DNR Funding New Beach for South Shore Park

Design by SmithGroup for the new South Shore Beach.

Milwaukee County Parks has received an $8 million grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to rebuild South Shore Beach.

The 1.7-acre beach in South Shore Park is regularly ranked among the worst in the nation and the beach is frequently closed for swimming due to E. Coli contamination. An engineer once said the beach faces a “perpetual source of pollution” from bird excrement, sewer overflows and stormwater runoff.

These problems are compounded by the location of the beach next to a boat mooring and behind a breakwater that limits the outflow of water along the beach, creating stagnant, dirty water in the swimming area. Testing in 2015 found that 65% of water samples taken at the beach contained E. coli.

In 2019, Milwaukee County Parks zeroed in on a new design for the beach created by the engineering firm SmithGroup that would move it approximately 500 feet to the south where a rocky beach currently sits. This new configuration would move the beach closer to the breakwater opening, improving water circulation.

Rob Wright, a principal and civil engineer with SmithGroup, explained at the time that the design uses existing currents near the breakwater opening and new currents created by the beach’s design to pull contaminants away from the beach. Additionally, the new beach will be built at a steeper grade and use a larger grain of sand that more easily drains, limiting the growth of E. Coli bacteria.

The UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Science McLellan Lab has been conducting testing at South Shore Beach and has found the chosen area for the new beach has better water circulation and lower bacterial contamination than the current beach.

The $8 million DNR grant was funded through the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and could go into effect by October this year, pending acceptance by the Milwaukee County Board. This could allow construction to begin as soon as spring of 2024, said Guy Smith, director of Milwaukee County Parks. “We are very excited to be moving into the final phase of the South Shore Beach Rehabilitation Project.”

Parks set this project in motion nearly a decade ago when it investigated and developed a broad framework for solutions to address water quality problems near South Shore Park. “Coordination began with DNR in 2017 to address beach closings and water quality issues that have preventing the public from safely enjoying South Shore Beach,” Smith said. “After comprehensive review and input from the public and stakeholders, the final design alternative was selected in early 2020.”

If things go according to plan, the new beach will be constructed in 2024, and in 2025 the current beach will be vegetated and converted to a natural area with prairie grasses, a sand dune and a bioretention area.