Army Corps, MMSD Revitalizing Honey Creek

A streambed revitalization project will restore the natural bottom to Honey Creek in Wauwatosa.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), will rip out approximately 6,700 feet of concrete channel lining the creek bed.

In the 20th century, some streams and riverbeds were concretized as an engineering solution to local flooding. But as the local ecosystem continued to change and urban development spread, the concretized channels began to make flooding worse.

Honey Creek is a tributary of the Menomonee River, and its concrete channels contribute to dangerously high flow velocities during large rain events that produce flooding. The channel also provides minimal habitat for fish and wildlife, said Erica Goblet, Milwaukee County Parks contracts manager at a January meeting of the county board’s Parks, Energy and Environment Committee.

The reason county supervisors were being briefed on flooding by a contracts manager is because the county had to enter into a partnership agreement with MMSD and the Army Corps for the $14 million project.

The army is covering 65% of the project cost and MMSD is covering the rest. Milwaukee County, which owns the land the Honey Creek runs through, is granting MMSD access during construction; and, once completed, the county will permanently ease the channel and nearby land to MMSD “so that MMSD can preserve the habitat and flood management features, and continue the County’s usual maintenance of the area after the project is complete,” according to a parks report.

The project will see concrete ripped out roughly between the intersection of the N. Honey Creek Parkway and N. 72nd St. in the north and W. Honey Creek Parkway and Glenview Ave. in the south.

Sup. Shawn Rolland introduced an amendment to the board resolution granting approval of the partnership agreement that would prevent a small greenspace located along the creek from being developed for purposes of storm water retention or management.

The small greenspace was created, according to Rolland, in a partnership between the nearby residents, Milwaukee County and the City of Wauwatosa. Each group pitched in to buy the land, then eased it to the county, “so it would not be developed and maintained as a greenspace indefinitely, for this neighborhood to enjoy.”

Goblet said parks and MMSD were fine with the amendment, as it was not anticipated the space would be needed for a storm water project.