The Ohio Lake Erie Commission recently approved its 2020 Lake Erie Protection & Restoration Plan. The plan reflects the state of Ohio’s strategic priorities for the next two years to protect, preserve, and restore Lake Erie and its watershed. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200511-Erie-Protection
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have broken water records as predicted, and the levels are expected to rise further in the coming months. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200511-water-level
Hundreds of thousands of anglers will hit Minnesota’s lakes and rivers Saturday for the general fishing opener, but they will be doing it without professional guides or charter captains leading the way. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-charter
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy requested revisions to Enbridge Energy’s permit application to build a tunnel for the Line 5 oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, specifically noting it was too long for the public to review. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-permit
Dozens of homeowners in northern Ottawa County who went decades without flooding problems are now seeing water infiltrate their basements. Heavy rains were not as damaging when the water table was lower. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-flooding
A seasonal ferry that sails Lake Huron between South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island and Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula, the Chi-Cheemaun usually launches in early May and runs until mid-October. This year, it will open in June but only for essential travel. Read the full story by Northern Ontario Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-ferry
The Port Hope Project and Port Granby projects, a $1.3-billion combined Canadian federal investment for a multi-year cleanup of low-level radioactive waste in the Lake Ontario communities, were set to enter their largest construction phase as the coronavirus pandemic began and effectively halted work. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-cleanup
The Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association is still looking to the federal government for financial and marketing support of the industry as it is feeling the pinch with the COVID-19 pandemic, as none of the $62.5 million in federal funding for fisheries went to Ontario. Read the full story by the Manitoulin Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-fisheries
Lakefront tourism officials were initially worried about the bad reputation beaches are getting due to major erosion issues, but then the coronavirus came along and made an uphill battle even harder. Read the full story by WSBT-TV – Mishawaka, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-tourism
Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan provides habitat for anywhere from one-third to half of all nesting Great Lakes piping plovers in a given year — and as such, is home to an active plover monitoring and protection program. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-plover
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has broken ground on a 3,500-square-foot commercial fish processing facility for Red Cliff Fish Co. that will process commercial fish and provide packaged products to distributors and local markets. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-fish
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday will host a virtual field trip to learn about how scientists explore the bottom of Lake Huron and discover what lies below the surface. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-sanctuary
The University of Minnesota Duluth recently received a grant for half a million dollars to look more into how climate-driven disturbances are impacting the Great Lakes. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-climate
Ohio residents voiced concerns about potential water pollution, air pollution and air quality Thursday night during an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency webinar addressing the issuance of a draft air pollution permit for a proposed pig iron plant in Ashtabula Harbor. Read the full story by the Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200508-iron
Enbridge’s application for an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a Great Lakes channel can’t be processed without more information, including an analysis of alternatives to the project, Michigan state regulators say. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-Enbridge
Heavy wave action and shifting sands have again brought a piece of the Jennie and Annie wreckage to float at the shoreline along Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-shipwreck
The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation announced that five U.S. ports in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System received the agency’s Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award for registering increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports during the 2019 navigation season. Read the full story by WDIO -TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-cargo-award
Work to reroute a storm sewer line through RACER Trust’s Buick City property in Flint, Michigan, which was postponed due to COVID-19 nonessential business restrictions, will resume shortly after May 7. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-Flint-river
The city of Port Clinton, Ohio, is still looking to find potential funding sources to address the issues with high water and flooding that have been plaguing the downtown area. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-port-clinton
In New York, Rochester Institute of Technology scientists recently developed a 3D mass estimate to show where microplastic pollution is collecting in Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Monroe County Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-erie-plastics
In Ontario, officials with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority are welcoming the Chatham-Kent Lake Erie Shoreline Study which will help protect residents and businesses in the future. Read the full story by Chatham This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-erie-shoreline
Even under the wettest models, Lake Ontario water levels are expected to remain below the flood stages experienced in recent years, according federal regulators, but are likely to stay well above the 100-year average. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200507-ontario
As auto plants shut down and consumer spending slows down to a near-standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, steel production in the Great Lakes region is now down 11% for the year. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-steel-down
Endangered piping plovers are back for a 14th straight year at Sauble Beach along the southern Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. Reduced beach traffic due to the coronavirus has benefited plovers looking for safe nesting spots along the beach. Read the full story by The Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-plovers
