Ontario may seem to be a water secure region, but new research out of the University of Waterloo challenges the myth of water abundance in the Great Lakes watershed. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
Steel production dipped by 5,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
During September the Alliance for the Great Lakes is encouraging Great Lakes residents to go to the beach and help clean up the shoreline. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-shoreline-cleanup
New research from Bowling Green State University shows that some migratory birds use the islands in Lake Erie during potentially dangerous crossings of the Lake, a key finding for possible placement of wind turbines. Read the full story by The Fremont News-Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-bird-migration
A company seeking to restart a southwestern Michigan nuclear power plant said Tuesday it has taken a major step forward with the signing of a power purchase agreement. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-nuclear-power
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin to talk about the quality of the environment. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-aoc-conference
A new study analyzing toxins produced by Microcystis, the main type of cyanobacteria that compose the annual harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, suggests that the toxicity of the bloom may be overestimated in earlier warm months and underestimated later in the summer. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-algae
According to a news release, Lake Michigan ranks second on the list of most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-lake-michigan
Waterspouts were observed Wednesday morning in the southern portion of Lake Michigan, according to Special Marine Warnings issued by the National Weather Service Office in Milwaukee. Read the full story by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, Mi.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-waterspouts
States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-biden-protection
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to discuss the 43 Areas of Concern around the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-improvement-mission
More than 50 turtle hatchlings were released into wetland habitats in Michigan after being removed as eggs along the path of the Mid-Michigan Pipeline Project. Watch the full story by Local 4 News – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-turtle-release
The Great Lakes are facing an era of challenges and opportunities that will require new stewardship principles, and leaders who are able to work across disciplines including science, policy, economics and social science. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-future-challenges
The deep blue waters, the rocky cliffs of the North Shore, the wondrous foliage, it’s all there and ready for its closeup as Lake Superior is named one of the top 10 most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by WCCO-TV – Twin Cities, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-instagrammable-superior
Since 1953, the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline has been transporting oil and natural gas through Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. The Line 5 pipeline crosses under the Straits of Mackinac, which has led to controversy surrounding Indigenous rights and environmental concerns, as well as a slew of legal battles working to shut down the pipeline. Read the full story by The Michigan Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-line5-pipline
Indigenous tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have asked federal officials to deny a utility’s request for a loan to help build a natural gas-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Superior, calling the project unthinkable in the face of climate change. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-gas-plant
The town of Essex, Ontario, admitted it doesn’t have the resources to deal with back-to-back storms and severe flooding, leading to the town’s first-ever discharge of a sewage treatment plant into Lake Erie. Read the full story by CTV News Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-sewage-release
A strong, regional economy helped fuel a “remarkable” 47% increase in the economic impact of the Port of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in a five-year span. Read the full story by Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-economic-impact
Water levels in the Great Lakes can vary dramatically, meaning communities building close to shore can face increased flooding and erosion in the wake of climate change. Read the full story Yale Climate Connections.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-lake-levels
The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin is on the verge of delivering Lake Michigan water to residents who have been drinking water from radium-tainted wells for years. In a test of the Great Lakes Compact, the city will have to remain in treatment and conservation compliance. Read the full story by WUWM- Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-waukesha-drinking
A new course at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, is offering students an opportunity to immerse themselves in Lake Ontario, both figuratively as they explore its history and modern conservation issues, and literally with an optional swim in the lake on the first day of class. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-lake-ontario-course
A program to monitor coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes is helping support efforts to clean up one of the most polluted hotspots and an area of concern near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Wausau Pilot & Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-wetland-monitoring
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently announced that the Western Lake Superior watershed has entered the drought warning response phase in order to protect Lake Superior as the source of the area’s drinking water. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-duluth-drought
Young sturgeon which had been collected and reared at a facility for months were released during the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Natural Resources Department’s sturgeon release event in Manistee, Michigan. This is part of an effort to help the lake sturgeon stave off extinction. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-sturgeon-release
In Pennsylvania’s Thompson’s Bay, along the shoreline of Lake Erie in Presque Isle State Park, a team of researchers has spent four summers surveying invasive mystery snails. Read the full story by WESA- Pittsburgh, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-invasive-snails
A Michigan man had intended to complete his “Silver Sequel” swim across Lake Michigan this summer to mark 25 years since his first swim across the Great Lake, but twice lake conditions were a bit too brutal. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-marathon-swimmer
As the weather cools down, Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff are removing swim buoys, beach warning flags, and other visual markers that denote designated swim beaches at state parks along the Great Lakes, meaning swimming is not recommended there. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-swim-designation
