Milwaukee Water Commons (MWC) is dedicated to community stewardship of the common waters in and around Wisconsin’s largest city, with the goal of making it a model “Water City.” Founded in 2013, MWC believes that water can’t be owned, responsibility for clean and abundant fresh water must involve public input, and the Great Lakes should be recognized as a gift that must be nurtured to sustain the region. In Milwaukee, with three rivers and a Great Lake, the primary water concerns center on safe drinking water and urban flooding, environmental hazards that disproportionately impact the city’s lower income Black and Brown communities, particularly those on the north and south side of the nation’s fifth-most segregated city. An older water infrastructure system and shrinking ratepayer base have only increased residents’ burdens. That’s where MWC comes in. Through community engagement, empowering stewards, and promoting sustainable practices, they are working to create a safe Milwaukee for all.
Brenda Coley and Joe Fitzgerald in Washington DC for Great Lakes Day with friends from Healthy Lakes, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Coalition On Lead Emergency and more. They visited with legislators, advocated for clean, safe drinking water and waterways for all.
Women and minority led, MWC is an urban nonprofit firm in the belief that decisions about the care and use of the region’s water involves everyone, regardless of zip code. Their community organizing revolves around the Jemez Principles, focusing on inclusivity, bottom-up organizing, people speaking for themselves, working in solidarity and mutuality, building just relationships, and a firm commitment to self-transformation. MWC’s initiatives include their Water School, which engages members in a year-long commitment to the Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River Basin watersheds; Environmental Justice Roundtable, bringing together state officials in needed dialogues for environmental justice; Branch Out Milwaukee, assuring the city’s strategies for tree maintenance and reforesting won’t leave underserved and marginalized neighborhoods behind; and the Beach Ambassador Project to increase water safety awareness and public wellness to communicate beach conditions at Lake Michigan.