks System will allow for continued long-term environmental monitoring and study as well as partnerships with local schools, universities and environmental organizations,” County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck told the committee in a memo.