Paul Smith’s College announced it has received a $160,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bay Watershed Education and Training to increase student climate literacy and support place-based solutions to climate and water issues in the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes regions of New York state and its connection to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Sun Community News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-education-grant
Steel production rose by 6,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-steel-production
State officials say recent testing has discovered silver carp eDNA in Michigan’s St. Joseph River. Though it is likely the eDNA found in the sample was transported to the river from an out-of-state boat rather than a live fish, staff will search the area. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-silver-carp
Great Lakes drownings are down from last year. The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project said several factors could be contributing to the drop including the number of people going to the beach with cooler weather to start the season. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-lake-drownings-down
For a century Joliet, Illinois and its Will County neighbors mined their sandstone aquifer but now the water is running out. A group of six communities will soon receive Lake Michigan water from Chicago via pipeline. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-chicago-pipeline
Water levels on the Great Lakes rose sharply earlier this year due to a very wet spring, but they have remained unusually steady over the summer on Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron due to dry conditions. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-lake-levels
The third and final stage of the Randle Reef remediation project has started and is expected to finish by 2025. The $150-million project is cleaning up of the once-most contaminated site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-hamilton-harbour
Lake Erie anglers who rely on charter guides for fishing will soon have a richer experience out on the water thanks to a new certification program from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Sea Grant. The program, Erie PrOH, ensures fishing guides and crew members have detailed knowledge of fishery topics and can act as responsible stewards of the lake. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-erie-proh
Shipwreck hunters have discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew’s possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin’s coastline. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-schooner
State agencies in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa now are cleaning up the St. Louis River’s legacy contamination, restoring habitats for wild rice and recreation, and bringing back fish populations like lake sturgeon. Read the full story at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-sturgeon
The state of Michigan is offering free water quality tests to private well owners. About a million households rely on private wells in the state for drinking water. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-free-testing-for-wells
After years of seeking approval, Waukesha, Wisconsin is finally set to start pulling millions of gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan to replace its polluted water supply. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-milwaukee-water-lakemichigan-pumping
A southwestern Ontario mayor says the provincial and federal governments need to follow in the footsteps of the United States and initiate a coastal resilience study along the thousands of kilometers of Great Lakes shoreline in Canada. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-ontariomayor-callsforaction-coastalresilience-canada
Invasive species often spread by hitching a ride on anglers, especially anglers who don’t clean their gear after fishing. Though this is widely known, research suggests many anglers still don’t clean, even though it protects the very thing they’re after – fish. So, can anything be done to change their minds? Read and listen to the full story by Points North Podcast – Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-dirtylaundry-invasivespecies-limitations
A program to monitor coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes is helping support efforts to clean up the Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-greatlakesmonitoringprogram
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences has raised two-thirds of its fundraising goal to build a cutting-edge research vessel designed for the Great Lakes. Read and the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-school-freshwater-sciences-raisingfunds-researchvessel
Some of the most cited “climate havens” are older cities in the Great Lakes region, upper Midwest and Northeast. Yet each will likely have to contend with some of the greatest temperature increases in the country in the coming years. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-us-climatehaven-heat-greatlakesregion
Michigan’s Invasive Species Grant Program is seeking proposals for this year’s funding cycle, with $3.6 million available for projects that could help mitigate intrusive species. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-mi-invasivespecies-proposals
A rule requiring greater outflow of Lake Ontario through the Moses-Saunders Dam to lower water levels will not be enforced, the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board has announced. Read the full story by the Niagara Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-board-lowerlakeontario-waterlevels
Ford House has chosen a company to help plan a $7 million project to restore the Ford Cove Lake St. Clair shoreline to its original native state. The area includes a mile of shoreline along Lake St. Clair plus more than 17 acres of marsh, nearshore habitat and forested wetlands. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230906-fordcove-project-lakestclair
In response to industrial-sized agricultural operations polluting waterways, Minnesota’s White Earth Nation is implementing a series of mandatory and enforceable pollution prevention and water conservation measures that challenge the voluntary practices that states and the federal government have embraced for the last half century. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230901-wild-rice-protection
A rise in the number of blue-green algae blooms in popular lakes close to Thunder Bay, Ontario may be a symptom of climate change, the region’s public-health agency suggests. Blue-green algae, which appears on the water’s surface, can be toxic and harmful to humans and animals if ingested. Read the full story by The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230901-algae-impacts
This month, two studies on plastic waste in the Great Lakes were published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. In both studies, the authors advised that it would be helpful if a bi-national agency would give some direction; they formally petitioned policy makers to include microplastics as a chemical to be regulated. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230901-plastic-studies
