The “Reimagine the Canals” initiative is a perfect chance to evaluate which of these approaches best fits the Erie Canal. We missed the chance to keep round gobies bottled up in the Great Lakes, but barriers on the Erie Canal could stop or slow the arrival of even more damaging invaders. Read the full story by Time Union.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-invasive-species
Vacuum trucks will suck up the algae mats for disposal at the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant by Wednesday. Public health doesn’t yet know if the mats are blue-green algae — a toxic form of bacteria potentially harmful to humans and pets that closed the beach at Pier 4 to swimming in July. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-algae
The polluted water has prompted Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper to work on an ambitious restoration plan to restore the health of the lake and possibly pave the way for it to eventually connect with Scajaquada Creek, a tributary of the Niagara River. Read the full story by the Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210825-lake-restoration
Throughout the country, scientists are studying a range of control methods to manage invasive mussels. To develop new management tools scientists are studying methods of genetic control, an approach that could spare other organisms from becoming collateral damage and potentially solve the scale problem. Read the full story by Phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-mussels-genetic
A diesel spill at the site of the new Aurora Medical Center under construction on South Taylor Drive released 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel into the environment, according to preliminary estimates from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Clean up of nearby waterways is expected to take multiple days. Read the full story by Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-pollution-spill
U.S. Geological Survey and University of Missouri scientists are studying a new method for controlling invasive carp. They’re studying the complex way carp eggs move in rivers, hoping they can find and remove them pre-hatch or early in life-history. Read the full story by Outdoor Life.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-carp
State of Michigan and local officials gave their latest update to residents of the Emmet County village this past week following the discovery of PFAS in residential samples more than two years ago. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-pfas
The first juvenile piping plovers from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s summer 2021 fledglings were spotted this week in coastal Georgia, one of the endangered species’ wintering grounds. The news was posted last week on Facebook by the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-piping-plovers
Days of heavy rain this month overwhelmed Milwaukee’s sewer system, sending millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into area rivers and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-sewer
The Michigan city of Flint has completed construction of a secondary water pipeline to be used in case there is an emergency disruption to the primary water delivery system. Read the full story by WEYI–TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-flint-water
Water level gains this summer have been less than average. Lakes Michigan and Huron reached its monthly peak this year in January, which has only happened three other times in recorded history dating back to 1918. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-algae
The Mid-Michigan District Health Department has been notified by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, that an algal bloom on the lake at Paul Hubscher County Park in Sumner, MI has tested positive for algal toxin microcystin. Read the full story by The Morning Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-algae
The Adopt-a-Forest program is volunteer-driven and implemented by Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources to help people engage with the outdoors and encourage them to keep public lands clean. The program conducts outreach to find volunteers and then connects them with a site in need of a cleanup. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-forest-clean-up
Hundreds got in the water north of the bridge Sunday, floating down the St. Clair River for the annual unsanctioned event. Within a couple of hours Sunday afternoon, groups began to get out of the water at the Float Down’s last stopping point in Marysville, with spectators watching from the shore as the seven-mile journey came to an end. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210816-port-huron
The Duluth Seaway Port Authority and its terminal operations on Rice’s Point earned high marks in the recently released Green Marine 2020 environmental performance report, improving from a 3.8 rating in 2019 to a 4.0 score on Green Marine’s five-point scale. The annual report rates port authority participants in seven categories: air emissions, community impacts, dry bulk handling and storage, environmental leadership, spill prevention, underwater noise, and waste management. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-duluth-port
A new instance of the invasive plant European frogbit was discovered by the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Initial monitoring efforts found the plant has spread to numerous marshes and tributaries of the bay of Green Bay, WI that are connected by drainage ditches. Read the full story by Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-invasive-species
This year, two pairs of piping plovers have decided to settle around Sandy Pond, which is a sand-filled inlet in Sandy Creek in New York state. As an endangered species their presence has stalled local sand dredging a necessity for boats to go in and out of the inlet, sparking debate as Lake Ontario is seeing low water levels this year. Read the full story by NPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-piping-plover
The Senate has just voted on a landmark bipartisan infrastructure bill, which includes tens of billions of dollars for climate, energy, and environmental programs, including Great Lakes restoration. It also includes infrastructure programs that invest in a national clean energy grid and natural climate solutions providing critical co-benefits like cleaner air and water. Read the full story by Audubon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-infrastructure
The annual harmful algal bloom has arrived in western Lake Erie. What scientists are seeing so far is consistent with the late June forecast that the bloom will be small this year and categorized as a 3 in severity, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the largest. Read the full story by The Courier.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-algae-habs
Weiming Li, a professor with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife within the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, studies sea lamprey chemical mating signals called pheromones in an effort to disrupt mating and help manage their populations. Read the full story by Phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-lamprey-invasive
Even with a return to wetter conditions in late June and July, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Detroit District officials expect Great Lakes water levels to remain below 2019 and 2020 levels. Read the full story by WLUC–TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-lake-levels
Ducklings struggling to stay afloat in Lake Ontario’s Toronto harbor now have a safe place to rest with the installation of low, floating plywood docks. PortsToronto installed duckling docks at water level in four shipping areas in June to help waterfowl unable to climb out of the water to rest. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-harbor-ducks
With one of the crew members on the S.S. Badger having tested positive for COVID-19 and three more in quarantine, the Lake Michigan Carferry temporarily suspended the ship’s service. Read the full story by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-shipping
