Even before the pandemic, Chicago had a moratorium on water shutoffs. Though thousands of households are still without water, showing just how difficult ensuring water access can be. The situation also underscores the water security crisis that has long existed in many Great Lakes communities, which may get worse as shutoff moratoria imposed during the pandemic expire. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210420-water-access

Patrick Canniff

The group came up with a blueprint, Clean Drinking Water and Resilient Farms by 2030, released earlier this month. It proposes funding to address contaminated private wells and creating financial incentives for farmers who plant cover crops, or crops grown to protect and enrich the soil. Read and listen to the full story by NPR.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210420-wisconsin-farming

Patrick Canniff

Located near the western shore of Michigan, Muskegon Lake was declared an Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. After designing, planning and restoring areas of the Muskegon Lake shoreline, the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project is preparing for revegetation this spring. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-restoration

Patrick Canniff

Located near the western shore of Michigan, Muskegon Lake was declared an Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. After designing, planning and restoring areas of the Muskegon Lake shoreline, the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project is preparing for revegetation this spring. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-restoration

Patrick Canniff

Lake Michigan appears to have hit its seasonal low for 2021 and lake levels are expected to begin their seasonal rise. Lakes Michigan and Huron, treated as one body of water in the Army Corps’ measurements and analysis, are about 1 foot below their record-breaking level last year of 581.63 feet, and about 2 feet above average water level for the last century. Read the full story by The Holland Sentinel.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-water-levels

Patrick Canniff

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory have used the only known long-term dataset of deep-lake temperatures to determine that Lake Michigan’s temperature is slowly increasing over the past 30 years, subtle changes that over a long timeframe could shorten big lakes’ winters, lengthen their summers and have a big impact on everything from fish populations and algae blooms to winter storms and erosion. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-climate

Patrick Canniff

Ohio voters could be asked to approve borrowing $1 billion in November 2022 to pay for improvements to Lake Erie and state waterways, including water treatment systems, wastewater management, watershed restoration, research and other items, under the banner of Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio program. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-ohio-waterways

Patrick Canniff

Michigan researchers are asking for volunteers to transcribe paper fish observation records that date back more than a century as part of a project at the University of Michigan that aims to understand how climate change and other factors have impacted fish in Michigan lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-fish-climate

Patrick Canniff

The city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has been officially entered into consideration as the location for the federal government’s new Canada Water Agency, although a final decision on the location for the new agency won’t be made until 2022. Read the full story by The Sault Star.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-water-agency-canada

Patrick Canniff

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Enbridge to shut down their Line 5 oil pipeline by May 12, but the company has so far refused to comply, leading to a showdown between the biggest mover of oil in the United States and one of the country’s emerging political leaders on climate, over land in her own state. Read the full story by Grist.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-line-5-michigan

Patrick Canniff

Enbridge wants to show the Joe Biden administration that the tunnel the Canadian company is building for its oil pipeline under Lake Michigan is exactly what the U.S. president’s plan for better infrastructure is all about. Read the full story by Bloomberg News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-line-5

Patrick Canniff

The Ontario Parks partnership team created the Turtle Protection Project last fall with the goal to protect Ontario’s eight endangered turtle species. The project includes installing ecopassages for turtles to safely cross under roads preventing wildlife collisions. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210329-ontario-conservation-turtles

Patrick Canniff

A new study finds that historic sources of mercury pollution are driving higher concentrations of the contaminant in sport fish that live and feed in the Duluth-Superior harbor. The results indicate contamination from long ago still holds risks for coastal areas of the Great Lakes. View the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210329-minnesota-river-pollution-fish

Patrick Canniff

The Great Lake Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program recently awarded the Minnesota Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District, a $200,000 grant to repair an unstable bank threatening sediment reaching the Little Net River and its fish spawning habitat. Read to the full story by Pine Journal.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210329-minnesota-restoration

Patrick Canniff

Research group has created a computer model of walleye in Lake Erie and the Maumee River as a part of a study to determine how contaminants would affect fish reproduction, and for management practices, how to efficiently clean and reduce the effect of the chemical pollutants. Read to the full story by Capital News Service.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210326-erie-fish-pollution

Patrick Canniff

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, has awarded a $6.5 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for the construction of a beneficial use of dredged material placement area designed to handle approximately 400,000 cubic yards of dredged material in Ohio’s Ashtabula Harbor. Read the full story by Dredging Today.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210326-ohio-harbor-dredge

Patrick Canniff

Ohio officials have reduced the catch limit for yellow perch to 10 yellow perch a day taken along Ohio’s central Lake Erie coast due to low hatch rates in recent years, though the catch limit for the Western Basin is not affected. Read the full story by Sandusky Register.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210326-erie-fish

