President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Friday aimed at kickstarting the Brandon Road Interbasin Project in Illinois to prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-invasive-carp-action
Smallmouth bass in Lake St. Clair are bigger than they used to be because they live longer, according to a recent study by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-smallmouth-bass
A roughly ten-mile pipeline will carry Lake Erie water to the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant in Ohio. The project will service 500,000 customers in the Toledo area. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-toledo-pipeline
The Midwest is emerging as one of the nation’s fastest-growing data center hubs, but the scale of effects on water and energy usage are unknown and could reverse progress on environmental goals. Read the full story by Axios.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-data-centers
A list of the five most common items littered along Great Lakes shorelines, as reported by the Alliance for the Great Lakes which has been collecting litter from the lakeshores since 1970. Read the full story by WGRD – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-lakeshore-litter
A shipwreck was discovered during a family trip to Point Farms Provincial Park north of Goderich, Ontario. Now, excavation and research of the shipwreck is underway. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-shipwreck-excavation
Victory Cruise Lines revealed their newest opportunity to sail all five Great Lakes. Read the full story by WFLD-TV- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-greatlakes-cruise
President Trump is expected to sign a memorandum today directing his administration to take steps to block invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes, signaling support for a construction project in Illinois that would install barriers to prevent the carp from infiltrating Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-trump-memo-greatlakes-invasivecarp
In Michigan, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum is now open for the season. The museum is the third-largest maritime museum on the Great Lakes, with up to 12,000 people visiting each summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-maritimemuseum-lakemichigan-shoreline
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University have announced more than $371,000 in new grants to support watershed research across New York, including in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WFLR – Penn Yan, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-dec-cornell-watershed-newyork
Construction on the Great Lakes Line 5 Tunnel Project, a proposed $800 million tunnel that aims to safeguard a pipeline carrying crude oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac, could begin this fall. A tunnel boring machine would be used to create a concrete wall about a foot and a half thick with rebar, more than 350 feet below the channel bottom. Read the full story by the WLUC-TV – St. Ignace, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-greatlakes-line5-tunnelproject
Scientists suspect a deadly virus is behind an unusually large number of fish deaths in Lake Huron this spring, where thousands of carcasses have been washing up on Ontario beaches and shorelines. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-scientists-fish-lakehuron
The Lake Express, the high-speed catamaran car ferry that connects Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan, has officially set off for the season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-lakemichigan-fast-ferry-wisconsin
During Drinking Water Week, Erie Water Works and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful teamed up to install a 50-foot water litter boom next to the Erie Water Works station. A litter boom is a large floating barrier designed to prevent litter from continuing downstream. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-takingtrashout-cleanwater-erie-pa
The Cleveland Metroparks is breaking ground on a world-class sailing center along Lake Erie, aimed at increasing lakefront access for residents and breaking down barriers to the sport. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-cleveland-metroparks-sailingcenter
An Ontario boating company is one step closer to launching a ferry that will take passengers from Toronto’s waterfront to central Niagara in just 30 minutes. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-ontario-boat-company-toronto-niagara
Federal funding cutbacks have impacted the staff at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Severe spending limits have made it difficult to purchase ordinary equipment for processing toxic algal samples, and while remaining staff plan to launch large data-collecting buoys into the water this week, it’s late for a field season that typically runs from April to October. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-algal-bloom-research-funding-cuts
For 8 hours overnight, there was a constant overflow and discharge of wastewater at Walter W. Bradley Wastewater Treatment Plant in Webster, New York, because of a power outage that shut down equipment and disabled the internet-based alarm system that would have alerted someone to the problem, according to New York State and Town of Webster officials. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-sewage-overflow
The Duluth City Council will be considering a resolution requesting federal officials to keep the U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division lab in Duluth, Minnesota, open. About 150 employees stand to lose their jobs at the lab that contributes $15 million to Minnesota’s economy each year. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-lab-resolution
The Executive Office of the President’s proposed 2026 federal budget includes a 25% reduction — nearly $1.5 billion — to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That could gut funding for research programs monitoring water quality, weather conditions and fish populations across the region. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-research-funding-cuts
The sturgeon spawning run is continuing in parts of Northeast Wisconsin, including the Green Bay area, and the lower Fox River below the De Pere dam. Experts say the prehistoric sturgeon make it up the Fox River every year to begin spawning when the water temperature reaches 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-sturgeon-spawning
As hundreds of thousands of alewife from Lake Ontario have been spawning for the season, authorities say recent weather changes have caused a surge in dead fish along the Greater Toronto Area shoreline. Read the full story by CityNews Toronto.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-fish-die-off
The Great Lakes, and the fisheries sustained within them, support a multi-billion-dollar economy and countless jobs, all of which depend on the crucial scientific research conducted by many state and federal entities. The proposed elimination of funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Ecosystems Mission Area, under the guise of fiscal responsibility, is a dangerous misstep. Read the full story by The Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-research-funding
According to a recent study by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, smallmouth bass in Lake St. Clair are bigger than they used to be. Because the bass are often released back into the water instead of going home with fishers, they can live longer and grow bigger. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-bass-study
