Everything about Kinnickinnic River Milwaukee River totally explained
The
Kinnickinnic River is one of three primary
rivers that flow into the harbor of
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. It is locally called
the KK River.
Kinnickinnic is an
Ojibwa word which literally means "what is mixed," referring to the mixing of indigenous plants and tobaccos. Often called Milwaukee's forgotten river, it's the smallest within the
Milwaukee River Basin, yet is the most urbanized and densely populated.
History
Milwaukee was founded to utilize a natural harbor formed by the confluence of rivers immediately before flowing into Lake Michigan, similar to
Manistee, Michigan and
Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Kinnickinnic River is the southernmost of the three rivers, flowing in a generally northeastern direction towards the harbor. The
Menomonee River enters from the west and the
Milwaukee River enters from the north.
Originally, the Kinnickinnic River flowed almost directly into Lake Michigan, with water from the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers flowing south from the center of the city before exiting to the Lake. The landform that protected the harbor was a long marshy spit, called
Jones Island, that extended southwards from the center of the city. To shorten the distance from the harbor entrance to the city, a "straight cut" was made across the base of the spit, at the northern end.
(External Link
) The original harbor entrance was filled in, so that Jones Island was now a peninsula extending northwards, with its base to the south. This effectively lengthened the river, and this new stretch now formed a large portion of the harbor.
Shipping traffic in Milwaukee eventually outgrew the "inner" harbor formed by the three rivers. An "outer" harbor was constructed in the lake, with the lake-facing edge of Jones Island serving as the docking area. The inhabitants of Jones Island were forced to leave, and those that were small commercial fishermen moved operations farther up the Kinnickinnic. The commercial fishing fleet now resides in the stretch of river near the 1st Street Bridge, along with small pleasure craft.
Watershed
The Kinnickinnic (KK) River watershed covers approximately 25 square miles of perennial streams, which along with the main river, have been extensively modified through concrete channeling. High levels of industrial pollutants, diminished access for public use, and lack of a vegetative buffer has caused much of the community to perceive the waterways as nothing more than a network of municipal sewage drainage creeks.
Its estuary empties in to
Lake Michigan at the Milwaukee harbor, along with the
Milwaukee River and
Menomonee River.
Pollution Problems
Parts of the Kinnickinnic (KK) River watershed are considered one of the
Great Lakes Areas of Concern, along with the Milwaukee River Estuary. For the Kinnickinnic, this is due to high levels of
PCBs and
PAHs found in the river. For this reason, the Kinnicknic was listed as the 7th most endangered river in the U.S. in 2007, by
American Rivers.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kinnickinnic River Milwaukee River'.
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