Patrick Canniff

The $1 billion bailout for two Ohio nuclear plants is one step closer to being eliminated, Ohio lawmakers approved legislation this week that would repeal the bailout, which would eliminate electricity bill surcharges that were created in 2019 to pay for the bailout for the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Oak Harbor and the Perry plant east of Cleveland. Read the full story by The Associated Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210326-nuclear-ohio-energy

Patrick Canniff

The anti-nuclear group, Physicians for Social Responsibility filed a petition asking federal regulators to block efforts to keep Wisconsin’s Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers running through 2050. Read the full story by Lee Newspapers.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210326-nuclear-wisconsin-energy

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-ontario-water-infrastructure

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-sturgeon-bay-canal-shipping

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-michigan-invasive-species-projects

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-wetland-restoration-floods

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-water-levels

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-ontario-conservation

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-invasive-species-mussel-moss

Patrick Canniff

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210316-line-5-treaty-rights

Patrick Canniff

Dozens of bird watchers flocked to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge to take advantage of the “bonus” Wildlife Drive opening this past weekend. The drive drew a steady stream of vehicles from the public throughout the daylight hours catching glimpses of migrating ducks and the lush natural wetlands off the western coast of Lake Erie. According to researchers, vehicle traffic has actually been found to be less intrusive to wildlife populations than people outside of their vehicles. Read the full story by Port Clinton News Herald.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-bird-watching-refuge

Patrick Canniff

The new campground is named as a nod to the many shipwrecks along that stretch of the Lake Superior shore. The campsite will have 46 sites with electric service, and a modern shower and bathroom facility, and includes a parking lot and access to numerous hiking and biking trails. Read the full story by MPR News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-campground

Patrick Canniff

Michigan’s Indigenous people cite concerns over Canadian oil company Enbridge’s impending Line 5 pipeline tunnel project in the Mackinac Straits, due to potential uptick in rates of sexual violence and sex trafficking that has been documented following  pipeline projects. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-line-5-tribes

Patrick Canniff

The public has the opportunity to give its ideas on the final design concept for improvements at Lake Superior’s Eagle Harbor State Harbor, a designated state harbor of refuge, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in Keweenaw County.  Read to the full story by The Associated Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-michigan-harbor-plan

Patrick Canniff

Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many wildlife managers. In Wisconsin, just weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration lifted protections for wolves in the Great Lakes region, hunters using hounds and trappers blew past the state’s harvest goal and killed almost twice as many as planned. Read the full story by The Associated Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-wolf-hunt

Patrick Canniff

A Michigan fisheries order restored previous fishing restrictions such as net fishing depths of 150 feet in lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, harvest of whitefish in Lake Erie, and restoration of the previous fishing season. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-michigan-fish

Patrick Canniff

A batch of aquarium products known as “moss balls” were contaminated with invasive zebra mussels before they were distributed to pet stores across the country. Read the full story by WPXI-TV – Pittsburgh, PA.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-invasive-zebra-mussels-moss

Patrick Canniff

Thirty years ago this week, the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota ruptured, spilling 1.7 million gallons of crude oil onto a frozen river near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. If the river had not been frozen, the oil could have contaminated drinking water. Protests have been ongoing to stop construction rerouting a section of the Line 3 pipeline which could impact Indigenous communities and local waterways. View the full story by PBS NewsHour.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-minnesota-line-3

Patrick Canniff

Research shows that in some lakes invasive zebra mussels appeared to have a serious negative effect on walleyes because of increased water clarity. In other lakes, they seem to have had little or no effect on walleye populations and size structure. Read the full story by Superior Telegram.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210308-invasive-mussels

Patrick Canniff

For the Biden administration, a strong focus on Lake Erie and the Great Lakes is one way to remind us that not every issue is strictly partisan and that environmental protection can lead to justice and equity, as Cleveland has shown the country. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210301-lake-erie-environmental-protection

Patrick Canniff

The sand clogging Cow Creek in Sarnia, Ontario, is not contaminated according to tested samples, so with dredging-permit approval from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, it can hopefully be dredged and moved back into Lake Huron to create beaches.  Read to the full story by The Courier Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210301-ontario-dredge

Patrick Canniff

Enbridge has offered lucrative deals in an attempt to win over the Ojibwe bands in Minnesota in support of a new pipeline to replace Line 3, despite increasing tensions those efforts have caused, as construction of the controversial pipeline enters its fourth month. Read the full story by Star Tribune.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210301-line-3-enbridge

Patrick Canniff

As part of the DNR’s statewide PFAS-monitoring efforts to monitor fish tissue and water chemistry at select sites around the state, smelt were collected from two sites in Lake Superior in 2019 near the Apostle Islands and off Port Wing. PFAS was detected at both locations, prompting an advisory to limit meals of smelt to one per month. Read the full story by the Brainerd Dispatch.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210301-pollution-fish-pfas

Patrick Canniff