This is part one in a two-part series looking at the cost of water in Ontario. Find the Great Lakes News Collaborative’s series on cost of water in Michigan here.
Canadians living in the Great Lakes basin have perhaps become spoiled at the seemingly endless availability of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-aging-infrastructure-rising-costs/
Lynn Broaddus has little patience for cities who focus on the reasons why they can’t replace lead service lines.
She understands that finances are a big part of the problem but says too often cities focus on the barriers, instead of what’s possible.
Broaddus is the recent past-president and now a trustee with the international group Water Environment Federation, a non-profit focused on increasing the awareness of the impact and value of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/water-executive-creative-replacing-lead-service-lines/
By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigans-infrastructure-windfall/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigan-water-systems-overbuilt-underfunded/
By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal
This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.
From warming water to shifting growing seasons, Ontario is already seeing the effects of climate change. But for the most part, Doug Ford and his government say, the province’s natural resources are doing just fine.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/report-ontario-natural-resources/
By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
Major weather events accounted for more than a third of the time Ohio customers of regulated electric utilities went without power last year, according to an Energy News Network review of data filed with state regulators.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/storms-ohio-electric-grid-climate-change/
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State regulation of streams that flow temporarily after rainfall will be restricted under legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Construction companies, the mining industry and other business groups say removing so-called ephemeral streams from regulation would make Ohio’s practice consistent with federal law.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ohio-law-state-regulation-streams/
The issue of invasive species has haunted the Great Lakes region for decades, but a recent study shows that regulatory intervention can actually help stem the problem.
The study, released by McGill University and the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, looked at the bi-national regulation of ballast water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/regulation-invasive-species-great-lakes/
The Great Lakes region may be best known for its freshwater resources, but another resource it has in abundance is its maple syrup. Canada is the world’s leading producer of maple syrup, generating 75% of the global supply. Within Canada, the province of Quebec is the top producer (96.4%) of maple syrup products followed by Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/mapping-the-great-lakes-sugar-maples/
By Matthew Brown, Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials have agreed to craft a new habitat plan for the snow-loving Canada lynx that could include more land in Colorado and other western states where the rare animals would be protected, according to a legal agreement made public Tuesday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-canada-lynx-protections-deal/
By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal
This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.
When the Doug Ford government first announced plans to expand Ontario’s Greenbelt, it called the move a “once in a generation opportunity.”
The initial concept, presented by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark in February 2021, involved ambitious plans to include waterways under the Greenbelt’s protection and stretch its boundaries to encompass a large swath of land west of Toronto.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/doug-fords-expansion-ontario-greenbelt/
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — As climate change bakes the planet, dozens of nations and many local governments are putting a price tag on greenhouse gas emissions that are increasing flooding, droughts and other costly catastrophes.
Pennsylvania on Saturday becomes the first major fossil fuel-producing state in the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/climate-change-pricing-carbon/
By Beth Edwards, Indiana Environmental Reporter
Some northern Indiana residents remain skeptical that communities in the area will be free of contamination from toxic coal ash, despite a renewed commitment by government agencies and one of the state’s biggest energy companies to clean up polluted sites and transition to renewable energy sources.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/indiana-residents-coal-ash-cleanup/
Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.
— Laura Gersony, Fresh Editor
This Week’s Watersheds
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/wisconsin-judge-forever-chemicals-cleanup/
By Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press
Michigan’s Democratic governor wants a nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan to stay open and she’s asking the federal government to pay for it.
But the owner of the Palisades Power Plant says it’s too late — the plant will be shut down in May as scheduled.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-whitmer-federal-aid-nuclear-plant/
By John Flesher, Associated Press
LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — Sprawled like a gigantic swimming pool atop a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan is an asphalt-and-clay pond holding enough water to produce electricity for 1.6 million households.
It’s part of the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, which uses simple technology: Water is piped from a lower reservoir — the lake, in this case — to an upper one, then released downhill through supersized turbines.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-worlds-largest-batteries/
The Biden administration made secret plans to weaken protection for whooping cranes, and documents obtained through an open records request show officials “seem to have been deliberately misleading the public,” an environmental group says.
The documents show that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to propose changing the only natural flock’s status from endangered to threatened, the Center for Biological Diversity said in a news release linking to some of the papers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-weaken-whooping-crane-protection/
PFAS research is still in the early stages, which means issues with PFAS crop up all the time to surprise researchers like Michigan State University professor Cheryl Murphy.
PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known as Forever Chemicals because of their reluctance to break down in humans. They can be in the food chain, drinking water and are found in common items in everyday commercial use like water-repellent clothing, dental floss and non-stick cookware.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/pfas-solution-widespread-sources/
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State regulation of streams that flow temporarily after rainfall would be restricted under proposed Ohio legislation months in the works.
Construction companies, the mining industry and other business groups say removing so-called ephemeral streams from regulation would make Ohio’s practice consistent with federal law.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ohio-legislation-state-regulation-streams/
By Mitchell Beer, The Energy Mix
This story originally appeared in The Energy Mix and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
The fossil and transportation sectors get a relatively free ride and electricity producers do the most to decarbonize in the much-anticipated 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan released March 29 by Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/climate-funding-ottawa-2030-plan/
By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal officials slated millions of dollars for rural water projects in several states, with the Biden administration looking to shore up infrastructure needs made more urgent by long-term drought conditions that have been exacerbated by climate change.
The U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-420m-water-supplies-climate-change/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/climate-change-threatens-michigan-chemical-sites/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Danielle James, Great Lakes Echo
Great Lakes invasive species cling to shipments and navigate canals to migrate, but one aquatic invader – sea lamprey – benefitted from border closures instead.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/border-opened-invasive-sea-lamprey/
By Kimberly M. S. Cartier, Eos
This story originally appeared in Eos and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Residents of New Orleans are no strangers to floods and the losses that follow.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/black-neighborhoods-future-flood-burden/
By Suman Naishadham, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — In southwestern Pennsylvania, eight locks and dams that for decades helped barges move goods along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers will in a few years also generate enough power for 75,000 homes.
Rye Development, a Boston-based hydropower company, is retrofitting the dams with turbines to generate electricity and says the upgraded structures will limit damage to the rivers’ water quality and fish.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-hydropower-bigger-energy-role-less-environmental-harm/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Arya Dara, Great Lakes Echo
New legislation in Ontario can result in a fine if boats are not cleaned properly when they are moved from one body of water and into another.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ontario-watercraft-regulations-invasive-species/
By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said Tuesday he and other officials are committed to boosting the role Native American tribes can play in managing public lands around the U.S.
He told members of a congressional committee during a virtual hearing that part of the effort includes integrating Indigenous knowledge into management plans and recognizing that federal lands once belonged to the tribes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-us-boost-cooperation-tribes-land-management/
By Darlene Superville, Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian, Associated Press
SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden, struggling to regain his political footing as the midterm elections approach, visited the crucial state of Wisconsin on Wednesday to promote one of his top accomplishments, a bipartisan infrastructure measure that will distribute billions of dollars to fix roads, bridges and other public works.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-biden-cabinet-domestic-agenda/
SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden travels to Wisconsin next week, the day after delivering his State of the Union speech in Washington.
According to the White House, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will stop in Superior on Wednesday to discuss how the $1 trillion infrastructure law will improve the state’s roads and bridges, among other things, and create jobs.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/biden-state-union-address-wisconsin/
For Maude Barlow, the importance of hope was instilled by her parents as a child while having her morning oatmeal. It grew into a “lifelong mantra” that took her through the travails of 40 years of social justice and environmental activism in Canada and on the international stage.
Now, Barlow chronicles that hopeful trek in her 20th book, Still Hopeful: Lessons From A Lifetime Of Activism.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/maude-barlow-activism-book-still-hopeful/
By John Flesher and Zeke Miller, Associated Press
LORAIN, Ohio (AP) — President Joe Biden declared Thursday that a $1 billion infusion from the bipartisan infrastructure deal would restore the Great Lakes harbors and tributary rivers that have been polluted by industrial toxins.
The president ventured close to the banks of Lake Erie to speak in Lorain, Ohio, a small city that once housed a shipbuilder, a Ford plant and a U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/ap-biden-infrastructure-great-lakes-cleanup/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/line-5-impact-climate-change-reviewed/
A recent burst of cold weather has boosted Great Lakes ice coverage from initial projections that were well below historical average back to the typical range.
But the current levels still expose a long-term trend of overall declining coverage, scientists say.
“In terms of Great Lakes ice cover, we do see decline and reduced ice cover in recent decades,” Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, assistant research scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, said in an interview with Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/great-lakes-ice-forms/
In November 2020, shortly after President Joe Biden was elected, Great Lakes Now talked with University of Detroit Mercy associate professor Nick Schroeck about the opportunities and challenges facing the president-elect.
