Milwaukee’s WellPoint Care Network will break ground next week on its Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) project at its Capitol Drive Campus.
WellPoint Care Network, 8901 W. Capitol Dr., a Milwaukee community-facing service organization, will start on its GSI project on May 21. The multi-year project will change the 18-acre Capitol Campus Drive to improve its building and services with a state-of-the-art mental health clinic, community social hall, trauma-informed care training center and redevelopment of the grounds to capture around 1 million gallons of stormwater.
In capturing stormwater, the GSI project aims to reduce the overall impacts of excess water to reduce flooding in neighborhoods. Sewage overflows from stormwater runoffs have grown to be a problem with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District asking residents to cut water usage after severe rains earlier this year, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
The project will implement bioretention basins and landscaped depressions in the ground to slow and treat stormwater runoff; reduce 20% of impervious surface space, or artificial space constructed consisting of stone, asphalt, concrete and rooftops; and install wet and dry land vegetation for beautification purposes.
The project will break ground at WellPoint on May 21 at 3 p.m. The event is open to the community where WellPoint CEO Ann Leinfelder and Milwaukee elected officials like Mayor Cavalier Johnson will speak on how GSI will address persisting issues in the city.