V Greenfield Live — WaterMarks

Living in a Coastal City

The letter V was selected for the Spanish verb vivir—to live! Humans are over 60% water. Life and water are part of the same vivacious story. — The letter V was selected for the Spanish verb *vivir*—to live! Humans are over 60% water. Life and water are part of the same vivacious story.

“V” is for vivir, live, vivo... We’ve heard that “water is life (agua es vida).” But how does water flow through our daily lives? How can we make a difference? How is Milwaukee a Water Centric City? When we turn on the tap, we expect clear, clean water, but this miracle is only possible because of so many seemingly invisible choices we all make. Milwaukee Water Works Superintendent Karen Dettmer shares how our drinking water system protects the public from pathogens. Erick Shambarger, who heads the City of Milwaukee’s Environmental Collaboration Office and the Water Centric City initiative, discusses how green infrastructure at schoolyards, businesses, and on public property is improving our resilience in the face of climate change and severe storms. Walker’s Point stalwart Pancho Caesarez recounts subtle connections to water in our neighborhoods knit together through food, music, and recreation. Academic and architect Jim Wasley is designing urban waterscapes to absorb and repurpose stormwater, while reintegrating life into our cityscape. Artist Sarah Gail Luther considers both boundaries and access points to water in the Harbor District and different quarters of our city. Steve Servais offers the long view on how humans have altered our relationship to water in the Harbor District and beyond.

People Placing Water at the Heart of the Good Life

Meet Pancho. Musician. Gardener. Gourmand. Longtime Walker’s Point resident and anchor to Milwaukee’s Santana tribute band Abraxes, Pancho Casarez has witnessed the Walker's Point neighborhood evolve from the 1960s. From memories smelt fishing along the lakeshore to playing music in Paliafito Park over its underground cistern or sharing fresh greens from his garden, Pancho is mindful that clean water is synonymous with the good life.

Meet Erick. Erick Shambarger is the environmental sustainability director for the City of Milwaukee and leads its Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO). “Being a water-centric city is really central to the identity of Milwaukee,” Erick says. “We are a coastal city. We are a freshwater city. Because of our proximity to Lake Michigan we want to do as much as we can not only to build a global brand for Milwaukee around water, but also to make real improvements to the water quality and to our way of life.”

Meet Karen. Karen Dettmer is superintendent of Milwaukee Water Works, the publicly owned utility responsible for delivering clean drinking water to over 860,000 customers in and beyond the City of Milwaukee. Milwaukee Water Works marked its 150th anniversary in 2021. “The passion and the pride that I have seen in every level of staff at Milwaukee Water Works is just exceptional,” she says. “The pride that we all have in delivering clean drinking water, the source of life, to 860,000 customers is just apparent in every level of staff.”