Schroeck is an environmental law attorney and urban policy expert who has a background in transboundary legal issues between the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/bidens-first-year/
Huge breezes are commonplace around the Great Lakes, which is part of why the region makes a good location for wind turbines.
Though wind power has been utilized for centuries, it has only been harnessed as a widespread alternative energy source as recently as the 1990s.
In 2016, the United States Geological Survey began tracking wind turbines.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/wind-turbines-great-lakes/
For Professor Nancy Langston, our intransigence in protecting struggling species like caribou and others is a puzzle. These species exist in our memories and culture, and we’ve invested in protecting them, so why do their populations continue to crash?
That’s the question at the core of Langston’s latest book, “Climate Ghosts: Migratory Species in the Anthropocene”.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/climate-ghosts-author/
By Lindsay Campbell with photography by Johnny C. Lam, The Narwhal
This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.
Those who choose a life in commercial fishing on the Great Lakes are granted a front row seat to the natural world.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/lake-ontario-lake-erie-families-fisheries/
By Lindsay Campbell with photography by Johnny C. Lam, The Narwhal
This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.
Those who choose a life in commercial fishing on the Great Lakes are granted a front row seat to the natural world.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/lake-ontario-lake-erie-families-fisheries/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/red-bellied-snake-endangered/
By Drew Costley, Associated Press
The White House’s top official on environmental justice is stepping down a year after President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious plan to help disadvantaged communities and overhaul policies that have historically hurt them.
The departure Friday of Cecilia Martinez, senior director for environmental justice at the Council for Environmental Quality, puts a spotlight on both the administration’s successes and promises yet to be fulfilled.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/ap-environmental-justice-official/
By John Flesher, Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. and Canada will discuss the future of an oil pipeline that crosses part of the Great Lakes and is the subject of rising tension over whether it should be shut down, the White House said Monday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/white-ap-house-michigan-pipeline-canada/
Canada’s plan to store spent nuclear fuel 1,600 feet below ground in the Great Lakes basin, some 30 miles from Lake Huron, is continuing to ruffle feathers throughout the Great Lake states.
Earlier this month, U.S. lawmakers called out the Canadian plan for failing to prioritize the health of the Great Lakes and the 40 million residents who depend on it for clean drinking water ahead of its own energy needs.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/storage-nuclear-waste-great-lakes/
By Leanna First-Arai, The Guardian
This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Oil and gas companies have a century-old bad habit of drilling wells and ditching them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/taxpayers-cost-cleaning-americas-abandoned-oil-wells/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/enbridge-line-5-shutdown-canada-us-negotiate/
Amid wildfires, heat waves, drought and catastrophic flooding, Canada is moving ahead with its first ever national adaptation strategy to help Canadians identify and deliver on meaningful ways of adapting to the worsening effects of the climate emergency.
First announced in December 2020 and updated in mid-August, the government aims to consult widely with Indigenous groups, youth and environmental organizations to create a framework for concrete actions that businesses, governments and individuals can take to ensure the resilience of their communities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/adaptation-mitigation-canada-national-climate-change-strategy/
By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal
This story originally appeared in The Narwhal and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
The Canadian government is investing $340 million to support Indigenous guardians and Indigenous Protected Areas as part of its commitment to conserving 30 per cent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/canada-340-million-indigenous-protected-areas-guardians-programs/
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials launched a review Thursday of climate damage caused by coal mining on public lands as the Biden administration expands its scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
The review also will consider if companies are paying fair value for coal extracted from public reserves in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and other states.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/ap-climate-impact-coal-sales-us-lands/
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step against climate change, President Joe Biden is proposing a return to aggressive Obama-era vehicle mileage standards over five years, according to industry and government officials briefed on the plan. He’s then aiming for even tougher anti-pollution rules after that to forcefully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nudge 40% of U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/ap-biden-mileage-rule-obama-climate-goal/
As President Joe Biden tries to advance his high-profile legislative agenda in a sharply divided Congress, a low-profile bill that could help the Great Lakes region is progressing with bipartisan support.
If passed, it could finally help the region shake its Rust Belt image.
The legislation is the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/07/legislation-investment-tech-research-great-lakes-cities/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday it would conduct an extensive review of Enbridge Energy’s plan to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a Great Lakes channel in Michigan, which could significantly delay the project.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-army-corps-extensive-review-line-5-tunnel/
