After setting or tying multiple records for high water marks in 2019, Lake Superior in 2020 retreated somewhat from levels that have caused erosion and damaged shoreline infrastructure. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-water-level
The state of Michigan has begun its emergency work to partially breach the Edenville Dam’s Tobacco River spillway following the catastrophic dam failure in May. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-dam-repair
In Michigan, the Superior Watershed Partnership Land Conservancy will be protecting and restoring a 4–mile stretch of the Sturgeon River, after being awarded $2.1 Million from the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund Board. Read the full story by WBUP-TV- Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-sturgeon-river
Duluth is expecting an improved but slower than normal tourism economy in 2021 as the prospect of the pandemic’s gradual end gives more certainty visitors will eventually flock to the region at previous levels. Read the full story by the Duluth Star-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-duluth
After four years in the making, a set of maps has been created to show what lies underneath the water in the Milwaukee Harbor and what restoration efforts could help get the harbor removed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration’s list of heavily contaminated Areas of Concern. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-milwaukee-harbor
The U.S. House voted Tuesday to authorize construction of the long-studied waterway project that lawmakers hope will halt the progress of Asian carp toward the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201209-carp
Groups are collaborating, for example, in the Algonquin to Adirondacks area, from Ontario through the state of New York, to protect forest and wetlands considered the best remaining potential for wildlife movement across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-st-lawrence-wildlife
The U.S. Coast Guard wants to retire its oldest cutter on the Great Lakes, the 57-year-old, Sault Ste. Marie-based buoy tender Buckthorn, but it may take several years. A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service says the Coast Guard is waiting for Congress to approve its proposal to replace up to 35 aging cutters, which average 56 years old. Read the full story by the Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-coast-guard-ship
The Trump administration recently announced that it will remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the lower 48 states. The gray wolf population in those states, including Michigan, has reached more than 6,000 and has met recovery goals that make it unnecessary for protection, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-endangered-wolf-protection
Ducks Unlimited Canada celebrates an announcement by the Province of Ontario, which renews their longstanding conservation partnership. The Wetlands Conservation Partner Program will provide $6 million this year for wetland projects in the Lake Ontario and Lake Erie drainage basins. View the full story by Globe Newswire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-wetlands-ontario
Port Milwaukee is entering into a lease agreement with Pearl Seas Cruises to give the company priority docking rights for its cruise ships at Pier Wisconsin, the downtown dock immediately east of Discovery World museum. Read the full story by The Maritime Executive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-wisconsin-cruises
A researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale studying invasive grass carp has published their findings about a tiny bone in the ear of the grass carp that is exposing an important clue to controlling their numbers in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Southern.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-grass-carp
Flathead catfish, gizzard shad, alewife and white perch are among the fish species that have shown up in a variety of our state’s waters, ones where they had not previously been. When they become established in waters where they did not previously exist it’s often at the expense of other species. Read the full story by Indiana Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-indiana-invasive-species
Canadian Energy company Enbridge’s request for a permit to build a tunnel surrounding Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, was met with lots of scrutiny and criticism in an online public hearing as environmental groups argue it could have potentially detrimental effects on coastal wetlands. Read the full story by WJRT-TV-Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-line-5-enbridge
The City of Marquette has been awarded a grant from the Native American Heritage Fund for a project that will promote Native history in the area. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201208-native-history-grant-trail
The Great Lakes Conservation Coalition is criticizing the U.S. EPA’s ballast water rule proposal which would exempt cargo ships that only travel in the Great Lakes from having to treat their ballast water to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-epa-proposal
Applications to Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for shoreline protection permits tripled this year compared to 2019. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-lakefront-protections
The mayor of Waukegan, Illinois, is chairing the recently formed Mayors Water Equity Commission of the binational Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, exploring ways to make fresh water more accessible and less costly. Read the full story by The Lake County News-Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-waukegan-water-quality
Lake Superior water levels continued to drop in November, but more slowly than usual, as the big lake continues with higher-than-normal water levels. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-superior-water-level
A new 214-acre “quiet” recreation area on Lake Michigan and featuring a large inland lake near Muskegon, Michigan, could be open to the public next year. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-muskegon-park
The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, a water safety nonprofit, is rolling out an online learning program to give water safety presentations to schools throughout the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana TImes.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-water-safety
A project supported by the Stratford Perth Community Foundation in Ontario is helping landowners in the region shore up their properties to provide environmental benefits, add bank stability, and improve the quality of water that ultimately ends up in Lake Huron. Read the full story by The Beacon Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-restoration-project
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation has now been joined by more partners in an effort to stop the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, from cutting back the dunes at Sauble Beach on Lake Huron and installing a concrete-block retaining wall. Read the full story by The Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-sauble-beach
A Minnesota regulatory panel on Friday denied a request from two tribes to prevent Enbridge Energy from moving forward with its contentious Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement, which broke ground this week after receiving its final state permit. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-line-3
The government of Ontario estimates that “hundreds of thousands” of the province’s lakes, islands, beaches, bays and other geographic features still don’t have an official name, and anyone can make a name submission to the Ontario Geographic Names Board. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201207-ontario-lakes
Michigan’s outdoor recreation is expected to get a boost of nearly $37.8 million in 2021, and Muskegon County is the biggest winner of funds with a single grant for $5 million. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-michigan-recreation-grant
