Riverkeeper
As the Great Lakes Representative on the Waterkeeper Alliance Board of Directors, Cheryl Nenn shares best practices with fellow riverkeepers worldwide. (Image by Lloyd DeGrane)
The “Bronze Fonz” statue overlooking the Milwaukee River in downtown Brew City captures the famous “Happy Days” TV character in his trademark “Ayyyy” pose. And his two thumbs up reflect the positive changes occurring on the river over the past 20 years, due in part to the dedication of Milwaukee’s riverkeeper, Cheryl Nenn, ’94 LAS.
As one of the 300-plus members of the international nonprofit Waterkeeper Alliance, the Milwaukee Riverkeeper organization—with Nenn in its titular role—protects, improves and advocates for water quality, riparian wildlife habitat and sound land management in the Milwaukee River Basin. Its three watersheds—the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic—stretch across nearly 900 square miles and seven counties inhabited by more than 1.3 million people.
“There are a lot of different elements to the job: spokesperson, investigator, lawyer, natural resource manager,” Nenn says. She has advocated for the removal of a dozen dams, helped build public support for a $450 million EPA-funded dredging project to remove toxic sediments, and recently issued the organization’s annual Milwaukee River Basin Report Card, which informs policymakers at all levels.
“The Peace Corps set me up well for my job now, in how I work with communities to manage natural areas.” —Cheryl Nenn, ’94 LAS
Nenn is especially proud of launching the organization’s water monitoring programs, which identify not only harmful bacteria, phosphorous and chloride, but also 65 emerging contaminants, including pharmaceutical waste. About 100 volunteers test water quality monthly, from May through October, at sites across the basin.
“We couldn’t do our work without our volunteers,” Nenn says. “I get a lot of energy connecting with these people who dedicate their time because they love the river.”
Nenn’s passion for the environment initially was sparked during a tropical botany class with Carol Augspurger, Illinois professor emerita of plant biology. It came into focus during her two years in the Peace Corps, working on sustainable food practices in remote communities in northwestern Ecuador. “The Peace Corps set me up well for my job now, in how I work with communities to manage natural areas and try to protect the environment,” she says.
“There are a lot of different elements to [the riverkeeper] job: spokesperson, investigator, lawyer, natural resources manager,” Cheryl Nenn says. (Image by Lloyd DeGrane)
As the Great Lakes Representative on the Waterkeeper Alliance Board of Directors, Nenn shares best practices with fellow riverkeepers worldwide. In 2016, she traveled to Ladakh, India, to train a group of Buddhist monks to serve as waterkeepers for the Indus River and many creeks draining the Himalayan Glacier. “They develop their own approach, but we help them with training on water quality monitoring and access to our network of experts around the world,” she says.
Currently, Nenn is advising London’s waterkeeper on how Milwaukee’s deep tunnel system and history of sewage overflows can help London prepare for the opening of its new 16-mile “Super Sewer.”
Indeed, the popularity of the 60-mile Milwaukee Urban Water Trail among paddlers from all over is testimony to how far Nenn’s efforts, and the health of the basin’s three rivers, have come over the past two decades. “We want to inspire people to use and develop a sense of stewardship for these amazing rivers right in their backyard,” she says.
