Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Welcome to the Pewaukee River Partnership


The Pewaukee River Partnership is a community group that works to increase
awareness of the Pewaukee River and its surrounding watershed
to residents and visitors of Waukesha County.


Outdoor Workday - Saturday, March 9
 9 am - 11 am
Koepp Park (by the walking bridge)

Bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park.

Bundling the brush.

Taking it to the river's edge.

Brush bundle ferried out to site.

Bundle installation.


Finished project.


Wildlife on the Pewaukee River

Photo Credit: Rose Andersen
"Spotted the pair of Bald Eagles this morning hanging out at the river behind the recycle area.
Was able to get pretty close to them to capture many photos on 2/8/2024."

Could they have a nest nearby?!!


November 2023 - Holiday Decorating Day


Michele Harms holds an ornament.

A family enjoys designing ornaments.

There were tasty homemade cookies!

Paul Evert and Charlie decorating.

St. Nick?! Jim Willis in his stylish hat.

Charlie Shong and Brian Harms.




Stop by the bridge to see the

Fall Decorations


Charlie Shong, Jim Willis and Paul Evert, plus friends and family
decorated the bridge Saturday, October 21.
Pumpkins and flowers donated by Schulte's Greenhouse. 
Some passing families with children were recruited to decorate the pumpkins.
They did a great job.


September 2023 – Invasive Plant Removal



 The Pewaukee School’s River Keepers Club works with the River Partnership to remove
willows and invasive plants along the river at Koepp Park.


2023 Clean Water Festival

The River Partnership table had watershed maps, River Monitor information
and the River Animals 
ID Game for the children. 


Charlie Shong and Paul Evert 
River Monitor map and information
Children's animal ID game



New signage was completed for the bridge. 

Recent Great Egret Photo taken by PRP member, Ray Schwabe. 





Simmons Woods Park Buckthorn Removal Project 

Feb. 11, 2023

Charlie Shong and Paul Evert loading the chipper.

Jim Willis lends a hand.
Tom Calder picks up larger pieces.
Derrin Kehl clearing cut brush.
Laying down the chips on the path.
Brian Harms in a cleared section.
As always, refreshments!










Summer 2022 Project:


Removing the old boardwalk.
High water from recent rains made for easier removal.



Charlie rows out to the boardwalk, detaches a section and attaches the rope. 
The section is pulled to shore and fastened to the mighty minivan hitch.



Jim Willis guides the section around the fence and plantings.


Rain Garden Walking Tour had great attendance! 

The tour began at Pewaukee Public Library rain garden, ended at Koepp Park/Penny VanHorn bridge. 
Sally Ruf, Master Gardener; Jane Jenks, Conservation Specialist; Charlie Shong, Pewaukee River Partnership President guided the tour. 

Thanks to all who attended and showed their interest in our community and in ways to make  our natural spaces better.




Earlier this summer. 

Clean Water Festival, June 25, Pewaukee Lakefront Park

The Partnership had a table at the Clean Water Festival held on June 25 at the Kiwanis Beach Party. 

Pewaukee River Partners, Friends and Guests: 
I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I would like to thank all those who helped at the Clean Water Festival. The turnout was quite good. We ended up with over 20 pins in our watershed map that showed where visitors lived. Many were surprised to find that the water from their backyard flowed to the Pewaukee River and on to the Gulf of Mexico. We educated many and hopefully will end up with a few more volunteers.


Finding and pinning your home
on the watershed map.

Partnership members Paul Evert and
Nancy Koepp helped out.

The "passport" check off for children involved
identifying animals in and near the river.



Pewaukee's Sixth Graders in Action

June 2022


Boats lined up and ready for the students.
Boarding three to a boat.



Pewaukee sixth graders build kayak launch.
Charlie Shong explains about the kayak launch ramp project.
Rowing learning curve.
Got it figured out.




Another Successful Year for the PRP

Annual Native Plant Sale

2022

Pewaukee River Partnership Native Plant Sale.
PRP President Charlie Shong and Treasurer Nancy Koepp
found a nice shady spot for plant pickup. 

 The plant sale pickup is complete and all of our customers were happy. This sale, which is our only fund raiser allows us to operate without dues and provides the money needed for our various projects through out the year.

Thank you to all who ordered. 

You are helping the River Partnership while adding to the beauty and ecology of the community. 


A Look Back at 2021

Pewaukee River Channel Restoration
Bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park.

Pewaukee River Partners, Friends and Guests: 

During this time, it is always good to look back on some of the Partnership’s accomplishments from the past year. Not in any order of importance, last year we did the following:

  • We donated $500 to the Pewaukee Scholarship Fund to be awarded to a student going into some type of environmental scholarship.
  • We participated in the Lake Country Clean Water Festival to educate people about water quality issues and what our organization does.
  • We continued to support our river monitors through the watershed.
  • We replaced the damaged wood at the outfall railing.
  • We removed the rip-rap that had found its way into the river at the outfall and placed it back on the shoreline where it belonged.
  • We continued to work on our bioengineering project up-stream of the bridge at Koepp Park. This project is working to reestablish the original stream banks.
  • We removed brush on the west bank by the outfall to allow people a view of the river. This brush was then tied in bundles and added to our stream bank project.
  • We put a new coat of paint and stain on all of Penny’s Bridge and the approaches.
  • We continued to maintain the bridge by removing the snow, mowing and weed whipping under the approaches, replacing lights, planting the planter boxes and adding the holiday decorations. Members are also involved in keeping the parking lot trash free.
  • We held a successful Plant Sale to fund all the things that we do.

In spite of the challenges 2021 presented, I think we can all be proud of what we were able to accomplish and the improvements made to water quality and our community.

Thank You to all who supported us financially, on the ground working on projects, shouting words of encouragement or just spreading the word about our organization. I look forward to working with you in the year to come. Charlie 









About

Projects

Simmons Woods Boardwalk

Covered Bridge




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