Baldwin Announces $3.2 Million for Ozaukee County Project to Reduce Flooding and Restore Habitat along Lake Michigan

OZAUKEE COUNTY, WI – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced $3.2 million for a project in Ozaukee County that will reduce the impacts of increased flooding events and restore habitat for Great Lakes fish populations. The funding for habitat restoration and coastal resilience projects comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, both of which Senator Baldwin voted for.

“Across Wisconsin, communities are struggling to deal with increased flooding events that cause millions in damages and wipe out infrastructure that families rely on to get to work, school, and our main street businesses. I was proud to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in resilient infrastructure that can last the test of time, and keep our communities and freshwater resources safe,” said Senator Baldwin. “This investment for Ozaukee County will not only improve the health of our Great Lakes, but also protect our communities from flooding and the infrastructure families and Made in Wisconsin businesses rely on.”

Ozaukee County will complete a large-scale stream restoration project to reconnect Sucker Creek, a tributary to Lake Michigan, to nearby wetlands and floodplains. This work will directly benefit Great Lakes fish species by restoring habitats they rely on for spawning and rearing. The project will also be designed to improve the protection of infrastructure in the face of more frequent and extreme flood events.

The funding, which Senator Baldwin supported, comes through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries as part of a nearly $220 million in funding and an additional $66 million in future year funding for 32 transformational habitat restoration and coastal resilience projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Senator Baldwin has championed initiatives to protect and preserve the Great Lakes, re-introducing legislation to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through 2031. The Biden-backed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is also investing an additional $1 billion in the Great Lakes to clean up and restore severely degraded sites, known as “Areas of Concern” or AOCs. This will allow for a major acceleration of progress that will deliver significant environmental, economic, health, and recreational benefits for communities throughout the Great Lakes region.

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