Milwaukee fast-tracks $96M in flood management projects after August 2025 storms

Nearly eight months after a historic storm swamped Milwaukee neighborhoods, city, county and regional officials are moving faster on flood infrastructure and forming a new task force to plan the next steps.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District announced April 1 it is accelerating $96 million in flood management projects under its 2026-2035 capital improvement plan, MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer said in a post on the district's website. The projects will add 220 million gallons of stormwater storage capacity along Milwaukee-area rivers.

"This flood mitigation task force will build on the cooperative work that's been underway for decades and add a renewed sense of urgency as a result of recent flooding events," Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement to WUWM. "The work of the panel will prioritize mitigation in locations facing the highest risk, including sites that have been flooded repeatedly in recent years." 

Milwaukee County sustained more than $34 million in preliminary damage to public infrastructure from the August 2025 floods, according to a statement from the office of David Crowley, Milwaukee county executive. "The extreme weather events that have hit Milwaukee County pose a real threat to the infrastructure that supports our environment, economy and way of life," Crowley said in a statement to WUWM. 

"Mitigation efforts that the district has previously identified have price tags totaling about $900 million, and an investment of that scale requires significant public input and buy-in from numerous local governments," Shafer told WUWM.

The announcement came after storms on Aug. 9-10, 2025, dropped close to 15 inches of rain across parts of Milwaukee in less than 24 hours, reaching levels associated with a 1,000-year storm, according to MMSD. The district's deep tunnel filled to its maximum, both water reclamation facilities operated at or above their capacity, and more than $200 million in private property damage resulted. The city's flood recovery page estimates more than 46,000 households were impacted.

"While it is hard to imagine that it could have been worse, it could have been," Shafer wrote in the April 1 post. "We are fortunate that the Milwaukee region has been investing in flood management for over 30 years."

Four projects will be moved up under the accelerated plan, MMSD said. The West Basin Stormwater Management project, designed to hold 31 million gallons and reduce flooding through a 100-year storm event, will now begin construction in 2027, two years ahead of schedule. The Jackson Park and Kinnickinnic River project will increase storage at the park from 30 million gallons to 80 million gallons, with construction now set for 2027, four years earlier than planned. Wilson Park Flood Storage, which will hold approximately 70 million gallons, will begin construction in 2031, also four years ahead of schedule. Work on Wilson Park Creek Reach 3 is ongoing, with final construction planned for 2031 to 2032. 

MMSD said 1,405 buildings remain in the regional floodplain despite more than 30 years of flood management investment that has removed 2,548 structures from flood risk since 1995. 

Construction bidding on the first of the four basin projects is expected to open in September, Shafer said at an April 16 press conference, Urban Milwaukee reported.