About 2.7 billion gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged into local waterways and Lake Michigan, according to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Last week’s torrents of rain pushed Milwaukee into its rainiest April on record. Upwards of 6.69 inches of rain fell in the Milwaukee area from April 12 to 16, according to the sewerage district’s rain gauges. Flood warnings remain more than a week later in a dozen counties.

The systemwide combined sewer overflow, initiated at 8:24 p.m. on Apr. 14, lasted about 114 hours. The wet weather also resulted in several sanitary sewer overflows in the sewerage district’s isolated-sewer system.

In a combined system, a single pipe carries both untreated wastewater and stormwater. It makes up 6% of the sewerage district’s service area, and is located entirely within the city of Milwaukee and the Village of Shorewood. In an isolated-system, sewage and stormwater flow through different pipes.

In both cases, an overflow can mean elevated bacteria from untreated wastewater in local waterways.

The estimated total volume was of the sanitary sewer overflows was 11.6 million gallons, impacting West Allis, Milwaukee, Bayside and River Hills. Specifically, these overflows occurred at:

• W. Grant Street and S. 77th Street in West Allis;
• S. 43rd Street and W. Lincoln Avenue in Milwaukee;
• S. 74th Street and West Oklahoma Avenue in Milwaukee;
• N. Broadmoor Road in Bayside;
• N. Lake Drive and East Ravine Lane in Bayside
• N. Range Line Road and Milwaukee River in River Hills; and
• N. River Road and W. Greentree Road in River Hills.

An in-plant spill also occurred at the Jones Island Water Reclamation facility as a result of the intense rainfall. However, the sewerage district said that Lake Michigan and local waterbodies were not impacted. Work on this spill is ongoing.

By federal law, the sewerage district is allowed six combined sewer overflows per year. Since 1994, it has captured and cleaned an average of 98.6% of wastewater.

Last year’s historic August flood event led to about 5.14 billion gallons of untreated wastewater being discharged into nearby waterways and Lake Michigan. It was the largest systemwide since the Deep Tunnel was built in 1993.

Since 1995, the sewerage district has invested more than $580 million in green infrastructure and flood management projects to improve the landscape’s ability to hold onto water, helping to avoid overflows. 

Green infrastructure helps nature do its job by absorbing and storing rain and melting snow. It protects against flooding and excessive heat as well as improves air, soil and water quality, which can help the city better adapt to a changing climate.

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Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: clooby@gannett.com. Follow her on social media @caitlooby.

Caitlin is an Outrider Fellow whose reporting also receives support from the Brico Fund, Fund for Lake Michigan, Barbara K. Frank, and individual contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.

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A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Ralph Taylor on Thursday, April 23 to life in prison without the possibility of extended supervision, in the July 2025 fatal shooting of his 4-year-old son, Ralph Taylor III.

The Milwaukee Bucks became the first NBA team to hire a new coach this offseason, targeting and landing former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins to succeed Doc Rivers.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Jenkins and the Bucks’ front office were finalizing a deal on Thursday afternoon to bring the 41-year-old former Milwaukee assistant back to serve as the franchise’s fourth coach since parting ways with Mike Budenholzer in 2023.

Jenkins served as an assistant under Budenholzer in 2018-19 after serving under him for five seasons in Atlanta. 

Rumors of Jenkins being spotted with Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who faces a decision regarding his own future this summer, made the rounds on social media this week as unconfirmed sightings suggested the Bucks’ franchise star was helping the coach tour schools.

Bobby Portis, under contract for next season and holding a player option for ‘28-’29, was on popular NBA show “Run it Back and believed landing him to lead the team going forward would be a positive in convincing Antetokounmpo to stay put.

“What helps is that (Jenkins) was in Milwaukee during Coach Bud’s stint in Milwaukee. He was one of the assistant coaches on the roster,” Portis said. “I think that kind of relationship with Giannis and that kind of relationship with (GM) Jon Horst sits well with the franchise, and I think that kind of helps”

Horst and Bucks ownership courted Jenkins in Memphis and clearly zeroed in on him as the top target in the coaching search. Although what Antetokounmpo is going to do is anyone’s guess, keeping the “Greek Freak” in Milwaukee has been the franchise’s primary objective over the last few years as rumors he was growing dissatisfied with the direction of the team intensified, so it’s clear that the team’s leadership views Jenkins as an asset in retaining Antetokounmpo’s services.

ESPN’s Charania reported that Antetokounmpo wasn’t involved in Jenkins’ hiring and has had no communication with the Bucks.

Jenkins went 250-214 in six seasons with the Grizzlies, but was fired late in the 2024-25 season with a postseason berth lined up. He was linked to the New York Knicks opening last summer that Mike Brown ultimately filled and was going to be a candidate for the vacancies in Chicago and potentially Orlando if the Magic move on from Jamahl Mosley after their postseason run ends.

Jenkins was already in Memphis when the Bucks broke through to win the NBA Finals in 2021, but he reportedly had a great relationship with Antetokounmpo and helped set the foundation for the last big winner in Milwaukee. The Bucks lost 50 games this past season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16 under then-head coach Jason Kidd.