Isle Royale National Park is partnering with the Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area to offer free boat washes at marinas and boat launches in several Michigan counties to encourage recreational watercraft users to clean, drain, and dry watercraft to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, particularly zebra mussels, in Lake Superior waters. Read the full story by The Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210811-boating
Ohio’s Ottawa County Regional Water Treatment Plant has started detecting toxic microcystins for the first time this year in its Lake Erie raw water intake. Read the full story by Fremont News-Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-algae-hab
The Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, hosted virtual information sessions for anglers, commercial fishermen, boaters and cottagers concerned about the looming threat from invasive grass carp, and asked people to report sightings of the fish to the Invasive Species Hotline. Read the full story by SooToday.com
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-carp
When you visit the Great Lakes, whether it’s a sandy beach or a rocky coastline, it’s hard to imagine how lakes so big are affected so profoundly by alien invasive species, pollution, or climate change. Listen to the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-great-lakes-peril
Two sailing drones are on the Great Lakes right now on a mission to collect data, scanning for fish and meteorological data. Read the full story by WGTU-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-drone-shipping
The U.S. Air Force plans to install a pollution cleanup system at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan to prevent PFAS chemicals from entering Van Etten Lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-pfas-pollution
The vessel Captain Henry Jackman set a new record cargo size for grain loaded at Ontario’s Port of Thunder Bay on the ship’s very first voyage, carrying Canadian Western Red Spring Wheat grown in southwestern Manitoba destined for international markets. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-shipping
Running buffalo clover, a native plant that had been considered extinct, is being removed from the federal endangered species list after bouncing back in a half-dozen states east of the Mississippi River. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-endangered-species
Since the summer began, partiers in Toronto, Ontario, have been breaking into a conservation area in Tommy Thompson Park to host all-night raves, leaving garbage and human waste behind, says a conservation group called Friends of The Spit. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-habitat
The Volunteer Shoreline Harmful Algae Bloom Monitoring Program for New York’s Canandaigua Lake identified early intermittent algal blooms through June and July. Read the full story by MPNnow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210806-algae
Monroe County Health officials say the beach was shut down because of New York state-mandated clarity issues that could lead to high levels of E. coli. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-ecoli-beach
MI Clean Water Action is the statewide coordinator of the Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign, and is focused on shutting down Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline, among other initiatives. Read the full story by Lansing City Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-michigan-waters
An Ohio farmer as a part of Ohio’s H2Ohio program found that applying nitrogen-infused fertilizer to his fields three times in a growing season instead of all at once helped his crops use the nutrient more efficiently causing less nitrogen to end up in rivers and streams. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-oh2o-pollution
Food and water safety officials at Hamilton Public Health Services in Ontario announced the beach closure after the algae was discovered during a routine observation by city staff and tests later confirmed its identity. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-toxic-algae
Since 2019 the City of Duluth and the Corps agreed on a five-year plan to use some dredged material in an anti-erosion “beach nourishment” program, in this time the program ended up depositing sharp debris and has now been found to violate a 1978 court settlement favoring placement of dredge spoils away from shorelines where it would not end up in water. Read the full story by MinnPost.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-beach-dredging
NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry has awarded a grant to a multi-institution project led by Texas State University to study the vulnerability of the Lake Huron ecosystem to global change. Read the full story by Corridor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-nasa-vulnerability-change
There have been a few reports of blue-green algae on Lake Superior over the years with a first confirmed sighting in 2012. This summer researchers from universities, state and federal agencies from around the region are undertaking a coordinated effort to intensively study and monitor Lake Superior to determine when and where blooms occur on the lake.. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-algae-blooms
Dan Egan, Journalist in residence at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Freshwater Sciences and author of “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” discusses the impact of climate change on Chicago and Lake Michigan. Listen to the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-climate-chicago
The head of Great Lakes Water Authority announced this week that she will resign, weeks after thousands of homes were damaged by sewage backups during a tremendous storm. Read the full story by Associated Press and Crain’s Detroit Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210728-flooding
A recent rainstorm that closed highways and damaged thousands of homes and businesses in Metro Detroit was a dramatic example of how unprepared the region is to handle extreme weather. Read the full story by Mlive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-floods-michigan
The return to regulation plan flows means an increase in Lake Ontario outflows. As a result, Lake Ontario will increase or decrease depending on natural weather conditions; lake levels will increase if there continues to be above average rainfall and decrease if dry conditions return. Read the full story by Lockport Union-Sun & Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-ontario-lake-levels
A new full-length documentary charts the story of Chicago’s beloved piping plovers, from their hatching in 2017 to their improbable courtship on Chicago’s lakefront to their status as standard bearers for shorebird habitat conservation efforts. Read the full story by WTTW–TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-piping-plover
What started in 1898 with just five boats has grown as the 112th edition brings together 240 boats and 2,100 sailors to compete in the 333-mile course up Lake Michigan. The event is the oldest annual freshwater distance race in the world. Read the full story by WLS–TV – Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-boat-race
On July 15th the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network was launched as a group of concerned citizens, scientists, and community leaders with the goal to regulate PFAS use and connect impacted communities with information and resources. Read the full story by WGTQ–TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-pfas
Michigan’s conservation success stories, including the comeback of the lake sturgeon, have attracted national attention and prompted state legislature proclaiming July 2021 as Michigan Wildlife Conservation Month. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-wildlife-michigan
Forest Service and firefighting personnel in the U.S. are stepping up their response to wildfires burning in Ontario that threaten to cross the international border into Minnesota’s Boundary Waters. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-wildfire
Theodore has been travelling across Lake Ontario lately, making several stops to promote water conservation before settling into his new permanent home in the Hamilton Harbour. Read the full story by the St. Catharines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210719-shipping-tugboat
