South Haven, Michigan, closed its marina for the summer season due to damage from high Great Lakes water this winter. The city faces at least $16 million in estimated damage from the high-water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-south-haven
The state of Michigan is working with Japan in a joint effort to preserve and restore lake environments. The agreement allows both countries to share knowledge and expertise in order to protect some of the world’s largest freshwater bodies and to advocate for lake conservation efforts worldwide. Read the full story by C and G News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-restoring-lakes
High Great Lakes water continues to be an issue for Michigan, even as the state mobilizes around fighting coronavirus. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-erosion
Coronavirus or not, the city of Toledo, Ohio, still plans to meet Thursday with contractors who might want to bid on a major wetlands project the city hopes to have done in North Toledo later this year to provide more wildlife habitat and help improve Maumee River water quality. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-toledo-wetlands
The International Joint Commission, charged with regulating water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, plans to keep pushing large amounts of water out of Lake Ontario through the spring. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-outflows
Ohio’s delayed primary has Geneva-on-the-Lake and neighboring Township Park reassessing options for halting severe erosion along Lake Erie. The park service has a levy on the ballot that would aid in that effort, but the final vote on measure now won’t come until June. Read the full story by ideastream.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-geneva-on-the-lake
The City of South Haven, Michigan, has announced that it will be closing its Northside Municipal Marina for the 2020 boating season in order to make needed electrical upgrades. Read the full story by WKZO – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-marina-closure
Living in Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region gives residents an advantage when it comes to finding things to do while minimizing exposure to COVID-19. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-social-distancing
Michigan tourists now have a new resource that shows up-to-date conditions at public beaches on Lake Michigan in this season of record-high water levels. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-beach-tourism
A federal judge rejected a challenge by environmental groups against the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, saying the Interior Department had the authority to reverse itself and renew the project’s federal mineral rights leases. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-mine-dispute
Explore shipwrecks this Thursday and have other Great Lakes adventures in the coming weeks with the “Lake Effects” online film series. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-great-lakes-series
Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) says she hopes to ensure the Army Corps of Engineers receives funding to start a multimillion-dollar project on an Illinois river to prevent the invasive Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Bloomberg Environment.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-carp
An early sign of the season: The first ship of the 2020 season has arrived at the Port of Green Bay. Port officials say the Michigan Great Lakes arrived at 12:46 p.m. Sunday. It was bringing petroleum products to U.S. Venture. Read the full story by WLUK-TV-Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-ship-GreenBay
As the actions and restrictions intended to arrest the spread of the coronavirus sweep across the nation and the region, the single largest assemblage of people northwest Ohio sees each spring maintains a precarious perch. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-birding
The impacts of rising water levels on the Great Lakes has been well documented across the state of Michigan but many people living in Mid-Michigan are also feeling the impact. Read the full story by WJRT-TV-Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-rising-water
The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority is continuing the Flood Watch for Lake Superior, within its area of jurisdiction. The Conservation Authority advises that water levels on Lake Superior continue to remain well above average. Read the full story by the Net News Ledger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-flooding
The U.S. Coast Guard did not wrongly approve a contingency plan to clean up an oil spill that could potentially result from the leak of an Enbridge Inc pipeline that runs in waters of the Great Lakes, a federal judge in Michigan has ruled. Read the full story by Reuters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-pipeline
Discovery Center & Pier previously announced plans to transform a coal dock near Traverse City, Michigan into a site that ships could use to land passengers. But CEO Matt McDonough said last week that cruise ships weren’t aligned enough with the pier’s mission. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-cruise-ships
Over 100 acres of wetlands in southeast Chicago will be restored in a three-year, $1 million project, according to the environmental group Audubon Great Lakes. Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserve, along the Illinois-Indiana state line, has prairie, woodland and wetland habitats. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-wetlands
Public health warnings even extend to toilet use amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials offering key steps to avoiding problems with untreated sewage. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-flush-carefully
Melanie Ariens, a mixed-media artist from Greendale, Wisconsin, raises awareness on freshwater issues through her pieces on the Great Lakes. Ariens has a degree in painting, drawing and printmaking from UW-Milwaukee. Read the full story by the Shepherd Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200318-lake-art
Go ahead and hit the play button up top and enjoy one uninterrupted minute of the waters of Lake Superior crashing against the Marquette, Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by WJHL News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-break
In Ontario, as the municipality of Chatham-Kent works to shore up the deteriorating Erie Shore Drive dike, staff has investigated potential. Read the full story Chatham Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-costs
For over 70 years, Wood Soil and Water Conservation District has worked with local farmers to improve their farmland while protecting our natural resources. Many of those efforts are currently aimed at reducing soil loss and keeping phosphorous out of our ditches, river and Lake Erie. Read the full story by Sentinel-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-loss
