Vision Oshkosh Report: Restore the Shore

In the summer of 2009, the city of Oshkosh in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, conducted one of the most comprehensive community opinion surveys in the history of the city.  One priority area of the survey was on what to do with our waterfront.  While much of the conversation focused on moving forward with the river walk, respondants were also gauged as to their support of a natural buffer area along the water front. 

Respondants overwhelmingly supported the natural shoreland, prompting the plan to include the following recommendation:

"Maintain a minimum vegetated buffer between all water bodies and impervious surfaces outside of the Urban Waterfront Area"

This key finding was also cited in the Onterra study.

Read the Vision Oshkosh Report here.

Onterra Study of Miller's Bay

The 2010 City of Oshkosh Miller’s Bay Aquatic Management Plan cited the poor condition of the bay, recommending better management of the shoreline.  

The plan, which was assembled by Onterra, a lake management planning firm from Northeast Wisconsin, stated the following: 

“Miller’s Bay shoreline is incredibly poor and provides no aesthetic, habitat, or buffering value to the bay. Turf maintenance along the bay’s shoreline leads to increased runoff of nutrients, sediments, and other pollutants to Lake Winnebago, while providing appealing loafing grounds to nuisance levels of Canada geese.”

The plan concludes, "The area also stands as an incredibly poor example of shoreland maintenance."

View the study here.