On May 7, 1965, the SS Cedarville sank beneath the waters of the Straits of Mackinac after a collision just one mile east of the Mackinac Bridge. The freighter plied the waters of the Great Lakes for almost 40 years before it crashed, ferrying loads of limestone from port to port. Read the full story by The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-freighter-sinking-anniversary
The educational team at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is unveiling a new program, “Sleeping Bear from Below.” The underwater documentary will be projected on the park’s 12-foot inflatable planetarium to bring an immersive experience for elementary students. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-educational-program
Proposed federal budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could pull the plug on a vital data network for Lake Michigan, impacting everything from boater safety and fishing forecasts to beach monitoring and drinking water intakes. Read the full story by Ottawa News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-trump-budget-cuts
Utility companies DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are entering the fourth year of a high-stake legal battle with the company they hired for the overhaul of the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-utility-court-battle
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a new, shorter timeline for its environmental review of the Line 5 tunnel project, reducing the public comment period to 30 days instead of 60. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-line5-schedule
Lake trout in some northern Ontario lakes aren’t as big as they used to be, and new findings have shown that when lake trout consume rainbow smelt it can lead to heart issues and thymine deficiency. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-ontario-smelt
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission held its quarterly meeting in April, during which the commissioners took action on several issues affecting anglers throughout the commonwealth, especially those in the northwest. Read the full story by Times Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-pfbc-meeting
The National Park Service has put another Lake Michigan shipwreck on the National Register of Historic Places, but most of the boat’s history remains unknown. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-shipwreck
The first cruise ship of the season, Victory I, of Victory Cruise Lines, has visited the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-soo-cruise
To the delight of sailors across the country, a Michigan company has become the exclusive manufacturer of the Sunfish sailboat, launching the first U.S.-built Sunfish in years. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250505-sunfish-sailboats
A 16-year-old piping plover named Gabby returned to her home shoreline on Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this month, just in time for breeding season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-oldest-piping-plover
Using fish waste as a fertilizer is a tradition that goes back centuries for some Native American tribes, including those who lived in the Great Lakes. Grand Traverse Band has gained international recognition in the wake of recent efforts to transform fish waste from local fishing operations into a high-quality fertilizer. Read the full story by Rural Innovation Exchange.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-fish-recycling
Michigan officials say years of waves and extreme weather have led to significant erosion along the coastline. Parts of shorelines along Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron have been designated as high-risk erosion areas, where a foot or more of terrain is lost every year. Read the full story by Fox News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-crumbling-shorelines
Sixth graders released more than a hundred chinook salmon into the Paw Paw River off the shoreline of Lake Michigan, learning lessons about conservation, ecosystems and wildlife management. Read the full story by WZZM-TV-Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-salmon-release
A long-standing study in Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes has sought to determine the abundance of prey fish species, invasive species, and other forage species to determine the health of the lakes and their ability to support larger predator fish. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-lake-health-study
In partnership with the Erie Bird Observatory, the lights on the Bicentennial Tower in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, will be turned off to reduce lighting during a time of peak bird migration. Read the full story by TalkErie.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-lights-out
Some of the woody debris from northern Michigan’s recent ice storms might go to places like landscaping businesses to use as mulch. But they’re also selling it to biomass facilities nearby, which will turn that into energy. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-ice-storm-energy
The Lake Sturgeon, a prehistoric fish, has long been deemed a protected species. Experts now hope that the ongoing restoration efforts will be successful. Read the full story by Oscoda Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-sturgeon-restoration
State and federal officials said they are working with a chemical manufacturing plant in Wyandotte, Michigan, on a “two-pronged approach” to limit the flow of contaminated groundwater into the Detroit River. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-river-pollution
Michigan’s cruising season is underway. The 665-foot Viking Octantis got things started on Friday when it docked in Detroit. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250502-cruise-ships
The Ohio House recently approved a state budget bill that would heavily cut H2Ohio, the clean water program that aims to scale back harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. The measure would reduce Governor DeWine’s proposal of about $270 million over two years to about $150 million. Read the full story by the Review Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-water-cuts
A federal judge in Detroit has ended litigation against one of the companies that consulted with the city of Flint when lead contamination led to a drinking water crisis 10 years ago. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-flint-settlement
Regulators from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy are demanding that BASF, an international chemical manufacturing company, stop the flow of contaminated groundwater into the Detroit River, alleging the company is violating a 39-year-old consent agreement with the state. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-contamination-regulation
In New York state, the Onondaga County Water Authority has embarked on the biggest expansion of the regional water system since it was first built in the 1960s. Micron Technology’s planned semiconductor manufacturing complex in Clay, New York, and the growth expected to follow, could more than double the amount of water the authority draws from Lake Ontario. Read the full story by The Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-water-supply-expansion
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, has established a safety zone extending 150 feet downstream of the Soo Locks Hydro Plant to ensure the safety of all mariners. The area immediately downstream of the power plant has many boils and whirlpools, making it unsafe for vessels. Read the full story by Soo Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-marine-safety
According to a recent study, recreational fishing trips in the Great Lakes generate $884 million per year. It found that almost 9 million people over age 18 were licensed to fish in one of the Great Lakes at the time of the study’s data request during the 2020 season. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250430-angling-research
