Along with running the state, Gov. Whitmer was named the next Chair of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers on Friday. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-govwhitmer-greatlakes-stlawrence-governorsandpremiers-chair
Construction crews are working to complete a modernization of the Soo Locks, a task given greater urgency by revelations about the economic impact of disrupted supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic. The question is whether the upgrades can get the funds they need in time despite a huge influx of cash from Washington. Read the full story by The Wall Street Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-us-expandmichiganlocks
More than 130 road and bridge projects have bought credits to Michigan’s Perry Wetland Mitigation Bank bank since it opened. It was the first wetland bank built using state gas taxes — and a second one just opened. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-manmadewetland-michigan-fixroads
Like most older urban communities in Metro Detroit, the Red Run has combined sewers – pipes carrying raw sewage and stormwater runoff. These aging systems are ill-equipped to handle the massive volumes of stormwater runoff that we’re now seeing – and will continue to see more of – due to climate change. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-rain-climate-metrodetroit-unprepared
This week, TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson takes you along on a journey through the Great Lakes aboard the Lee A. Tregurtha, a vessel with the Interlake Steamship Company. Read the full story by TV6 – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-tregurtha-greatlakes
Experts say nutrient-rich water from greenhouse farms could be harming Lake Erie, but Ontario’s Environment Ministry has issued very few fines for potential algae-causing infractions since 2019. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-lakeerie-southwesternontario
Thousands of water utilities across the Great Lakes region and nationwide will decide in the next three months whether to join two multibillion-dollar, class-action settlements against the largest producers of toxic PFAS chemicals that have tainted drinking water supplies. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-pfas-nationalsettlement-waterutilities
What’s needed in Michigan is a true affordability plan, water rights advocate Monica Lewis-Patrick told Great Lakes Now in an interview. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-michiganwaterrights
A Minnesota angler broke a 53-year-old state record with a coho salmon he caught during a fishing trip on Lake Superior in September. Read the full story by KMSP-TV – Minneapolis, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-minnesota-recordbreaking-cohosalmon
Sinkholes don’t just happen on land, they also exist in the Great Lakes, a topic that will be explored in the next lecture hosted by the Maritime Museum as part of its Working Waterfronts Lecture Series. Read the full story by The Herald Palladium.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-lakehuron-sinkholes
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-maritime-shipwrecks-quaggamussels
Manoomin was once widespread across Michigan and the entire Upper Great Lakes. But hundreds of years of European settlement removed it from much of the landscape as settlers trenched and drained natural waterways, destroying countless acres of natural habitat. Now Great Lakes tribes like Bay Mills are working to restore wild rice to the ecosystem not only to reclaim cultural heritage but also to build thriving beds of the native species for the future. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-wildrice-greatlakes-anishinaabe
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a plan Thursday to reduce the amount of phosphorus flowing into the Maumee River and eventually into Lake Erie, where the farm nutrient is considered the main contributor to the creation of harmful algal blooms. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-usepa-passesplan-habs
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) levels are high in 13 areas around Erie County as of Sept. 27, according to the Erie County Beach Water Testing Results website. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-habs-highlevels-eriecounty
A beloved Windsor landmark’s tenure in Reaume Park has come to an end after 45 years of shooting water jets in the air and covering visitors with refreshing mist from the Detroit River. The Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain — the biggest floating fountain in the world — was disconnected and barged to Lakeview Park Marina for the last time on Thursday. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-floating-peace-fountain
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed state officials from a lawsuit related to past lead contamination in a small southwestern Michigan city’s drinking water but said the case could proceed against city officials, including the mayor. Read the full story by ABC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-lawsuit-michigan-bentonharbor
The $7 million project, part of the massive Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, first dredged tons of muck out of the lake that had settled there over decades. Then it deepened parts of the lake and restored aquatic habitat and fish spawning habitat. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-perch-stlouisriver
A new Michigan bill package is set to be introduced to the Senate next week regarding water affordability. The package includes creating a fund to help people statewide who are struggling to pay their water bills, but not everyone is on board. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-wateraffordability-mi
The Ports of Indiana have an annual economic impact of $8.7 million, a new study concluded. Indianapolis-based port authority the Ports of Indiana commissioned the study to determine the economic contributions of its ports at Burns Harbor, Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon. The study looked at domestic cargo, international freight, wages, taxes and the economic output of companies at the ports, such as all the steel service centers that operate out of the Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor. Read the full story by the Northwest Times of Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-portsofindiana-economicimpactstudy
The Door County Maritime Museum’s annual Maritime Speaker Series kicks off its 2023-24 season Oct. 5 with the chance for guests to watch, listen and learn both in person and online. The speakers present on a variety of topics ranging from historical to current issues affecting the Great Lakes and the economy that relies on them. The programs are held the first Thursday of each month from October through May. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-greatlakes-fringehistory-maritime
The Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center is having a golden moment. It turns 50 years old today. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230929-lakesuperior-maritimecenter-50years
By the end of the month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to decide whether to approve an Ohio plan to reduce phosphorus pollution that feeds cyanobacteria in Lake Erie. Cyanobacterial blooms have become much larger in the last 30 years and have become a major public health concern. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-epa-ohio-reducephosphorus
H2Ohio’s incentive program for agriculture producers is expanding statewide. The program, led by ODA, provides funding to producers to help offset the financial risk associated with implementing H2Ohio’s agricultural best management practices that work to improve Ohio’s water quality. The program has been available only to farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin, but producers throughout the state will be eligible to participate in H2Ohio beginning in 2024. Read the full story by The Courier.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-h2ohio-expanding-statewide
