Mount Pleasant Storm Water Utility District Pike River Restoration

Crispell-Snyder saves the Pike

By Rebecca R. Konya

The Pike River restoration project in Mount Pleasant is more than just a flood-control project.

The first phase of the job, completed in May 2003, provides nearly 15 acres of new floodplain with a restored ecosystem and nearly 80 acres of environmental corridor for public enjoyment.

"The improvements to the river system represent a sustainable approach to watershed management," said Todd Weik, a senior project manager for Crispell-Snyder Inc., which served as the engineer on the project.

The multiphase restoration plan features improvements along about five miles of the Pike River, which drains a watershed of about 17 square miles within Mount Pleasant. Weik said completing the restoration in phases makes the project more economically feasible for the village and provides more opportunities to seek funding from federal, state and local sources. The entire project, which consists of nine phases, carries an estimated price tag of $17 million.

Once a natural resource, by the 1970s, the Pike River was little more than a drainage ditch for farms. Faced with the challenge of providing adequate storm-water management to protect properties from increasing flood damage, Mount Pleasant tapped Crispell-Snyder in 1992 to create an environmentally sensitive design to improve the Pike River corridor.

Initial plans for improvements to the Pike River stalled in the early 1990s when the state Department of Natural Resources refused to provide a permit, citing concerns that the project wasn't environmentally sensitive enough. The DNR approved a revised plan in 1997 and issued a Chapter 30 permit authorizing the municipality to commence work along the river.

The first phase of the project increased the size of the floodway, reduced erosion that degrades aquatic habitat and provided vegetative buffer strips to filter overland runoff. It also incorporated a public trail system that connects to other local and regional trails in the area.

In addition, the first phase features four large, environmentally enhanced, flood-storage areas — key elements for decreasing flood flows.

"One area alone provides 240 acre-feet of flood storage," said Weik.

The floodplain storage areas were designed to create a new riparian corridor with improved biodiversity through the installation of ponds, shallow and deep marshes and a new meandering base-flow channel.

	Project Name: Mount Pleasant Storm Water Utility District Pike River Restoration Location: Mount Pleasant Submitting Company: Crispell-Snyder Inc., Lake Geneva General Contractor/Construction Manager: C.W. Purpero Inc., Milwaukee Engineer: Crispell-Snyder Inc. Owner: Village of Mount Pleasant Storm Water Drainage Utility District Project Cost: $1.3 million Start Date: September 2002 Completion Date: May 2003

Weik said that partnerships formed between the municipality and private businesses, consultants, state and federal regulatory agencies, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee helped the project continue moving forward.

"The partnership approach was necessary to ensure that not only were engineering needs met, but also environmental considerations," said Weik.

Those partnerships, which date back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, continue to play an important role in the design and construction of the overall project. For example, UWM's Biology Department, which assisted in the preparation of the Pike River restoration, continues to monitor the river's water quality. Weik said those results will measure the impact of the restoration, and the final research will become a model for river restoration throughout the state.