Greetings from the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Team!

This month's newsletter contains:

• Collaboration Classifieds
• CALM 1-Year Evaluation Survey
• Waterfront Projects Questionnaire
• LNRP & American Rivers Finance Workshops
• Lake Michigan Water Level Update
• Resource of the Month: Wisconsin Coastal Resilience website

• Around the Great Lakes: Green Bay Green Stormwater Infrastructure Code Audit

• Funding Opportunity: Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Grants (2023-24)
• Upcoming Events: CALM Fall Field Trip Series
• Training/Technical Assistance
• Strengthening Coastal Communities Resilience Challenge
• NFIP 101: Introduction to Floodplain Management

We would like to hear from you about how CALM can best meet the needs of the network over the next six months.  

Please take this short survey (10 minutes) by October 28th about:

• How you have used the information, tools, and resources shared at network meetings
• The purpose CALM serves among the large pool of programs, decision support tools, and resources that exist in the region 
• How CALM can help reduce confusion and information overload
• What coastal hazards challenges you are facing
• What topics you are interested in hearing about at future meetings
• Your interest in the CALM network (or any of its components) continuing into the future

If you have any questions, please reach out to Lydia Salus, CALM Coordinator, at [email protected]. 

Background: The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission (BLRPC) is in the process of developing a Waterfront Toolkit to help communities plan and manage their waterfront resources. The toolkit will offer extensive information to help waterfront communities support public access, environmental stewardship, and sustainable economic development. This includes case study examples of successful waterfront projects.

Request: BLRPC is looking for communities and organizations interested in participating in a waterfront project questionnaire. Information from the questionnaire will be utilized to develop waterfront project case studies. Any community located within the Great Lakes region or along rivers qualify to participate in the questionnaire. Any organization completing projects in the same areas are also welcome to participate!

If you are interested in filling out the questionnaire, please utilize this link: https://arcg.is/zGvDy. We ask that you fill out one questionnaire per waterfront project, and feel free to fill out as many questionnaires as you see fit.

For assistance or questions, contact Adam Christensen at [email protected] or 920-448-2820 ex. 106

The Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) and Water365 partnered with American Rivers, WaterNow Alliance, and OneWater Econ to produce a series of workshops for Wisconsin coastal communities. The three sessions explored incentives and financing options capable of supporting green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) programs and other coastal resilience strategies in small and mid-sized cities.

The series of workshops were aimed to provide municipal leaders and water resource managers with practical knowledge about approaches to funding climate resiliency initiatives. The workshops covered topics on debt-financing, incentivizing private-property GSI implementation, and accessing state and federal programs such as the Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRFs). Participating communities were encouraged to develop funding or financing strategies linked to current priority projects as well as future community needs.

Highlight Video

Coastal Resilience Community Impact Project webpage

Lake Michigan water levels continued their seasonal decline, decreasing 4 inches from September to October. Though Lake Michigan is now about 34 inches below the highest monthly water level recorded for October 1986, the Lake is still about 7 inches above the long-term average water level for the month. Water levels are expected to continue to decline throughout the next month.

Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Website

The Wisconsin Coastal Resilience website is a hub for coastal resilience related information for Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coastal communities and practitioners.

Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coastal communities face erosion and flooding hazards due to lake level fluctuations, coastal storms, waves, storm surges and extreme precipitation. The three ways the website builds resilience in the region are by reducing confusion, increasing collaboration, and building capacity.

The City of Green Bay, Wisconsin wants to utilize long-term solutions such as green stormwater infrastructure to combat flooding, non-point source pollution, and extreme weather conditions as well as protect public and private property, provide cost savings, and build coastal resilience. The City followed the process outlined in Wisconsin Sea Grant’s workbook, Tackling Barriers to Green Infrastructure: An Audit of Local Codes and Ordinances to audit their municipal code and identify barriers to green stormwater infrastructure.

Five of the six proposed code changes have been codified by the city council. The City is continuing to work with stakeholders and the Planning Commission on the landscaping standard which is the final proposed code amendment of this project. 

Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Grants (2023-24)

The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program (WCMP) is seeking proposals to enhance, preserve, protect and restore resources within the state’s coastal zone – all counties adjacent to Lakes Superior and Michigan, with their nearly 1000 miles of shoreline. We anticipate awarding up to $1.6 million in grant funding.

WCMP Grants are available for coastal wetland protection and habitat restoration, nonpoint source pollution control, coastal resource and community planning, Great Lakes education, public access and historic preservation. 

Applicants are encouraged to contact WCMP staff early to discuss ideas for project proposals and application requirements. 

WCMP staff will hosted a live webinar on September 9, 2022. A recorded presentation is available at http://coastal.wisconsin.gov.

Application Deadline: Friday, November 4, 2022

CALM Fall Field Trip Series

This fall field trip series will bring the CALM community together to talk about coastal hazards issues and see the different ways Lake Michigan coastal communities have moved forward in addressing those issues.

Virmond Park (Mequon, WI)

Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm

We will be visiting Virmond Park, a 63-acre public, coastal bluff park which is utilizing planning to address the impacts of water on the bluffs as well as creative construction projects to make Lake Michigan accessible to the public.

Please register by Friday, October 14th. 

County Highway LS Relocation (Sheboygan, WI)

Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Time: 12:00pm to 2:00pm

We will be visiting Sheboygan where 1.6 miles of County Highway LS were relocated due to bluff instability on the Lake Michigan coastline. 

Please register by Friday, October 21st. 

The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) and its partners – the American Planning Association, Coastal States Organization, and Wisconsin Sea Grant – have designed the Strengthening Coastal Counties Resilience Challenge to help communities develop policies and plans to improve their community’s resilience to coastal flooding, while building their knowledge and understanding of the tools available to assist them.

The Challenge invites U.S. Great Lakes coastal communities with populations of less than 250,000 to form multidisciplinary teams to apply to join a one-year technical assistance program.

Participating communities will leave the program with:

• One coastal flooding vulnerability self-assessment,
• A set of planning scenarios,
• At least one identified natural or nature-based project for implementation,
• One action plan,
• At least two identified potential funding source(s) to support its implementation, 
• Access to a regional community of practice, and
• Improved hard and soft skills around coastal resilience.

Application Deadline: November 9, 2022 @ 11:59pm ET

NFIP 101: Introduction to Floodplain Management

Hosted in partnership with ASFPM, this training will help new and experienced floodplain administrators, emergency managers, elected officials, and others learn more about the NFIP and its requirements. New floodplain administrators will also learn how floodplain management decisions affect insurance, health, and public safety.

This training can be completed at online, at your convenience.

For more information, visit the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience website.

University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute | (608) 262-0905 | 1975 Willow Drive, 2nd Floor, Madison, WI 53706