A community group formed in Oscoda, Michigan, called on the Air Force to stop the flow of PFAS contaminants from Wurtsmith Air Force base into Oscoda area surface waters by no later than 2023, and to immediately begin remediation of the PFAS plumes. Read the full story by the Iosco News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-pfas
The 96th sailing of the Bayview Mackinac race, a Michigan summer tradition on Lake Huron, remains scheduled, although the coronavirus pandemic continues to force the race to adapt. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-bayview-mackinac-race
Great Lakes Learning lessons and activities created by Great Lakes Now offer an opportunity to engage younger learners with the Great Lakes issues and science. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-freshwater-learners
The Community Foundation of St. Clair County is planning a construction project to shore up the Bluewater River Walk from high water. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-blue-water-porth
Ohio governor Mike DeWine warned that large gatherings along Lake Erie’s beaches during the coronavirus pandemic may result in beach closures. Read the full story by TV – WJW – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-oh-beaches
While Lake Michigan beaches typically receive more attention, Lake Huron’s coastline also offers spectacular views. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-mi-thumb
Lake Michigan and Huron will see water levels rise 10 inches above average levels recorded at the same time last year and 2 inches higher than the highest monthly average on record for May. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-levels
National Park Service rangers issued citations Sunday to stop contractors working on repairs to seawalls along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Odgen Dunes, Indiana. The Park Service said the contracts had not received necessary permits for the construction. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-nps-odgen
The Detroit District of the US Army Corps of Engineers is urging those living along the Great Lakes shoreline to prepare for high and possibly record-breaking water levels this spring. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-levels
Sightings of river otters along western Lake Erie at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, and evidence of a return of river otter to Toronto Harbour, raise the prospects that they just might return one day to the Detroit River too. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-otters
We’re sharing four ways that you can adapt Great Lakes Learning lessons and activities to engage younger learners with the Great Lakes.. Read the full story by the Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-GL-learning
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it has approved removing another official “impairment” for the St. Louis River Estuary and Twin Ports harbor. Read the full story by the Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-twin-ports
Solutions to the Erie Shoreline flood and erosion problems will have to be solved with resilience, not in-water structures, consultant Peter Zuzek pointed out at Monday night’s meeting of the Chatham-Kent Council in Ontario. Read the full story by the Chatham Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-erosion
Andrew Reeves traveled across 10 states, interviewing and shadowing countless experts, to get the truth behind the Asian carp invasion. Sifting through his findings, he published a 384-page book, “Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis,” in March 2019. Read the full story by BU News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-carp
Our recovery from this pandemic must include a sincere investment in water systems, including assuring access to reliable, affordable water in all households, strengthening underfunded and struggling water utilities, and modernizing the aging pipes, pumps and plants that deliver it. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-COVID
Thirty five million people get their drinking water from one of the Great Lakes. But with rising temperatures, more rainfall and more nutrients running into the water, conditions become perfect for algae growth. So, what’s the prognosis for drinking water near the Great Lakes? Read the full story by WORT – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-drinking-water
A new study shows that hundreds of tons of plastic are building at the bottom of the Great Lakes and Lake Erie alone has about 380 tons of plastic.gain. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-plastic
A pair of endangered piping plovers whose Montrose Beach nest sparked fierce debate last year between conservationists and music fans, leading to the cancelation of a popular lakefront festival, have returned to nest once again. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-plover
The Great Lakes Commission is calling upon Congress to remember the Great Lakes region “in any economic stimulus response to the devastating coronavirus pandemic.” Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-commission
Three property owners in Porter, Indiana, who claim their holdings include a private beach on Lake Michigan are challenging a new state law that explicitly asserts state ownership of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-shoreline
Heavy rain undermined a Kenosha, Wisconsin, construction site, causing a rupture to a sewer pipe and the bypass of nearly 2 million gallons of sanitary sewage into the storm water system and ultimately into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Kenosha News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-sewer
As the energy utility company Northern Indiana Public Service Company prepares to close its Michigan City Generating Station, a coalition of residents and environmental groups are calling on the company to do more to protect their health and the environment. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-nipsco
As April ends, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake St. Clair will all average out at new April record high water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-record
With Great Lakes and river water levels projected to be higher than last year, the city of Detroit is underway on a $2 million dam project to protect the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood ravaged by flooding last year. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-dam
The area proposed for a wind energy project in Lake Erie offshore of Cleveland, Ohio, would be located in the middle of a major migratory pathway for wildlife, prompting concerns from environmentalists about the impacts of approval. Read the full story by Belt Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-wind
There is only a 5% chance that the water level of Lake Ontario will rise high enough this year to cause significant flooding in Niagara County, New York. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-flood
