The International Joint Commission is allowing deviations from the Lake Ontario lake level management plan and permitting the release of more water from to lake to offset rising water levels. Read the full story by WXXI – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-ijc
Once abundant along Lake Superior’s north shore and islands, only 50 caribou remain in the region as populations dwindle from wolf predation and habitat loss. Read the full story by the Post Bulletin.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-caribou
Lake Erie water levels are three inches about 1986 record water levels, and a foot higher than 2019. Read the full story by the Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-lake-erie-levels
Door County, Wisconsin, has joined the growing ranks of tourist destinations that are closing resorts and turning away visitors, hoping that shutting their doors now will help them open sooner in the coming months. Read the full story by the Wausau Pilot & Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-closed-door
Video footage of the Lake Huron shoreline in Michigan reveals the extent of damage caused by high-water levels to property and infrastructure. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-helicopter-footage
The state of Michigan formed the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team to coordinate action across seven state departments to detect and mitigate PFAS contamination. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-mpart
Families in Kent County, Michigan, have 300 times the recommended limit of PFAS coming out of faucets in their homes. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200406-pfas
Theodore J. Karamanski’s sweeping maritime history, Mastering the Inland Seas: How Lighthouses, Navigational Aids, and Harbors Transformed the Great Lakes and America, demonstrates the far-ranging impact that the tools and infrastructure developed for navigating the Great Lakes had on the national economies, politics and environment of continental North America. Read the full story by the Door County Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-navigation
The United States Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District announced in early March that Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie all set new monthly records for their levels, beating records set in 1986 for Superior, Michigan, and Huron and 1987 for Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-lake-levels
Scientists have created a lake thermal classification system and noted that a significant proportion of lakes could be reclassified as warmer types as global temperatures rise. Read the full story by Eos.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-lake-classification
Enbridge Energy will not delay submitting permits for its controversial Great Lakes Tunnel Project because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-enbridge
Members of the Michigan Congressional PFAS Task Force sent a letter outlining their priorities to address in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to address harmful PFAS chemicals. Read the full story by WNEM – TV – Bay City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-pfas
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced that an agreement has been signed that will help them directly assist Detroit neighborhoods in fighting against flooding events expected during this upcoming spring and summer seasons. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-detroit-flooding
The Presque Isle Conservation District plans to restore fish and wildlife habitat at the Trout River Dam in Rogers Township, Michigan. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-trout-river-dam
The Essex Region Conservation Authority on Thursday issued long-term flood watch for the entire region. The flood watch includes all shorelines along Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-flood-watch
Lake Michigan buoys that operate off Port Sheldon and South Haven, Michigan were placed on Thursday, April 2, 2020. Read the full story by WHTC – Holland, MI
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-buoys
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Thursday announced that it has extended the public comment deadline for a plan on battling algal blooms in Lake Erie until June 19. Read the full story by Patch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200403-algal-blooms
The cruise ships that typically dock in Muskegon, Michigan, each summer have postponed some of their visits due to COVID-19, a sign that the region’s tourism industry may take a hard hit this summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-tourism
The portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway that includes the north country opened Wednesday morning. The section from Montreal to Lake Ontario opened eight days later than the Seaway’s Welland Canal section. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-seaway
Residents surrounding Lake Ontario feel that high water levels are due to IJC’s plan 2014, which allows for water levels in Lake Ontario to fluctuate. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-flooding
This week is a great week to reel in some walleye around Lake Erie, but also make sure to keep your social distance while doing so. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-walleye
Michigan farms are prohibited from applying animal waste as cropland fertilizer in winter unless the farms meet certain conditions under a new general permit for factory-sized agribusiness operations. The new restriction is intended to prevent nutrients from entering waterways. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-manure
Ontario’s Port of Thunder Bay is anticipating a very strong month with increasing demand and a backlog of grain waiting to be shipped. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-grain-shipping
The Essex Region Conservation Authority announced on Wednesday an indefinite flood watch for all of shoreline areas within Ontario’s Essex region, including Pelee Island. Read the full story by CBC Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-Essex-flooding
New research has suggested that water levels in the Northwoods lakes of Wisconsin and even the Great Lakes can predict the mercury level in fish. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200402-mercury
$4.5 million is on the way to help clean up contaminated sediment in Duluth’s St. Louis River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed the agreement to help what’s known as an “Area of Concern” on Lake Superior. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-aoc
In 1961, there were only 52 breeding pairs of bald eagles in Michigan, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says that number has swelled to about 800 nesting pairs. Read the full story by the Battle Creek Enquirer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-eagles
