Continuing its vital work to protect and improve water quality, the Fund for Lake Michigan has just awarded nearly $1.4 million in private grants aimed at improving beaches, reducing polluted runoff and restoring critical habitat in Wisconsin.
The largest grant in this round is $190,000 to the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences to conduct an extensive aquatic habitat survey of the city’s harbor.
The university will be working with the Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Harbor District, Inc., and other stakeholders to advance harbor rehabilitation.
“The long-term goal of this study is to restore a thriving recreational fishery and vibrant wildlife population in the heart of urban Milwaukee,” says Vicki Elkin, executive director of the Milwaukee-based organization. “In the meantime, we’re sure to see immediate improvements to the Milwaukee harbor and its larger estuary as a result of this grant.”