DNR Gives Port $10K for Naturalization Project

The Port Washington Common Council approved a grant from the Department of Natural Resources to fund the design costs of the naturalization of Sauk and Mineral Springs creeks.

The city must contribute a 25 percent match to the $9,997 River Protection Grant, an additional $3,333 contribution, in order to accept the funding from the DNR.

The project dovetails with the city's plan to into public recreational and natural areas as well as a bird sanctuary.

"The project area is the final 435-foot reach of Sauk Creek and lower 120-foot reach of Mineral Springs Creek in Port Washington," according to reports describing the project. "These creek segments and the confluence have been developed into an urban landscape, resulting in degradation of the creeks."

The project area includes several barriers to the passage of fish, including a weir — a small overflow dam — across the mouth of Sauk Creek where it meets Lake Michigan and a double-box culvert at the mouth of Mineral Springs Creek, according to the project plans. The naturalization of the creeks aims to improve "fish passage, stream connectivity, water quality and habitat quality in two streams."

This River Protection Grant only provides enough funds for the engineering and design of the project, but City Engineer Rob Vanden Noven said he also received a call today from Fund for Lake Michigan, a group willing to give the city a $150,000 grant for work on the project.

"It’s coming together, all the stars are lining up," Vanden Noven said of the coal docks and creek naturalization projects.