Latest news with #MilwaukeeWaterWorks
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Milwaukee water main break; sinkhole forms at 107th and Brown Deer
The Brief A driver ended up in what appeared to be a sinkhole on Milwaukee's northwest side Friday, April 11. The apparent sinkhole may have been caused by a water main break in the area. The driver told FOX6 News, "Definitely a bad day. I mean, you don't leave the house expecting this to happen." MILWAUKEE - A water main break near 107th and Brown Deer Road on Milwaukee's northwest side left one driver stranded on Friday, April 11. What we know A FOX6 News photojournalist was in the area on Friday afternoon, and spotted a white SUV which appeared to have fallen into a sinkhole as a result of the underground break. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android The driver of the SUV was driving north on 107th Street when this happened. What they're saying "Just driving along, saw the water there. Water's pooled here almost all the time, so I didn't think nothing of it. Went through, and this is where I am," the driver said. "Definitely a bad day. I mean, you don't leave the house expecting this to happen." The driver then offered up this advice to anyone who sees a similar situation when they are headed down the road. "If you see water pooling up, don't go through it," the driver said. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Milwaukee Water Works were on the site a short time later to deal with the water main break. Officials simply said the break caused water to undermine the pavement, resulting in a collapse and sinkhole formation. The area will be restored once the repair is complete. The Source The information in this post was provided by a FOX6 News photojournalist on the scene.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
We can't take WI's clean drinking water for granted. Pipes and finances weak.
For more than 30 years, the United Nations has observed March 22 as World Water Day to underscore the importance of fresh water across the globe. It's an important international day of observance that, frankly, doesn't make much of a splash here in the United States. That's in part because we are blessed with some of the safest drinking water in the world thanks to an advanced regulatory system that, by and large, keeps our water clean, safe, and the envy of much of the world. Water management is even more impressive in Wisconsin. There are more than 570 water utilities in a state with fewer than 6 million residents. As a point of comparison, the country's largest municipal water utility – New York City's Department of Environmental Protection — serves nearly 9 million residents. Wisconsin utilities track and publish more data than anywhere else in the country. That's partly a legacy of Wisconsin's Progressive Era institutions, and perhaps an artifact of our state's roots in German culture and its famous love of bureaucracy. Opinion: On Wisconsin's glacial lakes, wake-enhanced boating damaging and dangerous Thanks to Wisconsin's rich water utility data, I am now able to release a first-of-its-kind set of water utility report cards (this site will go live at noon Saturday) that provide clear, accessible information to the public about water quality, infrastructure integrity, operational efficiency and financial strength for 570 water utilities in the state regulated by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. This project differs from water utility transparency and reporting efforts in states such as Louisiana and New Jersey insofar as our report cards provide independent performance assessments, unaligned with any regulatory agency or interest group. More importantly, our project focuses on excellence along with accountability: we aim to communicate performance in a way that recognizes strong performance, facilitates accountability, and provides signals of quality to policymakers and the public. The report cards include grades for multiple subjects—water quality (health), finance, infrastructure and operations, and communications — with each grade based on multiple performance indicators developed and gathered over the last few years. For the project, my research team and I used extensive data from the PSC, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and original data collected by the team. It has been a long, arduous project as we developed a novel scoring system, refined it over several iterations, consulted with countless water sector professionals, and refined it yet again. Milwaukee Water Works is Wisconsin's largest water utility, serving nearly 900,000 people in 16 communities in Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Waukesha Counties. As an example of the report cards we've created through the Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence project, Milwaukee Water Works scored an excellent 91 (A) in water quality (health) and 94 (A) for communications. This is a remarkable comeback story for a utility that gained national notoriety for a cryptosporidium outbreak 32 years ago. Milwaukee Water Works continues to face important challenges, including an ongoing effort to replace the city's estimated 65,000 lead service lines, but these strong marks are encouraging. Performance on the other two subjects was more worrisome, as Milwaukee scored just 67 (D) for finance and 64 (D) for infrastructure and operations. Opinion: We welcome tariffs on Canadian and Mexican beef and cattle. Here's why. One of the biggest takeaways from this project is the overall excellence of water quality in Wisconsin. Detected contaminant levels were minimal across the state, resulting in more than 90% of utilities earning an A in this category. It is worth noting that there is no grade inflation at work here. In fact, scoring an A in this category requires keeping contaminant levels far below what is required by law through the Safe Drinking Water Act. While some Wisconsin communities certainly face serious water quality challenges, statewide performance is impressive and a major validation for Wisconsin's water utilities, which clearly prioritize water quality even beyond regulatory standards. This is something we should all take great pride in as Wisconsinites. However, good governance and effective public administration can have an ironic downside: our water systems have been so good for so long that we can sometimes take safe tap water for granted. Water is literally essential, but water infrastructure is literally buried. These critical systems only become visible when they break down in high-profile ways. Such failures can have dire consequences for residents, disproportionately impact marginalized communities, and are symptoms of larger structural vulnerabilities. They also undercut public trust. While Wisconsin's water quality is excellent overall, the report cards also offer reason for concern. Financial strength is critical to a utility's sustainability, and affordability is critical to its public health mission. Troublingly, roughly half of our state's utilities scored a C or worse in finance, including Milwaukee Water Works (67). Financial resilience is an ongoing challenge for water utilities in Wisconsin, where many communities' populations are stagnant or shrinking. Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of our report is the fact that just 6% percent of Wisconsin utilities earned A grades for infrastructure & operations, while 22% — including Milwaukee — received marks in the D-F range. The reasons are complex, but the short answer here is that many of our systems have high rates of water loss and we have far too many main breaks. Midwestern winters are tough on aging infrastructure. Opinion: Backlash to Musk isn't imagined. When they slash Medicaid it will be worse. This is what concerns me as a scholar (and evangelist) of American water governance. Our successes with water quality are laudable, but too many of our state's water utilities struggle with finances and infrastructure; eventually that will affect water quality, too. In many ways, we are at an inflection point with public drinking water in Wisconsin as our infrastructure ages. Past generations built these magnificent systems, but we can no longer rest on their laurels. Sustaining the everyday miracle of tap water will require care and attention. My hope is that the Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence Project becomes an important part of our conversations around these critical systems. With these report cards, we aim to make the invisible visible so that Wisconsin's drinking water remains excellent for generations to come. Manuel P. Teodoro is a professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison and a member of the Water & Health Advisory Council. His Caldwell Prize-winning book, 'The Profits of Distrust: Citizen Consumers, Drinking Water and the Crisis of Confidence in American Government,' explores the relationship between public drinking water and confidence in government. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: We take drinking water for granted. Marks are good, for now. | Opinion
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
You ask, we answer: Why are some Milwaukee neighborhoods getting their lead pipes replaced first?
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Public Investigator team chases tips, finds answers, and gets results. No story is too big or too small. Got a tip or a question? Email publicinvestigator@ Forty years ago, as a public health nurse for the city of Milwaukee, Chris Baumgart visited people's homes to educate residents on the dangers of lead exposure. Although she warned people lead could be in their water, it wasn't commonly known that lead pipes could be to blame, Baumgart said. So when she ordered a water test for her house in Bay View, the results were shocking. "The lead levels were extremely high," said Baumgart. "I had two young children and was very upset." Baumgart moved to Hales Corners two years later. But out of curiosity, Baumgart recently looked up the address of her former Bay View home and found out it still has lead service lines. Around the same time, a friend told her that many of the stately homes on Lake Drive were getting their lead laterals removed. Baumgart asked Public Investigator why these homes seemed to have gotten priority over historically underserved neighborhoods. "Is this done on a suburb-by-suburb basis?" Baumgart asked. "Who makes the determination and plan of this work?" It's true that 28 lead service lines were replaced on Lake Drive from East Newberry Boulevard to East Edgewood Avenue in 2023, Milwaukee Water Works spokesperson Betsy Vornholt told Public Investigator. But the replacements were part of a planned effort ahead of a large roadway reconstruction project, Vornholt said. Whenever the city tears up a street like Lake Drive for road work, it is standard practice to replace the lead service lines as well, to avoid having to come back a second time. Separately, the city has also implemented an Equity Prioritization Plan. The plan directs Milwaukee Water Works to prioritize replacing pipes in neighborhoods deemed most in need, based on a combination of socioeconomic factors. "It's about time," Baumgart said of the plan. Here are some more details about how lead service line replacement works in Milwaukee: Full lead pipe replacements are required for: Licensed childcare facilities Properties with pipe breaks or leaks Properties undergoing city reconstruction projects, like the one on Lake Drive For homes that don't fall under one of these situations, the Equity Prioritization Plan ranks neighborhoods for lead pipe replacement based on factors like income, housing quality, the rate of children under the age of 6 with elevated levels of lead in their blood, and the concentration of lead service lines in the area. According to Milwaukee Water Works, under this plan, the city will conduct 60% of annual replacements on the north side and 40% on the south side. The north side homes prioritized under this plan in 2024 were clustered in neighborhoods like Sherman Park, Metcalfe Park, Amani and North Division. The south side homes prioritized for lead service line replacement were mostly in the Walker's Point, Muskego Way and Lincoln Village neighborhoods. You can find out if your property is scheduled for replacement under the Equity Prioritization Plan by entering your address into Milwaukee Water Works' online map. The city is still finalizing which locations will be prioritized in 2025. Today, property owners don't have to pay anything when their pipes are replaced during a city-initiated project. That wasn't always the case. Historically, the city used to only pay for the portion of the pipe it owned, which stopped at the property line. The property owner was responsible for one-third of the cost, representing the section of the pipe between the curb and the residence. But in December 2023, the Common Council passed legislation that eliminated homeowners' responsibility to pay for their portion. This was made possible after the city was awarded $30 million for lead service line replacements from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding also allowed Milwaukee Water Works to launch the Equity Prioritization Plan. Property owners who initiate their own lead pipe replacements still have to pay the cost of the private side, and the city will pay for the cost of the public side. These types of replacements can be requested through an online form on the city's website. Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett signed an ordinance in 2016 to start replacing lead service lines. Since the plan began in 2017, the city has replaced more than 8,000 lead pipes. The city still has 65,000 lead service lines to replace, according to Milwaukee Water Works. In 2024, the city replaced 2,700 lead service lines, Vornholt said. Lead pipes are just one source of lead poisoning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most children nationwide get lead poisoning from lead paint in homes built before 1978. State data shows that childhood lead poisoning rates are more strongly linked to substandard housing, where children are more likely to be exposed to peeling lead paint. A Journal Sentinel analysis of the data showed that 62% of young children in Wisconsin with lead poisoning were from Milwaukee, despite only accounting for 30% of the children tested. From 2018 to 2021, more than 7,000 children under the age of 6 were found to be lead poisoned in the city of Milwaukee. The Journal Sentinel's analysis also found that the highest rates of childhood lead exposure were concentrated in predominantly Black areas with outdated infrastructure and a higher rate of building code violations. More: Milwaukee is making it easier, cheaper to replace your lead water pipes. Here's how. More: Milwaukee children should be tested more often for lead, city says. Early detection is key According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even low levels of lead can harm a child's health. Childhood lead exposure can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, and hearing and speech problems. Signs you may have been exposed to high levels of lead over a short period of time include a metallic taste, abdominal pain and appetite loss, according to the CDC. Symptoms after a long period of time of exposure include forgetfulness, depression and increased blood pressure. Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be emailed at QClark@ Follow her on Twitter at @Quinn_A_Clark. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Alison Dirr contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How does Milwaukee decide where to replace lead pipes first?
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Milwaukee mayor says federal grant freeze could impair police, water works, lead poisoning prevention
Police. Milwaukee Water Works. Lead poisoning prevention. All are local government services that could be impaired by a freeze on federal grant funding, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Tuesday as his administration worked to understand the implications of the freeze that was ordered by the administration of President Donald Trump just to be temporarily blocked by a federal court. "What's clear is that there's tens of millions of dollars — literally tens of millions of dollars — that are at stake here in Milwaukee," Johnson said in an afternoon press conference before the judge blocked the freeze. The scrambling at various levels of government followed the issuance of a memo by Trump's budget office directing agencies to pause federal grants Tuesday evening so they can be reviewed to ensure they fit with the new Republican president's priorities. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, called the measure "draconian" and said the consequences of the funding freeze would not be limited to Democratic cities like Milwaukee. She raised concerns about the implications for education, community health centers, the Women, Infants and Children program, the provision of Meals on Wheels and more. "These people are waiting on (Meals on Wheels) to pull up. They're not in the position to pause eating for 60 days or 90 days or whatever this review will require," Moore said of the program that provides meals to older adults who are homebound. Johnson, a fellow Democrat, said he and his administration had "serious concerns" and were trying to answer fundamental questions, including how long the freeze would last. "I'm working with my departments in order to fully analyze and understand how the White House memo might impact the work that they do," he said. "At the same time, I'm working with other local units of government as well as with organizations that represent municipalities in order to strategize on how to mitigate the potential damage a funding pause might cause here and elsewhere in our state and our country." Milwaukee County was experiencing a similar lack of clarity. Shortly after Trump's November election, questions swirled at the county level about how the new administration would affect ongoing federally funding projects. For Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the memo reignited those concerns. Crowley 'is very concerned about the potential impacts to not only County projects and services, but the overall health and safety of Milwaukee County residents, families, and children who rely on federally-funded programs and services,' a statement from his office said. The statement, however, said that it is 'too soon' to know the impacts that pauses on federal funding could have on county projects and services, including health and human services as well as transportation. Officials inside the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee are "keeping a close eye on" the federal funding freeze, spokesperson Amy Hall said Tuesday afternoon. The Housing Authority, which provides about 15,000 Milwaukee residents with housing assistance each year, relies on the federal government for about three-quarters of its annual funding. The agency operates more than 5,000 rental units across the City of Milwaukee, which are largely rented by low-income, elderly and disabled residents. It also administers about 6,000 Section 8 rent assistance vouchers, which helps low-income individuals and families afford their rent. Hall said it was still unclear how the White House's order would affect the Housing Authority and its tenants, but called the situation "very concerning," given the agency's reliance on federal funds. A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Police