Fish Passage Denial Begs Questions, Hurts Community

To date, the federally funded Milwaukee River Watershed Fish Passage Program has called for 40,000 hours of labor in Ozaukee County, invested more than $2 million in improvements to county infrastructure and eliminated 120 aquatic barriers (invasive weeds, log/debris jams and reconstruction of improperly placed culverts) to upstream movement of fish, according to a press release from the Planning and Parks Department of Ozaukee County.

But, it has also brought communities together as it partnered with local residents, nonprofit organizations and local governments.

Now, after two years working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and $300,000 spent on engineering, design and staffing, the nationally recognized model — approved by the Army Corp of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — is being threatened.

The tentative permit denial by the WDNR for the Bridge Street fishway in Grafton led to a public informational meeting on June 27. The turnout included 65 individuals, most in support of the program.

The reason for permit denial was based on the concern for spreading aquatic invasive species (AIS). This would be very logical and practical had the WDNR not spent the last two years actively working with Fish Passage Program staff on designing stoplog gates to completely shut down the fishway should AIS or viral hemorrhagic septicemia be identified in the area.  

The design incorporated input from the WDNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Army Corps of Engineers and several national fishpassage experts and took into consideration the round goby, the press release said.

"We’ve developed a tiered monitoring approach and decision tree to guide management decisions as to when the fishway should be shut down," Fish Passage Program Manager Matt Aho said. "We’ve also shown that the normal velocities of the river in several sections, as well as within the fishway itself, are greater than round goby’s swimming ability based off scientific literature review.".

When questioned during the meeting whether the fishway should be built given the threat of the round goby's, WDNR Regional Fisheries Coordinator Edward "Randy" Schumacher was unable to give clarification saying, "I really don’t know what the right answer is, it gets at your tolerance for error."

Other unsatisfactorily answered questions from the public were: "If AIS is a concern, why aren’t there preventive actions in the 22 miles downstream?"; "Why spend thousands to rear and stock sturgeon but limit their access to habitat?"; and "Why restock fish when this would allow native populations to self-sustain?"

One question that did get an answer was "Who made the tentative denial decision and when?"

Laughter erupted from the crowd when it was announced that the decision was made in March by Bruce Baker — a former DNR veteran water regulator who announced his resignation in March, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — leaving him unable to justify the decision.

Because "no empirical evidence of the detrimental impact" was provided, according to a PDF information sheet from the program, county officials anticipate denial may come "under a loose interpretation of what constitutes "public interest,'" Aho said.

If denied, the decision will eliminate the economic and job-creation benefits of a $1.5 million construction project in downtown Grafton — including resultant recreation and tourism — and will hinder other program goals, such as providing hands-on training skills for underprivileged youth, providing access to 20,000 acres of wetland and building community stewardship.

Written public comments regarding the program can be sent to Kathi Kramasz, 1155 Pilgrim Road, Plymouth, WI 53073 by 4:30 p.m. July 6.