Officials Celebrate Kletzsch Dam Fish Passage

Kletzsch Park Dam and fish passage. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Government officials celebrated the success of the new Kletszch Dam fish passage Tuesday.

Construction of the fish passage was finished in late 2023, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been tracking species like Northern Pike and Lake Sturgeon through the passage and up the Milwaukee River. Fish, like the three Lake Sturgeon that swam through the passage, have not been able to travel, unimpeded, north of the Kletzsch Dam for the past eight decades, as previous story by Urban Milwaukee reported.

Steven Little, DNR Deputy Secretary, said sensors in the fish passage are registering tagged fish from several different species traveling through the passage and up the river toward where they have access to the food sources and habitats needed to reproduce and establish “healthy, stable populations.” These species include steelhead, small mouth bass, walleye, northern pike and lake sturgeon.

“What this really represents is a significant leap forward effort to restore the ecological health for the Milwaukee River,” said County Executive David Crowley.

The Kletzsch Park Dam was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work program created as part of the New Deal. In 2010, the DNR began issuing citations to Milwaukee County, which owns the dam, instructing the government to make repairs to the dam.

The dam is a factor in the Milwaukee Estuary’s listing as an Area of Concern (AOC). The estuary — which includes the Milwaukee, Kinnickinnic and Menominee Rivers — was given this designation in 1987 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because the waterways are significantly degraded.

In 2020, Milwaukee County Parks developed a plan for repairs to the dam that included the development of a fish passage on the west side of the river in Kletzsch Park, allowing native species to migrate and spawn in their natural habitats north of the dam. The plan was initially stalled by the county board after residents pushed back against the project because it would have removed old-growth trees to accommodate the fish passage.

Eventually, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) stepped in. It had the funding and authority to acquire privately owned land on the other side of the river and thereby save the old-growth trees. The sewerage district oversaw the design and construction of the new fish passage.

Kevin Shafer, MMSD Executive Director, said the new fish passage will act as a fast lane for fish get to the upper reaches of the Milwaukee River.

The project cost approximately $3 million and the vast majority of the funding came from a $2.8 million investment by the EPA through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Shafer thanked project partners like the Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Milwaukee Audubon Society, and legislators like Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore that voted to create the GLRI.

Once completed in 2023, the fish passage reopened approximately 54 miles of habitat to fish that have been out of reach since the early 20th century. The five-foot-tall dam allows fish to explore an additional 25-miles of river north of the dam, 29-miles of tributary streams that feed into the river, and 2,400 acres of wetlands – reconnecting river habitats and allowing the fish to migrate throughout the region. It remained the last barrier for fish on the Milwaukee River between Milwaukee and Grafton. Guy Smith, Milwaukee County Parks Director, called the project “a crucial milestone” in the effort to delist the estuary as an AOC.

“We look forward to the positive impact this project will have on our community in the environment,” Smith said.

The Kletszch Dam project is one of approximately 30 projects identified in the area of concern, said Amy Pelka, section chief from the Great Lakes office of the EPA in Chicago. She called the new fish passage “a great symbol of the incredible success to come to the Milwaukee Area of Concern.”