The Lower Menominee River remediation project, located in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula, has been officially delisted as an Area of Concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. However, there is work still to be done. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-michigan-river-remediation
St. Clair County, Michigan, has secured funding to acquire a 10-acre parcel along the North Channel of the St. Clair River with help from Six Rivers Land Conservancy. Read the full story by The Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-michigan-land-conservation
The Harvest Spirit is anchored in Canadian waters after having run aground in the Detroit River near Grosse Ile, Michigan, on Dec. 3. Up to 18 vessels had anchored and were awaiting passage during the incident. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-freighter-shipping
A crustacean is invading the Great Lakes and eating plankton, leaving small fish nothing to feed on. Native to the Baltic Sea region in Russia, the water flea reached Lake Ontario in the early 1980s, and Lake Superior by 1987. Read the full story by The Science Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-invasive-species-water-flea
Enbridge Energy has all the permits it needs to start construction on a controversial new crude oil pipeline in Minnesota, more than five years after the Canadian company first asked state regulators to approve the Line 3 project, but hurdles still remain. View the full story by MinnPost.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-enbridge-line-3
The U.S. House on Thursday approved legislation to require the updating of Great Lakes environmental maps for use in response to an oil spill. The maps, which are maintained by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, summarize resources near the lakeshore like shellfish beds, marshes, tidal flats, public beaches, parks and endangered and threatened species that would be at risk in oil spill. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-erie-threat-priorities
Environmental groups created a document that prioritizes the major threats to the Lake Erie watershed and includes recommendations on how to preserve water quality. The collaborative document was created to help guide government officials on the protection of Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay, and their tributaries. Read the full story by Erie News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-erie-threat-priorities
Republican lawmakers have advanced legislation that would reestablish the state of Michigan’s authority to manage development along the Great Lakes coastline as part of a bill that aims to simplify erosion protection permitting for homeowners at the beach. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201204-coastline-erosion
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is extending its review of the Line 5 tunnel until January 2021 to allow for more time to process public comments, technical information and recommendations from the State Historic Preservation Office. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-line5-tunnel
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s action to revoke Enbridge’s Line 5 easement is an overdue and necessary step towards protecting the Great Lakes and ensuring Anishinaabe communities will have the ability to fish, work and recreate on the Straits of Mackinaw for generations to come. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-anishinaabe-line5
Enbridge Energy began construction on its Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement in Minnesota on Tuesday, a day after state regulators approved the final permit for the $2.6 billion project amid legal challenges from local activist and Indigenous groups. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-line3
The recent “State of the Strait” report described how environmental clean-up efforts have improved the Detroit River and western Lake Erie, but warned that the waters are “at a defining moment” as algal blooms continue to plague the waters. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-state-of-strait
A freighter ran aground early Wednesday in the lower Detroit River near Grosse Ile causing a vessel attempting to avoid it to hit bottom and a logjam for other ships rushing to move cargo ahead of the close of the shipping season. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-ship-aground
Shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson located another shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan near Pyramid Point at the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Northern Michigan. The Jarvis Lord sunk 135 years ago while carrying iron ore from St. Ignace to Chicago. Read the full story by WWUP-TV – 9&10 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-jarvis-lord
With more students – and grown-ups – doing their work remotely these days, some of Ludington, Michigan’s, favorite tourist spots have pulled together a large lineup of remote learning and entertainment options. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-ludington
By acting to shutdown Line 5 across the Mackinaw Straits, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel are effectively protecting the “public trust” in Michigan’s waters and natural resource. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-line5-commentary-2
The International Joint Commission announced that the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River board will be reformed, reducing the number of members to six – three from Canada and three from the United States. The reformed group will seek input from a more-inclusive advisory body. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-ijc-restructure
The St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (SLELO PRISM) is offering an online presentation about invasive species that threaten local areas, and ways for residents to help protect lands and waters against these species. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201203-is-webinar
Four months after it was cut free of its old water-logged foundation and lifted away to wait out its new perch, Fishtown’s oldest shanty was recently settled back into place along the Leland River in northwest Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-fishtown-shanty
In Wisconsin, construction has started on the two pipelines that will carry Lake Michigan drinking water from Milwaukee to Waukesha and treated wastewater back towards the lake. It’s expected to take almost three years to finish the diversion project aimed at providing Waukesha with a reliable source of clean water. Read the full story by WUWM- Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-water-pipeline
President-elect Joe Biden should focus on threats to the Great Lakes. One way to support is a robust endorsement of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that includes dramatically increased funding for the project. Read the full story by The Capital Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-biden-glri
The owner of a barge that sank and spilled oil into Grand Traverse Bay this week told the U.S. Coast Guard that a salvage effort to refloat the vessel is planned as soon as the weather allows. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-oil-spill
The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists heard from a senior research scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, whose presentation focused on the changing face of the Great Lakes with specific focus on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Prince Edward County Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-ontario-changing
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is providing $800,000 to expand an ongoing COVID-19 detection program in wastewater. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201202-covid-wastewater
