The David R. Obey Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center near Ashland, Wisconsin, will be closed to the public from June 3 to June 29. During this time, the Center parking lot and entrance drive will be re-paved. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240531-visitor-center
It will likely be a few more weeks before anything is physically done on site about the Black River Canal gate since winter floods damaged it and rendered the waterway impassable to boaters this season. However, city officials in Port Huron, Michigan, said that a host of preparations are going on behind the scenes. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240531-canal-gate
The state of Michigan said it’s willing to step in and oversee property repairs at 1,900 homes in Flint where water pipes have been inspected or replaced but the grounds remain a mess. In March, the City of Flint was found in civil contempt by a judge after blowing past deadlines to get the work done, years after a water switch in 2014 caused lead to leach off old pipes, spoiling the drinking water system. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240531-flint-properties
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Great Lakes Commission and the International Joint Commission signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday in Washington D.C. to advance the commissions’ existing shared goals and objectives. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240311-commission-trio
A legal fight about how to dispose of the copious manure generated by Michigan’s largest livestock operations has reached Michigan’s highest court, with potentially far-reaching implications for the state’s ability to limit pollution of all kinds. The case comes as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Canada struggle to address the agricultural pollution that sullies lakes and rivers across the region and turns Lake Erie bright green with algae every summer. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-manure-court
The U.S. Coast Guard will need more than $3 billion to maintain its icebreaking capacity in wintry weather along the Great Lakes, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-icebreaking-cost
An interview with the chief operating officer for the Chicago-based non-profit, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, details the Great Lakes region’s efforts to stop the advance of invasive carp via the Brandon Road lock and dam in Joliet, Illinois. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-carp-policy
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is at 4.8%, up from just 0.4% of ice coverage the Great Lakes had on January 2 of this year. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-ice-coverage
Lake Erie rose about 4.5 feet in Buffalo, New York on January 13 when a blizzard that swept across the upper Midwest caused a tidal-like phenomenon called a seiche. The water came from Toledo, Ohio where the lake dropped about 5.5 feet on the western end, resulting in an overall difference of 10.1 feet. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-blizzard-seiche
What initially started off as a little bit of fun during the COVID-19 pandemic turned into two separate world record-breaking, 100-foot underwater photoshoots conducted in Tobermory, Ontario. Read the full story by CKNX – Wingham, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-huron-photoshoot
Spend enough time on a Great Lakes fishing pier or in a bait and tackle store, and you’ll likely hear someone ask if the lakes have flipped. Understanding what it means for the Great Lakes to “flip” is invaluable for anyone interested in finding fish. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-seasonal-flip
Dangerously cold conditions are expected to continue throughout the Chicago area Tuesday, with the wind chill potentially reaching as low as -27 degrees Fahrenheit. But the dangerous temperatures didn’t deter two Chicago men from their habit of jumping into Lake Michigan, one of whom continues a more than 1,200-day jump streak. Read the full story by the Daily Jefferson County Union.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-chicago-plunge
Unseasonably warm weather last month has been a boon to shipping companies. On the other hand, businesses that cater to winter tourism crowds like outdoor skating rinks and ski hills have faced a difficult start. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-winter-economy
A public meeting will be held to discuss renovation plans for Jamie Farr Park Shelter and Penn 7 Park in Toledo, Ohio. The Penn 7 Park had been a dumping point for silt dredged from the Maumee River’s shipping channel for decades, but 59 acres were restored with a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Initiative Partnership grant awarded to the Great Lakes Commission and subcontracted to the city of Toledo. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-farr-park
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
If approved, the Lake Erie Quadrangle Sanctuary would cover roughly 740 square miles and most of Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie waters. A sanctuary would likely mean a visitors center and designation would help preserve the hundreds of Great Lakes shipwrecks in the area. Read the full story by WESA – Pittsburgh, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-marine-sanctuary
Wisconsin’s lakes, including two Great Lakes, face many aquatic invasive species which can pose a threat to the state’s ecosystems, economy, and recreation. This list contains eight invasive fish, plants, and other aquatic species experts say to watch out for. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-invasive-species
The Great Lakes region stands to grow both economically and in population as weather patterns could project a migration to the Midwest and its less explosive climate. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-natural-disasters
With the estimated 22 million pounds of plastic getting into the Great Lakes each year, several initiatives plan to tackle the issue through plastic waste upcycling and binational monitoring efforts. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-plastic-waste
The U.S. Geological Survey is using autonomous surface and underwater vehicles on Lake Erie from mid-July through September 2023. The goal is to improve fishery surveys across the entire lake in cooperation with several public, private and nonprofit partners in both the U.S. and Canada. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-unmanned-boats
