Volunteers Needed For The Menomonee River Clean-Up

Menomonee Falls River and Park Cleanup Event

Saturday April 17, 2010

Rotary Park Shelter

Fond Du Lac Ave.

9:00-Noon

Registration starts at 8:15 AM

Food and Prizes around Noon at Rotary Park Shelter

Volunteers are needed to be apart of a cleanup of the Menomonee River and area parks as part of the Riverkeepers Earth Day movement to do a massive unified Southeastern Wisconsin Milwaukee River Basin Cleanup effort on Saturday April 17, 2010 from 9:00-Noon.

The Village of Menomonee Falls has joined this effort and is one location to come and be apart of this great Earth Day movement for the second year in a row. Local citizens have banded together to tackle litter and trash in the Menomonee River to help improve our waterways. The Village of Menomonee Falls will again conduct a river cleanup with the help of wonderful volunteers in more than 20 locations along the Menomonee River and Tamarack Swamp.

We are looking for environmentally minded citizens and local groups who want to get down and dirty in the river and surrounding areas to help improve the water quality and streamside habitat for animals.

Volunteers are dedicated to protecting the Menomonee River because a healthy community starts with a vibrant river. Our volunteers are excited to pitch in because a cleaner river is a vibrant river,” said Jeff Nettesheim, Director of Utilities.

The Riverkeepers Cleanup is a series of community-based stream cleanups happening in the Milwaukee and Metro area. This popular annual event raises public awareness of the magnitude of trash accumulating in our area’s waterways degrading our water quality.

The Village of Menomonee Falls has chosen to be a site captain who will be participating along with hundreds of volunteers taking part in numerous cleanups across the Milwaukee River Basin to remove trash from local rivers and streams.

Within the Menomonee Falls area, there are over 20 sites that you can participate in cleaning up. We are looking for Site Leaders for each of these 20 sites in Menomonee Falls at locations such as Rivers Edge Park along the Menomonee River, Rotary Park, Village Park, and many others. Site Leaders help direct the many volunteers that come to help. If you are interested in becoming a Site Leader, please contact us at stormwater@menomonee-falls.org.

Learn more about the Menomonee Falls River Cleanup at www.Menomonee-Falls.org/RiverCleanup.

“The Menomonee River is so important to our community that we’ve got to take every opportunity we can to protect it, for us and for future generations. Keeping it clean is one way that citizens can do their part for the river we all love,” said Nancy Greifenhagen, Engineering Technician.

The Menomonee River can be found from County Line, Highway Q in the north all the way to the Village of Butler flowing through many popular parks including Mill Pond Park, Lime Kiln Park and Willowood Park.

We appreciated all the volunteers who came out last year to help us on our River Cleanup. We applaud the work of so many people who came out and took action to help keep improving the water quality of the Menomonee River.

New this year, the Village of Menomonee Falls is introducing another aspect to the River Cleanup Event. We are calling out for groups, landowners and business to become a part of our Adopt-a-River Program. To adopt a section of the river, signup for a commitment of two years or more and do a minimum of two river cleanup events a year. This will include the major cleanup around Earth Day and one additional cleanup event sometime during the rest of the summer or fall. Gloves and trash bags will be supplied to the group for their cleanup event. In appreciation, all Adopt-a-River groups will receive recognition at our annual Clean River Clear Falls Stormwater Conference.

To be a part of the Menomonee Falls River Cleanup, pre-register online for your favorite location. Meet at the Rotary Park Shelter on Fond du Lac Ave., registration begins at 8:15 AM on Saturday morning April 17, 2010. Then travel to your chosen cleanup location from 9:00 until Noon. At Noon come back to Rotary Park Shelter for food and prizes. For more information contact Nancy at (262) 532-4417 or stormwater@menomonee-falls.org. To pre-register, go to www.Menomonee-Falls.org/Signup

For more information on river cleanups happening throughout our watershed visit: www.MilwaukeeRiverkeepers.org