Burnham Canal Wetland Restoration Project

Project Alert

The Burnham Canal is undergoing a multi-step process that includes creating a wetland base with clean gravel and sand, and later adding soil and wetland plants on top. Ultimately, the Burnham Canal will turn into 6.7 acres of wetland. Watch the video to hear an update as of June 2022.

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Project Overview

For thousands of years, the 1200-acre Menomonee River Valley was a wild rice marsh, home to Native Americans. By the mid-1800s, the settlement of Milwaukee pushed toward the Valley, and Milwaukeeans filled the marsh with soil, gravel, and waste to create dry land for additional development.

As the city grew, a series of canals including the Burnham Canal was created to allow ships sailing the Great Lakes access to Milwaukee industry. Industries dumped their waste into many of these canals. Although this no longer occurs, they left behind soil and sediment contamination requiring clean-up. Now the southernmost of those canals, Burnham Canal, located between N. 16^th St. and S. 8^th St. on the Menomonee River, will be revitalized and restored to a natural wetland.

The Burnham Canal is undergoing a multi-step process that includes creating a wetland base with clean gravel and sand, and later adding soil and wetland plants on top. Ultimately, MMSD will turn Burnham Canal into 6.7 acres of wetland.

This project is part of a larger initiative to restore the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern (AOC). Learn more about the AOC by watching this John Gurda video or visiting the Waterway Restoration Partnership website.

Project Map

Project Benefits

Improve water quality
Improve fish and wildlife habitat
Improve access for recreation and education

Project Timeline

2012 – 2021 Design
2021-2026 Construction
- Sediment cover and wetland base construction west of 11^th St - 2021
- Sediment cover and wetland base construction east of 11^th St - 2022
- Wetland Construction 2025 – 2026 (approx.)
2026 – 2031 Post-Construction Monitoring

Burnham AR Phase I – Renderings don’t reflect a final design. We will be looking for more input on the design in the future.
Burnham AR Phase II – Renderings don’t reflect a final design. We will be looking for more input on the design in the future.
1872 Burnham Canal Circled

Additional Resources

After more than a century, Burnham Canal, one of Milwaukee's deadest of dead zones, is being revived as a wetland. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. June 2021.
Contaminated Canal To Become Restored Wetland – Urban Milwaukee. May 2021.

Partners

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Get Involved:

Sign up to receive Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern (AOC) MMSD project updates in your inbox.
Participate in upcoming events. MMSD will conduct several stakeholders and public outreach activities throughout the entirety of the project to obtain project input and feedback.
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