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Photo Essay: Kletzsch Park Dam Fish Passage welcomes migrating fish!

June 24, 2024 | Topics: Issues, Places

By Eddee Daniel

Migrating fish were the primary winners when the new fish passage was opened, allowing them to swim around the Kletzsch Park Dam on the Milwaukee River. But other winners include the many anglers who flock to the churning waters below the dam that wasn’t removed, as well as the general public—those visiting Kletzsch Park who will continue to be able to enjoy views of the dam—and now fish passage—from the shade of mature oak trees along the high west bank of the river.

The new fish passage and the Kletzsch Park Dam in June 2024.

On June 11 a ceremony took place at the site that celebrated the opening of the Fish Passage, which actually occurred in late 2023. Unfortunately, I missed the ceremony, but I’ve been documenting the progress of construction as it unfolded last year, from the ground and from the air with my drone. This seems like a good opportunity to share those photos, along with a couple new ones.

The story of the Fish Passage, its planning, design, construction and purpose, has been told well in other places (see links below), so I’ll give just bare bones to go with the photos.

While dams have served a variety of purposes historically, they also have disrupted the natural flow of the river and prevented the migration of fish, many species of which must migrate upstream on Lake Michigan tributaries like the Milwaukee River in order to spawn. New sensitivity to wildlife ecology and the importance of interconnectedness in natural systems like rivers has led in some places to the removal of dams, such as happened at North Avenue and Estabrook Park. A total of eight dams have been removed from the Milwaukee River in the last 36 years.

A graceful pedestrian bridge now perches atop the remains of the North Avenue Dam. 2023.

The former North Avenue Dam site is a very popular fishing spot. 2021

View of the Estabrook Dam in 2016. After ten years of controversy, it was removed in 2018.

Where removal of a dam isn’t feasible or desirable, a fish passage can serve as an alternative that allows fish to migrate around the impediment. The serpentine Kletzsch Park Dam, built not for power generation or flood control but for recreation, remains popular nearly 100 years after its construction. Planning for alternatives to removal took many years and involved several important agencies, including Milwaukee County Parks, MMSD, and WIDNR, along with citizen groups, including Milwaukee Audubon Society and Friends of Kletzsch Park.

The mature oaks shading this popular overlook on the west bank of the river at the Kletzsch Park Dam would have been removed and the bluff excavated in the initial fish passage proposal, which was later scrapped when the east bank alternative became available. 2020.

Once the fish passage option was chosen, there was the question of which side of the river it should go on. Since the east bank was privately owned and the west bank public parkland, the original proposal would have situated it on the west. But that plan proved highly controversial because it required excavating the steep bluff, cutting down a swath of the stately, mature oak trees, and disturbing a site with historic cultural significance. After much deliberation, the MMSD was able to acquire enough land on the east bank for the fish passage to be constructed there.

A trio of anglers at the Kletzsch Park Dam. 2023.

Site preparation, tree clearing prior to fish passage construction above and below. 2023. — Site preparation, tree clearing prior to fish passage construction, above and below. 2023.

Fishing at the dam continued during construction of the fish passage on far side of the river. 2023.

The newly completed fish passage in December, 2023.

For a brief time following completion the public was allowed access to the fish passage across private properties on the east bank. This is no longer allowed. 2023. — For a brief time following completion some curious people made their way across private properties on the east bank to view the fishway up close. This is not allowed and a fence has been erected to prevent it. 2023.

The fish passage is designed with gentle rapids alternating with calm pools that allow native fish that can't jump the falls at the dam to swim upstream against the current. 2023. — The fish passage is designed with gentle rapids alternating with calm pools that allow native fish that can’t jump the falls at the dam to swim upstream against the current. 2023.

This is not the first fish passage to be built on the Milwaukee River. The much larger Thiensville Dam has had one since 2010. It was reconstructed in 2022. The new fish passage at Kletzsch means some native fish in Lake Michigan can now reach 25 miles farther upstream to Grafton where the next remaining dam is located. An additional 29 miles of tributary streams, and 2,400 acres of wetlands will be reachable for spawning. There is more work to be done, however. The waterfall in Estabrook Park, although small, remains an impediment to certain native fish, depending on water levels and flow rates. Plans to improve fish passage there are in progress. Estabrook Falls, appealing as they are, did not occur naturally, but were the result of limestone quarrying operations in the Nineteenth Century.

Thiensville Dam (above in 2019) and fish passage (below in 2022).

Compare this very different design with the new one at Kletzsch Park. Site constraints and a higher dam required a long, thin configuration.

Fish can now migrate as far upstream as this dam in Grafton. 2023. — Some fish can now migrate as far upstream as this dam in Grafton. 2023.

The final impediment between Lake Michigan and Grafton to many native fish is at Estabrook Park. Some of the weaker fish like native pike can’t make it up even this small a waterfall. Plans are underway to improve fish passage here with construction slated for 2025.

But for now, many fish have already begun to use the new fish passage at Kletzsch Park and visitors can stand in the shade of the stately oaks and contemplate the passage of time as well as fish.

Kletzsch Park Dam and the mouth of the new fish passage in June, 2024.

Kletzsch Park Dam and Fish Passage news stories:

Fox 6 News 12/12/23: Glendale Kletzsch Park fish passage open to native species

Urban Milwaukee 1/19/24: How the Kletzsch Fishway Was Created

Urban Milwaukee 6/12/24: Officials Celebrate Kletzsch Dam Fish Passage

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 6/13/24: New Kletzsch fish passage allows sturgeon to move upstream of Glendale for first time since at least 1935

Related stories from The Natural Realm:

Two perspectives: Kletzsch Park River Access & Fish Passage Project

Competing views on Kletzsch Park project proposal

Why Do We Care About the Sturgeon?

Touring restoration sites on the Milwaukee River in Ozaukee County

The Horlick Dam on the Root River will be removed!

Eddee Daniel is a board member of Preserve Our Parks and a former board member of Milwaukee Riverkeeper. Milwaukee County Parks and MMSD are project partners of A Wealth of Nature.