Walnut Way is excited to announce that we have been chosen to continue our partnership with Institute for Sustainable Communities (Vermont). We were among 12 organizations chosen for a Partnership for Resilient Cities six-month planning grant.
In 2017, Walnut Way Conservation Corp. was selected by the Institute for Sustainable Communities for a highly competitive national initiative to support community-based climate resilience. With many public and private sector partners, Walnut Way and the City of Milwaukee used this opportunity to expand and initiate solar and green infrastructure projects in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood, and earn the first “Eco Tour” designation through the City of Milwaukee. Projects were implemented in 2018 across the community and included solar installations and water capture and retention systems throughout the neighborhood.
The newly awarded Partnership for Resilient Cities planning grant will allow Walnut Way to engage Northside Milwaukee residents in the planning and design of at least two community-embedded street and stormwater runoff diversion projects that will mitigate urban flooding in Milwaukee’s combined sewer system. The project sites will represent an estimated total of five acres that are presently paved or water impermeable. The design processes will divert as much water as possible away from the combined sewer system during rain events, thus minimizing property losses from basement sewer system backups. The project will also have the added benefits of expanding the capacity and expertise of Walnut Way’s “green” job training program (Blue Skies Landscaping), create jobs, and improve the quality of water in Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River.