Top hat ceremonies scheduled for the Welland Canal’s opening next week have been cancelled in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Read the full story by The Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-canal
Officials in the city of Oswego are planning to spruce up a gravel drive and parking lot east of Fort Ontario and transform the area into a small park and public boat launch into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-park
The U.S. Coast Guard properly developed and approved a plan to deal with worst-case scenario oil spills near the Great Lakes in northern Michigan, a federal court ruled. Read the full story by Bloomberg Environment.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-oil
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ 2018 and 2019 walleye surveys offer unprecedented numbers of fish in the lake. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200317-walleye
The discovery of 51 invasive carp in the Mississippi River on the southeastern Minnesota-southwestern Wisconsin border — the largest number of invasive carp found so far upstream — has state authorities mobilizing to boost netting and monitoring of the destructive fish. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-mississippi-carp
Jia Wang, Ph.D., an ice climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, admits that this year’s ice coverage prediction model overestimated ice cover and provides a plan to improve the model. Read the full story by Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-ice-predictions
A Michigan county has hired a diver to keep farm fields from flooding amid rising water levels in Lake Huron and other Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Associated Press
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-farmland-flooding
Traces of genetic material can help in tracking the invasive species. But a positive detection may not mean live fish. Read the full story by Undark.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-asian-carp
For the first time, an international community-based effort, the Great Global CleanUp: Detroit River, will hold a one-day river cleanup event from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 25. Read the full story by the News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-detroit-river-cleanup
Visitors to the lakefront in New Buffalo, Michigan will see a wall built to hold back water from a rising Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-lake-michigan-seawall
The City of Vermilion, Ohio and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy have released a rendering of a revitalized Main Street Beach with an expanded beachfront, increased green space, new public amenities, and handicapped-accessible paths. Read the full story by Cleveland News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-beach-renderings
Five years ago, lead seeped into the tap water in Flint, Michigan, while state and local officials said everything was fine. Now, the same doctor who proved something was wrong is taking the first comprehensive look at the thousands of kids exposed to lead in Flint. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-flint-crisis
The announcement of an expedited review of Plan 2014 comes following the awarding of $1.5 million from the U.S., plus $1.5 million from Canada, to address the continuing water outflow problem that exists in Lake Ontario, according to the IJC Great Lakes Connection monthly newsletter. Read the full story by Niagara Frontier Publications.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-ijc-lake-ontario
Indiana lawmakers have passed legislation to embrace a landmark state Supreme Court decision affirming that the Lake Michigan shoreline is publicly owned and open to all for recreation. Read the full story by the Daily Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-lake-michigan-ruling
The U.S. and Ohio environmental protection agencies need to stop resisting their clear responsibility regarding Lake Erie: Enforce the Clean Water Act. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200316-ohio-clean-lake
The decrease in ice cover is having culture impacts in addition to environmental impacts in Lake Superior’s coastal towns. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-ice-culture
Sarnia, Ontario’s water pollution control facility is one of a handful being used for Environment Ministry testing this year to potentially help ease the amount of phosphorous entering the Great Lakes and contributing to toxic algae blooms. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-phosphorous-removal-study
The Michigan Senate finalized legislation Thursday that would provide $2 million toward the estimated $20 million cost of the Detroit Zoological Society’s proposed 30,000-square-foot Great Lakes Center for Nature in Macomb County. Read the full story by Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-nature-center
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin asserted that the Menominee River has the right to exist naturally, flourish, evolve, remain unpolluted and carry out its natural ecosystem functions. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-menominee-river-rights
Two engineers who live on the Lake Ontario, and study its levels on the side, worry it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-lake-ontario-high-water
The Niagara County (New York) Legislature voted Tuesday to chip in $221,000 for three projects designed to protect Olcott Harbor from rising water levels in Lake Ontario. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-high-water-protection
People in southeast Michigan felt the effects of that severe rainfall last year and again in January 2020, from high water levels in lakes and rivers to roads eroding and flooding neighborhoods and are planning preparing for high water to continue this spring. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-spring-high-water
Near record water levels in the Great Lakes have been rapidly eroding our lakeshore and Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says, it’s likely to continue. Read the full story by WWUP-TV – Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-erosion-presentation
Flooding concerns across Ontario with spring approaching have opposition MPPs and MPs demanding government action at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-ontario-flooding-action
The ArcelorMittal steel mill in Burns Harbor, Indiana has started the process of pursuing ISO 50001 certification, a global standard for energy management. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200313-steel-mill-energy
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today it is awarding almost $49 million to help state and tribal governments encourage private landowners to allow public access to their land for hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-dependent recreation. Read the full story by WLNS-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200312-michigan-dnr
