It’s about that time of the year that our pesky friends emerge from Lake Erie. Midges typically hatch when the water temperature is near 60 degrees. They are a sign of good health for Lake Erie and play an important role in the ecosystem. They can also provide food for fish and other aquatic life. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-midge-season
The mysterious appearance of a giant rubber duck in Lake Michigan has brought joy to local residents. A 25-foot rubber duck appeared in Lake Michigan near Navy Pier before Chicago residents woke up Friday and nobody knows how it got there. Read the full story by The Daily Scanner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-giant-rubber-duck-lake-michigan
A Wisconsin angler fishing in the fog this week discovered the wreck of an abandoned tugboat submerged in the waters of Lake Michigan for more than a century. A Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Archaeologist confirmed that the angler found the wreck of the J.C. Ames. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-fisherman-historic-shipwreck
A Lake Michigan business has captured lightning in a bottle − well almost. The Mac Wood’s Dune Ride team unearthed a fulgurite, or a piece of fossilized lightning, while prepping its trails in the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan this spring. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-dune-buggy-lightening
Every spring, deputies with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division in Macomb County, Michigan, meet reporters on the shore of Lake St. Clair to talk about National Safe Boating Week and what all boaters need to know. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-michigan-boaters-safety-reminder
As spring fishing ramps up on Lake Superior, anglers are hitting the water in pursuit of steelhead, lake trout, coho and chinook salmon. To help protect wild steelhead, Minnesota Sea Grant is distributing free identification decals to help anglers distinguish between steelhead and other salmon species while they’re out on the water. Read the full story by Pioneer Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-free-steelhead-decals-lakesuperior
The Lake Erie water snake (LEWS), Nerodia sipedon insularum, is a described subspecies that has been found on 22 of Lake Erie’s islands and is believed to, at least seasonally, inhabit 16. Researchers will sample at established LEWS sites from May 31 to June 12. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-lakeerie-water-snakes
Toy sailboat races, singing and dancing pirates, Coastie the robot safety boat and birds of prey were just a few of the attractions that lined the dock outside Oswego, New York’s H. Lee White Maritime Museum at noon on Saturday to celebrate the beginning of the museum’s summer season on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-oswego-maritime-museum-newseason
President Trump wants to eliminate all federal funding for the Integrated Ocean Observing System’s regional operations. Scientists say the cuts could mean the end of efforts to gather real-time data crucial to navigating the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250519-trumpbudget-greatlakes-cuts-data
Construction of a new Soo Lock on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is facing an upcoming financial deadline. Under the current budget in Washington, the money for the new lock needs to be allocated before September 25. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-soo-lock-funding
On May 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced their plan to roll back significant portions of the Biden administration’s first nationwide drinking water standard for PFAS. While limits for PFOA and PFOS will remain, the agency is extending the compliance deadline and intends to reconsider rules for other PFAS, like GenX. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-pfas-strategy
According to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the severity of the harmful algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie is projected to be in the mild-to-moderate range this year. The prediction is for a bloom in the 2.5 to 4.5 range, which is milder than last year’s moderate prediction of 4.5 to 6 on the severity index. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-algal-bloom-prediction
Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, won’t receive federal funding for sand replenishment work on peninsula beaches in 2025. Some sand work will still take place this year on the beaches using state funds, but it won’t be as much as in most prior years. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-sand-work-funding
While Great Lakes water levels were up in early May from the previous month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says they are all lower than their 2024 averages, by as much as 8 inches. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-water-levels
There is always room to improve program effectiveness and efficiency in government, as well as business, nongovernmental organizations and other institutions. However, the “chainsaw” approach of recent months to downsizing, defunding and dismantling federal environmental programs while degrading Great Lakes scientific capacity and deregulating environmental protections could have long-term consequences. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-spending-cut-impacts
In a recently published book, a maritime historian tells the stories of ships lost to fire, storm and human error in Lake Michigan across more than a century of maritime history. Read the full story by the Door County Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-shipwreck-book
Vernal pools, Michigan’s fantastical temporary wetlands, are teeming with life. They’ve earned the nickname “powerhouse puddles” from state conservationists. They’re also sometimes referred to as Michigan’s “coral reefs.” Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250516-vernal-pools
A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-trump-backs-brandon-road
Federal environmental regulators and a Canadian energy firm say data doesn’t support a northern Wisconsin Indigenous Nation’s claim’s that rerouting an oil and gas pipeline will violate water quality standards on its reservation. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-line5-claims
As spring fishing ramps up on Lake Superior anglers are hitting the water in pursuit of salmonid species. Minnesota Sea Grant is distributing free identification decals for a second year to help anglers distinguish between steelhead, a species that must be released, and other salmon species while they’re out on the water. Read the full story by the Brainerd Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-steelhead-id-decal
An $80 million cleanup of Muskegon Lake, which connects the city of Muskegon, Michigan, to Lake Michigan, has prompted a wave of redevelopment and a debate about who benefits from publicly funded cleanups. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-muskegon-cleanup
The scenic Brockway Mountain Drive in Michigan’s northernmost peninsula is now open for the 2025 season offering offers panoramic views of Lake Superior and surrounding rugged wilderness. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-scenic-drive-open
A new series of collaborative articles will investigate the blue economy in the Great Lakes region. They pose a question central to the region’s future: how can the states, provinces, and tribal nations steward their water to provide jobs and attract businesses without inflicting the severe ecological damage that was a hallmark of earlier periods of development? Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-water-articles
There has been great collaboration between the states and both federal governments to do what’s best for the $5.5 billion Great Lakes fishery and lakes they share. But much of that research and the collaborations with Canada have not been a priority of the administration of President Donald Trump. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-administration-cuts
