Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Newsletter |
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Greetings from the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Team!
This month's newsletter contains:
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NEW Feature: Collaboration Classifieds
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Event Recap: CALM Kick-Off Meeting
- Lake Michigan Water Level Update
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Resource of the Month: Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Planning Guide
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Case Study: Milwaukee County Coastal Resources Inventory
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Around the Great Lakes: Illinois Beach State Park Underwater Innovation
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Funding Opportunity: National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grants
- Training Opportunities
- Great Lakes Coastal Workshops
- Certified Coastal Practitioner Courses
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NEW Feature: Collaboration Classifieds
The Collaboration Classifieds is a dedicated space to share opportunities for collaboration with, or to request lessons learned and resources from, other communities and organizations within Wisconsin's Lake Michigan region. See the Collaboration Classifieds section below.
Submit your opportunities or requests for this network to
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Collaboration Classifieds |
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Request for Lessons Learned from Implementing Coastal Flood
Hazard Mitigation Tools
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Background: The Brown County Planning Commission (BCPC) is creating a coastal flooding pre-disaster mitigation plan for the Bay of Green Bay. The plan will examine existing coastal conditions around the bay, identify possible coastal flooding hazards, and offer a range of policies and procedures that communities may use to help reduce or minimize negative coastal flooding impacts.
Request: BCPC is looking for information from people and/or communities who have experience with implementing coastal flood hazard mitigation tools, especially on a municipal level. If there are best practices that can be implemented at a municipal level, they are especially interested in hearing about those experiences (including what worked or what didn’t).
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The kick-off meeting for the Collaborative Action for Lake Michigan (CALM) Coastal Resilience network was held virtually on March 23, 2022. This was the first meeting of the CALM network focused on establishing the collaborative network and demonstrating what opportunities CALM will provide to Lake Michigan’s coastal stakeholders throughout the next year.
The event was attended by more than 80 stakeholders from state and federal agencies, local municipalities, academic institutions, consulting and engineering firms, sewerage districts, non-profit organizations, elected official’s offices, regional planning commissions, as well as other organizations and partnerships working on coastal resilience.
A recording and summary of the meeting are available online.
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Lake Michigan water levels started have started their seasonal incline this spring, increasing by about 5 inches from March to April. Though Lake Michigan is now about 26 inches below the highest monthly water level recorded for April in 2020, the Lake is still about 9 inches above the long-term average water level. Water levels are expected to continue their seasonal decline through the early winter but remain above the long-term average.
Watch the USACE's "On the Level" Youtube channel for monthly updates and information about the Great Lakes' water levels and forecasts from Detroit District Hydraulics and Hydrology experts.
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Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Planning Guide |
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The Great Lakes Coastal Resilience (GLCR) Planning Guide is a hub of ideas, advice and resources. The Guide aims to connect members of the Great Lakes Coastal Communities through the use of case studies, local stories, climate and environment information, and GLCR Resources. Whether you are a homeowner, community/government official, or simply have an interest in Coastal Resilience, the GLCR Planning Guide can offer data, advice, and connections to help solve the problems associated with coastal hazards. |
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Milwaukee County Coastal Resources Inventory |
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For this project, Milwaukee County inventoried coastal resources along the Lake Michigan coastline, summarized their current status, assigned economic values to those resources, and prioritized them according to vulnerability and value.
477 coastal assets were inventoried based on condition, vulnerability, risk and value. 90 assets were found to have a high risk to harm from coastal hazards like storms, high water levels and erosion. This assessment was documented in GIS and the resulting data was compiled into a geodatabase and an interactive map.
The inventory is an important first step in a larger effort by Milwaukee County to improve preparedness for extreme weather.
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Illinois Beach State Park Underwater Innovation
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Due to winter storms and ice cover on Lake Michigan, the Illinois Beach State Park coastline has seen extreme erosion of their beaches and coastal environments. Recently, Illinois received funding from EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to combat the issue. During the summer of 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers laid stones down just off the coast of the Illinois Beach State Park. These stones were placed in three 750-foot-lines, which created the innovative “rubble ridges.” These rubble ridges were installed to protect the beach from strong waves and coastal storms. In addition to preserving the coastline, the rubble strips are meant to provide a habitat for fish. An additional benefit of the rubble strips is that they do not obscure the beauty that is Lake Michigan.
Click the button below to check out the "Around the Great Lakes" webpage.
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National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant |
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Restore America’s Estuaries has announced the availability of the 2022 National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant (NEP CWG). NEP CWG Program is a nationally competitive grants program designed to support projects that address urgent and challenging issues threatening the well-being of coastal and estuarine areas within determined estuaries of national significance.
Letters of intent: due by 7 pm CT on Friday May 27, 2022.
Full proposals (by invitation only): due by 7 pm CT on Friday, September 23, 2022.
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Great Lakes Coastal Workshops
Floodplain Management
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Over the next several years, Flood Insurance Studies (FIS) and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) will be revised for Wisconsin's coastal communities. As a result, local floodplain management regulations will need to be updated to reference the revised data and to include additional minimum floodplain management standards that meet the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) minimum criteria for affected communities to continue participating.
FEMA is hosting two Great Lakes Coastal Workshops to:
- provide an overview of the NFIP's approach to identifying and describing Great Lakes coastal hazards
- show how to find the needed data for development regulation and explain the NFIP floodplain management standards
- cover content regarding the redesigned Flood Insurance rating system, known as "Risk Rating 2.0"
Local officials from affected communities should attend, including those who may have attended earlier versions of this seminar given in June 2018. Other stakeholders interested or involved in regulation or design and construction in coastal areas of Wisconsin are also encouraged to attend.
Workshop Details
Ozaukee County
May 24th, 2022
12:00pm - 4:00pm CDT (no lunch break)
Ozaukee County Administration Center Auditorium
121 West Main Street, P.O. Box 994, Port Washington, WI 53074
Brown County
May 25th
10:00am - 3:00pm CDT (includes 1-hour lunch break)
Brown County STEM Innovation Center, Flex Rooms #137 and 139, 2019 Technology Way, Green Bay, WI 54311
RSVP via email to
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Certified Coastal Practitioner Courses |
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The Certified Coastal Practitioner (CCP) program is offered to coastal professionals through the Coastal Zone Foundation. The program consists of a series of 11 short courses designed to grow practitioners' knowledge base as well as enhance collaborations with other coastal professionals. All courses can now be purchased and accessed online. In order to achieve the CCP credential, you must complete 10 courses.
Two additional courses will be released in September 2022:
- Engineering with Nature
- Three Coastal Engineering Design Risks & Remedies
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For questions about the CALM Network, or to submit something to the Collaboration Classifieds, contact:
Lydia Salus
608-266-3687
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For questions about Lake Michigan coastal hazards or how to approach, plan, and prepare for them, contact:
Adam Bechle
608-263-5133
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For more information, visit the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience website.
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University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute | (608) 262-0905 | 1975 Willow Drive, 2nd Floor, Madison, WI 53706
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