In the most recent legislative session in Albany, some New York State lawmakers introduced legislation to establish a wind turbine pilot program in Lake Erie intending to progress the state’s climate goals. Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-wind-turbines
A group of six marathon swimmers will swim from Split Rock to Duluth in Minnesota next week without wetsuits to raise awareness of climate change. Read the full story by KBJR-TV- Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-marathon-swimmers
Duluth leaders are looking to better forecast rip current conditions and have launched a water safety buoy off Park Point in Minnesota to do so. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-rip-current
A coalition of organizations is developing an innovative and expensive engineering project at the 96-year-old Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River south of Chicago to block invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-carp
U.S. Great Lakes shipping activity continues to be on par with the previous year, as approximately 15.7 million tons of total cargo traffic traveled the seaway system for the year to date. Read the full story by The Crescent-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230828-shipping
The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting the fourth iteration of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan. The agency is seeking public input on the new plan, designed to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-epa-plan
Thanks to a new deep water research program, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan is working to maintain the population of chub fish and learn more about the invasive species that affect local fish populations. Read the full story by the Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-tribal-research
Icebreaker, a proposed demonstration wind farm in Lake Erie, would be North America’s first ever freshwater offshore wind project. However, locals are expressing concerns over wildlife and potential oil leaks. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-wind-farm
Shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway is continuing its long-term downturn, and changes in the region’s steel industry are largely responsible for the trend, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-shipping-decline
A pumped hydroelectric storage facility on Lake Michigan was built more than 50 years ago to help absorb nuclear energy during overnight hours when customer demand for electricity was low. Now, the facility generates additional electricity for Michigan’s power grid via a system of turbines pumping water out of and into the lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-water-battery
Launched from Erie, Pennsylvania, by the U.S. Geological Survey last month, an unmanned Saildrone is crossing Lake Erie this summer to study fish populations. Read the full story by WBEN – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-saildrone
Cruise ships docking in Wisconsin ports of call are providing new waves of tourists and a welcome post-COVID boost to the local economy. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-wisconsin-cruises
While Lake Erie’s water level remains above average, it was expected to resume its seasonal decline in August and is projected to go down 5 inches by mid-September. Even though the lake didn’t reach record highs in 2023, any kind of decline that takes levels closer to average can be beneficial for lakeshore property owners. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-erie-decline
The ongoing drought that has plagued Wisconsin over the last couple of months has had little to no impact on the water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior as the lake levels remain above long-term averages. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1 – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-drought-lakes
Climate change is influencing changes to Lake Erie’s water levels, ice cover, and water temperatures, all of which have an impact on the breeding conditions and habitat for walleye. This uncertainty in the future of the walleye population could cause issues for towns which rely on fishing for the local economy. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230816-walleye
Homes along Lake Michigan in Indiana are facing encroaching water due to erosion and climate change. However, the solution to build hardened revetments is causing pushback from environmentalists. Read the full story by the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-shoreline-dispute
Several species of fish and mussels are disappearing from the Great Lakes, and a team of researchers at the University of Windsor is trying to find out why. Read the full story by CKNX- Wingham, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-biodiversity-loss
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has been conducting a program of manoomin (wild rice) restoration for more than a decade as the amount of wild rice in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan has declined over the past century. This will be aided by the development of a collaborative wild rice stewardship plan. Read the full story by the Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-wild-rice
In Michigan, the annual State of the Lake address succinctly described the importance of Lake St. Clair to its residents with a review of various restoration projects, efforts to ensure water cleanliness and safety, the economic impact of the lake, and the results of the first-ever Lake St. Clair Coastal Study. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-macomb-county
The Ontario government will invest $6 million to support 30 multi-year projects aimed at helping protect, conserve, and restore the Great Lakes. The project areas include the southeast shores of Lake Huron, Eastern Georgian Bay and Huron-Bruce and are aimed at reducing plastic litter, excess nutrients and road salt entering the waterways, and advancing climate resiliency. Read the full story by the Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-province-projects
There’s a mystery unfolding in northwest Indiana, where hundreds of bats washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan on Saturday. Read the full story by WBBM- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230731-dead-bats