A volunteer-led program that helps monitor the health of hundreds of lakes across Ontario has been on hold because agreement with the province has not yet been renewed. For 30 years the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations has partnered with the provincial government to run the Lake Partner Program. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-water-testing-program
Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 3.7 million tons in April, a decrease of 18.7% compared to 2024. Read the full story by Marine Link.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250514-iron-ore-trade
Livelihoods and economies in the Great Lakes region have always centered on water, yet the Trump administration is challenging the foundations of federally funded research by using research grants as political leverage. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-great-lakes-lifeblood
Water levels on most of the Great Lakes are below their long-term average for this time of year as they’ve fallen to levels not seen in more than a decade. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-water-levels
At the EPA’s Great Lakes office in Chicago, programs are facing uncertainty over current and proposed funding cuts, and employees are facing increased surveillance. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-epa-cuts
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Friday aimed at kickstarting the Brandon Road Interbasin Project in Illinois to prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-invasive-carp-action
Smallmouth bass in Lake St. Clair are bigger than they used to be because they live longer, according to a recent study by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-smallmouth-bass
A roughly ten-mile pipeline will carry Lake Erie water to the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant in Ohio. The project will service 500,000 customers in the Toledo area. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-toledo-pipeline
The Midwest is emerging as one of the nation’s fastest-growing data center hubs, but the scale of effects on water and energy usage are unknown and could reverse progress on environmental goals. Read the full story by Axios.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-data-centers
A list of the five most common items littered along Great Lakes shorelines, as reported by the Alliance for the Great Lakes which has been collecting litter from the lakeshores since 1970. Read the full story by WGRD – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-lakeshore-litter
A shipwreck was discovered during a family trip to Point Farms Provincial Park north of Goderich, Ontario. Now, excavation and research of the shipwreck is underway. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-shipwreck-excavation
Victory Cruise Lines revealed their newest opportunity to sail all five Great Lakes. Read the full story by WFLD-TV- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250512-greatlakes-cruise
President Trump is expected to sign a memorandum today directing his administration to take steps to block invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes, signaling support for a construction project in Illinois that would install barriers to prevent the carp from infiltrating Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-trump-memo-greatlakes-invasivecarp
In Michigan, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum is now open for the season. The museum is the third-largest maritime museum on the Great Lakes, with up to 12,000 people visiting each summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-maritimemuseum-lakemichigan-shoreline
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University have announced more than $371,000 in new grants to support watershed research across New York, including in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WFLR – Penn Yan, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-dec-cornell-watershed-newyork
Construction on the Great Lakes Line 5 Tunnel Project, a proposed $800 million tunnel that aims to safeguard a pipeline carrying crude oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac, could begin this fall. A tunnel boring machine would be used to create a concrete wall about a foot and a half thick with rebar, more than 350 feet below the channel bottom. Read the full story by the WLUC-TV – St. Ignace, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-greatlakes-line5-tunnelproject
Scientists suspect a deadly virus is behind an unusually large number of fish deaths in Lake Huron this spring, where thousands of carcasses have been washing up on Ontario beaches and shorelines. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-scientists-fish-lakehuron
The Lake Express, the high-speed catamaran car ferry that connects Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan, has officially set off for the season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-lakemichigan-fast-ferry-wisconsin
During Drinking Water Week, Erie Water Works and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful teamed up to install a 50-foot water litter boom next to the Erie Water Works station. A litter boom is a large floating barrier designed to prevent litter from continuing downstream. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-takingtrashout-cleanwater-erie-pa
The Cleveland Metroparks is breaking ground on a world-class sailing center along Lake Erie, aimed at increasing lakefront access for residents and breaking down barriers to the sport. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-cleveland-metroparks-sailingcenter
An Ontario boating company is one step closer to launching a ferry that will take passengers from Toronto’s waterfront to central Niagara in just 30 minutes. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250509-ontario-boat-company-toronto-niagara
Federal funding cutbacks have impacted the staff at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Severe spending limits have made it difficult to purchase ordinary equipment for processing toxic algal samples, and while remaining staff plan to launch large data-collecting buoys into the water this week, it’s late for a field season that typically runs from April to October. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-algal-bloom-research-funding-cuts
For 8 hours overnight, there was a constant overflow and discharge of wastewater at Walter W. Bradley Wastewater Treatment Plant in Webster, New York, because of a power outage that shut down equipment and disabled the internet-based alarm system that would have alerted someone to the problem, according to New York State and Town of Webster officials. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-sewage-overflow
The Duluth City Council will be considering a resolution requesting federal officials to keep the U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division lab in Duluth, Minnesota, open. About 150 employees stand to lose their jobs at the lab that contributes $15 million to Minnesota’s economy each year. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-lab-resolution
The Executive Office of the President’s proposed 2026 federal budget includes a 25% reduction — nearly $1.5 billion — to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That could gut funding for research programs monitoring water quality, weather conditions and fish populations across the region. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-research-funding-cuts
The sturgeon spawning run is continuing in parts of Northeast Wisconsin, including the Green Bay area, and the lower Fox River below the De Pere dam. Experts say the prehistoric sturgeon make it up the Fox River every year to begin spawning when the water temperature reaches 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250507-sturgeon-spawning
