Businesses and community groups are being asked to volunteer for a first-ever “adopt-a-river” program in Wisconsin and remove trash along the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers and their tributaries, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Executive Director Kevin Shafer said.

Garbage pollutes the water and degrades habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife, Shafer said.

The program works alongside the district’s 50-foot-long river skimmer. The skimmer, named Lynyrd Skymmr as a tribute to southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd in a 2011 contest, hit the water Tuesday for the first time this year under the command of Capt. Scott Cassavant.

His crews pull garbage, debris and navigation hazards out of the rivers near downtown.

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Decades of environmental regulations, dam removals, and more than $5 billion in water quality and infrastructure improvements—including wastewater treatment upgrades, phosphorus reductions, and the Deep Tunnel system—have transformed the river into a cleaner, healthier, and more economically valuable resource. From cold-water trout streams near its headwaters to paddling, fishing, and wildlife habitat through downtown Milwaukee, the river tells a powerful story of restoration.

Yet challenges remain. Water quality varies across the watershed, development pressures persist, and the ultimate test—whether lake sturgeon can once again reproduce naturally—has yet to be answered.

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