A comprehensive study on Ontario’s Oshawa Creek, a tributary to Lake Ontario, places the value of the water body and its surrounding areas at approximately $400 million. Read the full story by The Oshawa Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-oshawa
The shipping season on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is getting underway nearly two weeks later than industry stakeholders had hoped. The extra time was used by the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board to reduce water levels in the system in order to mitigate the chance of flooding later this year. Read the full story by WRVO – Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-levels
Though Put-in-Bay’s annual tourist season really doesn’t get going until Memorial Day, this is usually a time for soft openings, recruiting employees, and getting warmed up for summer. However, with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order still in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, Put-in-Bay is emptier than it is during normal off-season days. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-islanders
Drinking water fountains and taps at public and private schools in Indiana will be required to be tested for lead contamination by 2023 under a new state law. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-lead
Arctic grayling, a fish known for its sail-like dorsal fin that died out in Michigan in the 1930s, could be making a comeback in Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-grayling
As the cruise industry navigates the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Great Lakes cruises have a slight advantage over their larger competitors, as their cruising seasons start much later in the summer. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-cruises
With Great Lakes shipping season kicking off last week, American and foreign freighters are expected to transport cargo throughout the more than 100 ports of call in the region, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and industry leaders. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-shipping
Lakes Michigan and Huron rose past their combined long-term historical average in July 2014 and have remained above that baseline ever since. A new interactive map shows a decade of water height data to put context to water level changes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200401-fluctuations
Waukesha this month is bidding the first large construction contracts for its new Lake Michigan drinking water system. Read the full story by Milwaukee Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-waukesha-water
At the request of Bay Mills tribal leaders, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying how to protect the shoreline near the historic graveyard under a tribal partnership program that waives the cost of federal project analysis and design work. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-tribal-erosion
Under a binational agreement reached last week, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario are entitled to catch and harvest 10.2 million walleye — an increase of 20 percent over last year’s 8.5 million fish. Read the full story by Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-erie-walleye
New York State’s coal-burning era will end Tuesday, when Somerset Operating Co. officially retires its power plant on the shore of Lake Ontario in Niagara County. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-newyork-coal
Plans to broaden knowledge about the vulnerability of specific shoreline areas to erosion are struggling to get off the ground as the $12 million Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study was not included in the Army Corps 2020 work plan or the Trump Administration’s 2021 budget. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-coastal-study
Daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for all but especially for those without access to water for basic consumption and essential health needs. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-water-resources
As the winter snow melts, the road salt and other chemicals used to treat icy roads are slowly making its way into lakes, rivers, and streams. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is teaming up with the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute to test the environmental effects of an alternative to road salt. Read the full story by WJMN – TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-road-salt
Since the World Health Organization declared the dangerous virus a global pandemic on March 11, industries worldwide, including Great Lakes shipping, have worked to mitigate the spread of the disease and keep people safe Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-shipping
Flushable wipes do not disintegrate like toilet paper in water, which is causing a massive problem for sewer systems in the Great Lakes region and the world. Fatbergs happen when water-insoluble materials (e.g. flushable wipes, paper towels) get flushed down the drain. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-sewersystem-wipes
Preliminary numbers show March is going to be another record-setter for some Great Lakes water levels; Lakes Michigan-Huron, Lake Erie and a Great Lakes connecting lake, Lake St. Clair, will all have new official March water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200331-water-level
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan took strong steps today to ensure at-risk households have access to clean water for hand washing and sanitation through an executive order requiring the reconnection of service to residences that have had water service shut off. Read the full story by WILX-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200330-water-reconnections
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) posted a public advisory at Edgewater Beach in Cleveland Sunday after raw sewage spilled into Lake Erie due to heavy overnight storms. Read the full story by Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200330-raw-sewage
Leaders of several communities along Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline are calling on Gov. Eric Holcomb to declare a state of emergency and help with funding to fight erosion as near-record high water levels continue sweeping away beaches important to tourism. Read the full story by Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200330-indiana-erosion+
With coronavirus upending the nation’s economy this spring, towns along Michigan’s shore say they’ve still got more to lose when the crisis ends. Any look toward recovery this summer comes with the threat that record-setting water levels are likely to continue, bringing more erosion and more damage. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200330-surviving-high-water
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ weekly report released Friday showed Lake Michigan has risen 1 inch over the past week and is now 5 inches above the March record set in 1986. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200330-michigan-water-rising