While much of the focus of the fight to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp centers is on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, the USACE has identified an additional 18 places where invasive carp could theoretically cross into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-beyondbrandonroad
The Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, Michigan takes visitors on a journey around the Great Lakes, exploring shipwrecks, piloting a car ferry, testing their strength against a manpowered steamship wheel and hearing stories from long-passed ship captains. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-maritimemuseum-lakemishoreline-interactiveexhibits
Erie County, along with environmental agency partners and public volunteers participated in the Pennsylvania-Lake Erie International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Saturday morning, Sept. 16, to improve the Lake Erie watershed. This year’s effort focused on 22 sites along the Lake Erie shoreline and watershed. Volunteers removed over 3700 pounds of trash and other items from over 36 miles of shoreline and waterways. Read the full story by WZTE – Union City, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-annuallakeerie-coastalcleanup
SepticSmart week is an annual event that focuses on educating homeowners and communities on the proper care and maintenance of their septic systems. If a septic system is not properly maintained, it can shorten the life of the system and potentially contaminate ground water which is a source of drinking water for many. Read the full story by The Morning Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-septicsmartweek-2023
The Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse has been sold at auction, and the new owners are two Clevelanders who intend to preserve the historic part of Cleveland’s skyline. The lighthouse fetched a price of $425,000 when the auction closed on Sept. 6. Read the full story by Scripps News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-greatlakes-lighthouse-magnates
National Hunting and Fishing Day, which was established in the early 1970s, celebrates the contributions that men and women make to the conservation of our nation’s rich sporting heritage, wildlife and fisheries resources. Through self-imposed fees and excise taxes on guns and ammunition, fishing and archery equipment and certain outdoor sporting goods, sportsmen and women have raised more than $60 billion for wildlife and fisheries conservation efforts. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-events-interestinhunting-fishing
Over the next month, the Wisconsin DNR will host open houses at the Governor Tommy G. Thompson Fish Hatchery, Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility, Root River Steelhead Facility and the Wild Rose Fish Hatchery. Each of these free events will give attendees a chance to see fish up close and learn how hatcheries and spawning facilities help sustain Wisconsin’s fish populations. Read the full story by Wisconsin DNR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230918-wisconsindnr-spawningtour-hatcherytour
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
On one evening each August, the organization Milwaukee Water Commons holds their We Are Water event to celebrate the gift of Lake Michigan. The event serves as a reminder of water’s essential role in taking care of us and the recognition of our duty to safeguard its existence. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-we-are-water-celebration-lakemichigan
Oswego, Illinois, was recently granted its Lake Michigan Water Allocation Permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. To get permission to tap Lake Michigan water, Oswego had to meet several criteria, including providing evidence that the aquifer it currently uses is no longer able to meet the village’s needs and that the other water source alternatives are not as viable. Read the full story by the Patch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-oswego-permit-lakemiwater
Benton Harbor, Michigan, residents have been inundated with challenges facing their water system for years, such as lead in pipes, ineffective corrosion treatment, and threats of water shut-offs. After years of public interest campaigns and $45 million in federal aid, almost all the lead pipes have been replaced. However, now residents have another issue to worry about – rising water bills. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-bentonharbor-leadlines-expensivewaterbills
In celebration of World Water Week, the Cedar Tree Institute hosted the Gift of Water Gala at Peter White Public Library located in Marquette, Michigan. “The Gift of Water” is a newly published anthology filled with essays about conservation and preservation, specifically focusing on and written by people connected to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-giftofwater-safeguarding-water
Authorities have now determined that 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from a cargo ship into Lake Michigan, after it was breached earlier this month. Officials are still investigating what caused the Manitowoc’s hull breach Aug. 3, off the coast of Manistee, Michigan. Read the full story by WKAR – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-manitowoc-diesalspill-lakemichigan
Minnesota U.S. Eighth District Congressman Pete Stauber has received the 2023 “Legislator of the Year” award from the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force for his work in supporting the maritime needs of the Great Lakes Navigation System, mining industry, the Duluth-Superior Port, and the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Mesabi Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-stauber-greatlakes-award
Several roads in Norton Shores, Michigan, will close as the city works to install new water lines to homes impacted by PFAS contamination. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-nortonshores-pfas-waterline
After years of rallying, recent national directives to further mitigate PFAS will address two sites on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan, that have been leaching PFAS into nearby water bodies including the AuSable River and Clark’s Marsh. Last week, one of the suggested plans was officially adopted by the Department of Defense. Read the full story by WJRT-TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-pfascleanup-oscoda-nationalpolicy
Each year, thousands of salmon find their way back to northwest Michigan to spawn, generating a significant tourism and fish economy in Manistee County, Michigan. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230823-fishing-manisteewaters-michigan
Michigan will spend more than half a million dollars on a slate of projects meant to support the state’s transition to renewable energy — for boats. Six companies will receive a total of $506,000 as part of a new grant program aimed at decarbonizing the region’s maritime industry. The first round of projects will develop electric boats, deploy solar-powered vessels and install charging stations. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-chargingstations-electricboats-michiganmarinas
There is a project in the works to install a “gantlet” system in the Des Plaines River at Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet to stop silver and bighead carp from reaching the Great Lakes. The $1.14 billion project is funded by the federal government and the states of Illinois and Michigan. Although the cost estimate has increased and progress has been slow, the project is in the last stages of design as Illinois prepares to sign an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction. Read the full story by The Pantagraph.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230814-scientists-invasivecarp-creativestrategies-protectlakemichigan