Department deferred comment to the Mayor's Office when asked how the department could be affected by the freeze. The city's police department receives some federal funding through initiatives like the COPS grant, a U.S. Department of Justice program that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire officers. Other grants include funding from things like the JAG grant, which was conveyed in 2021 and was slated to run through 2025. In December, the city approved a $6.25 million COPS grant to fund 50 new police officers. It was not immediately clear how the COPS grant funding would be affected. "This is the problem, right, is that there's so many unanswered questions about how this impacts us at the local level," Johnson said. "If there's a pause on this and there are officers who are presently being funded by a grant, what does that mean?" Moore noted the dollars that are being frozen have already been appropriated by Congress. "These are dollars that have been debated, they've been debated, they've passed both the House and the Senate. ... The power of the purse starts in the House of Representatives of which I'm a member, and this is law," she said. Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee mayor: Federal grant freeze could impair police, water works
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Milwaukee mayor says federal grant freeze could impair police, water works, lead poisoning prevention
Police. Milwaukee Water Works. Lead poisoning prevention. All are local government services that could be impaired by a freeze on federal grant funding, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said Tuesday as his administration worked to understand the implications of the freeze that was ordered by the administration of President Donald Trump just to be temporarily blocked by a federal court. "What's clear is that there's tens of millions of dollars — literally tens of millions of dollars — that are at stake here in Milwaukee," Johnson said in an afternoon press conference before the judge blocked the freeze. The scrambling at various levels of government followed the issuance of a memo by Trump's budget office directing agencies to pause federal grants Tuesday evening so they can be reviewed to ensure they fit with the new Republican president's priorities. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, called the measure "draconian" and said the consequences of the funding freeze would not be limited to Democratic cities like Milwaukee. She raised concerns about the implications for education, community health centers, the Women, Infants and Children program, the provision of Meals on Wheels and more. "These people are waiting on (Meals on Wheels) to pull up. They're not in the position to pause eating for 60 days or 90 days or whatever this review will require," Moore said of the program that provides meals to older adults who are homebound. Johnson, a fellow Democrat, said he and his administration had "serious concerns" and were trying to answer fundamental questions, including how long the freeze would last. "I'm working with my departments in order to fully analyze and understand how the White House memo might impact the work that they do," he said. "At the same time, I'm working with other local units of government as well as with organizations that represent municipalities in order to strategize on how to mitigate the potential damage a funding pause might cause here and elsewhere in our state and our country." Milwaukee County was experiencing a similar lack of clarity. Shortly after Trump's November election, questions swirled at the county level about how the new administration would affect ongoing federally funding projects. For Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the memo reignited those concerns. Crowley 'is very concerned about the potential impacts to not only County projects and services, but the overall health and safety of Milwaukee County residents, families, and children who rely on federally-funded programs and services,' a statement from his office said. The statement, however, said that it is 'too soon' to know the impacts that pauses on federal funding could have on county projects and services, including health and human services as well as transportation. Milwaukee Housing Authority navigating questions Officials inside the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee are "keeping a close eye on" the federal funding freeze, spokesperson Amy Hall said Tuesday afternoon. The Housing Authority, which provides about 15,000 Milwaukee residents with housing assistance each year, relies on the federal government for about three-quarters of its annual funding. The agency operates more than 5,000 rental units across the City of Milwaukee, which are largely rented by low-income, elderly and disabled residents. It also administers about 6,000 Section 8 rent assistance vouchers, which helps low-income individuals and families afford their rent. Hall said it was still unclear how the White House's order would affect the Housing Authority and its tenants, but called the situation "very concerning," given the agency's reliance on federal funds. Milwaukee Police Department COPS grant status unclear A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Police Department deferred comment to the Mayor's Office when asked how the department could be affected by the freeze. The city's police department receives some federal funding through initiatives like the COPS grant, a U.S. Department of Justice program that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire officers. Other grants include funding from things like the JAG grant, which was conveyed in 2021 and was slated to run through 2025. In December, the city approved a $6.25 million COPS grant to fund 50 new police officers. It was not immediately clear how the COPS grant funding would be affected. "This is the problem, right, is that there's so many unanswered questions about how this impacts us at the local level," Johnson said. "If there's a pause on this and there are officers who are presently being funded by a grant, what does that mean?" Frozen funds have been appropriated by Congress Moore noted the dollars that are being frozen have already been appropriated by Congress. "These are dollars that have been debated, they've been debated, they've passed both the House and the Senate. ... The power of the purse starts in the House of Representatives of which I'm a member, and this is law," she said. Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@
