In 2012, the Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department partnered with the Village of Newburg to remove the Newburg Dam to reconnect 37 mainstream river miles for passage of fish and other aquatic life from the Bridge Street Dam in Grafton to the Barton Dam in West Bend.

Anticipated results include economic benefits through increased tourism, improved water quality, kayak/canoe recreational passage, re-established floodplain, enhanced opportunities for area residents to enjoy the area’s natural resources, an improved fishery, and restored habitat access for multiple threatened and endangered species, including the state threatened greater redhorse, which is found immediately downstream of the former dam.

The project restored access to a total of 46 miles of in-stream habitat in the Milwaukee River and tributary streams and was funded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant and a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Dam Removal grant.