Port Washington advances Valley Creek resilience plan with federal and state grants and 30% design work

City staff and consultant representatives updated the Port Washington Common Council on March 18 about the Valley Creek corridor resiliency project, a multiyear effort that combines ecological restoration, green infrastructure and stormwater management to reduce flooding and improve habitat.

Melissa, a city project lead, told the council the corridor effort is funded through several grants and partnerships and is moving from planning to preliminary design. She listed recently awarded and anticipated funding: a $915,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), $500,000 from Wisconsin Coastal Management, $150,000 from Fund for Lake Michigan (planning funds), a $135,000 Fish and Wildlife Service coastal program award and smaller foundation awards (including a $30,000 Bruce Kreer charitable foundation grant). She said the city has a signed federal grant agreement for a portion of the work and Stantec is under contract to perform the initial 30% design.

Melissa described the programmatic approach: continued invasive species control and native tree plantings overseen by partners such as the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership and American Bird Conservancy, water‑quality monitoring supported by UW–Milwaukee School of Freshwater Science, and a public engagement program that included more than 500 online respondents and school‑based education and volunteer events.

Stantec and city staff highlighted one near‑term construction concept, the Upper Lake Park bioretention basin. That project would capture stormwater that currently discharges over the bluff into Valley Creek, reduce erosion and trap sediment before it reaches the stream and Lake Michigan. The bioretention concept includes a rain garden, a dry basin on the lower slope and a stabilized discharge point. Melissa said the city has submitted a pre‑proposal to a Sustainer Great Lakes grant for the project and could layer Fund for Lake Michigan money if additional funds are required.

Melissa said the goal of the current grant awards is to advance design from roughly 60% to 90% for the stream restoration elements and to complete a watershed plan that identifies green‑infrastructure project opportunities in the Valley Creek watershed. She told council that Stantec’s work is being phased to limit risk given uncertainties in federal funding availability, but that the recently signed grant agreement is a positive sign for moving forward.

Why it matters: Valley Creek restoration is intended to reduce localized flooding, improve water quality and restore habitat for birds and pollinators while increasing public access and long‑term resilience to extreme weather. The plan ties design work to community outreach and school‑based monitoring.

Council later approved a separate agenda item to accept a $500,000 Wisconsin Coastal Management grant to help fund design work for the corridor; that formal vote is recorded in the meeting’s actions summary.