Researchers who study ice cover on the Great Lakes, and the mysterious happenings beneath, have a problem: There’s precious little of it. And that’s thwarting their ability to understand what declining ice cover means for everyone else throughout the region. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-ice-cover
Scientists believe they can now better forecast toxic outbreaks on lakes using satellites to detect the shade of green that cyanobacteria creates in water. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-algae-blooms
Members from Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project and The Lake Michigan Water Front Safety Initiative- Indiana traveled to Indiana’s statehouse to testify on behalf of the need for safety stations on all Lake Michigan beaches. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-water-safety
A ferry service that’s a lifeline for residents traveling to and from a Lake Superior island may sell its assets to new owners this year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-superior-island
The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said Star Line, which is now known as the Mackinac Island Ferry Company, will replace two 1988 diesel engines with new electric propulsion motors on the Chippewa Ferry. Read the full story by WXYZ -TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-mackinac-ferry
The Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy, in cooperation with Waucedah Township, Michigan has announced the purchase and protection of over four miles of waterfront property on the Sturgeon River in Dickinson County. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-sturgeon-river
A restoration project carried out by the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission features the installation of levees to reduce flooding and the restoration of native vegetation in an area of the West Branch of the Little Calumet River in Lake County, Illinois. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-calumet-restoration
Scientists warn that the continued misuse of phosphorous could reach a calamity termed “phosphogeddon”. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-phosphogeddon
Following the winter closure, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway is set to reopen later this month. During the winter closure the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) have coordinated to repair and upgrade canal infrastructure. Read the full story by the Project Cargo Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230313-gls
A bipartisan group of Great Lakes lawmakers wrote Thursday to President Joe Biden ahead of his official visit to Ottawa this month, urging him to press Canadian leaders on boosting their financial support for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes. The nine U.S. lawmakers stressed that “sustained investments” from partnerships between the U.S. and Canada are needed to clean up toxic Areas of Concern in the freshwater lakes, combat invasive species, restore habitats and reduce algae blooms. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-canadian-funding
In 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it no longer needed the lighthouse that was built in 1910 at the end of the north breakwater of Duluth’s shipping canal. Rethos, a St. Paul-based historic preservation nonprofit, was awarded the Duluth Harbor North Pierhead Light by the National Park Service last month. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-duluth-lighthouse
After a mild January and February, Lake Superior ice levels are lower than normal for this time of year, say Canadian federal observers. By the middle of February, Superior’s ice thickness in the vicinity of Thunder Bay, Ontario was estimated to be only 45 centimeters, about 20 cm less for the same time last year and 15 cm less than the seasonal average, according to data provided by the Meteorological Service of Canada. Read the full story by the Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-superior-ice-cover
The Lake Huron Forever initiative awarded grants totaling $30,000 to four community projects aimed at protecting and enhancing the water quality of Lake Huron. The initiative aims to support community conversation and action to design and complete on-the-ground work to strengthen the health and well-being of residents and their surrounding natural resources. Read the full story by Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-water-quality-funding
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facility in Alpena, Michigan is partnering with its Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory to learn more about the acidification of the freshwater Great Lakes. The goal is to get a baseline understanding of acidification in the lakes now so they can study them for years in the future. Read the full story by WBKB-TV – Alpena, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-acidification-study
While the Oneida County Board discusses a resolution opposing the Pelican River Forest project, the Sokaogon Chippewa government passed a resolution in support of it. The project would protect natural resources the Sokaogon Chippewa Community and other Ojibwe Tribes have relied on like wild rice, medicinal plants, and subsistence hunting. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-conservation-resolution
Ice-breaking operations in Midland, Ontario Harbour are expected around March 18 to open the Great Lakes shipping routes around March 22. The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier MV Frontenac is expected to move from her winter mooring at the ADM Mill in Midland Harbour after a Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker clears a path in from the open waters of Georgian Bay. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-ice-breaking
Eastern Lake Ontario, with 43 known shipwrecks and one aircraft, is on the verge of becoming a national marine sanctuary. The years-long effort has been supported by local governments, including Cayuga County, and the State of New York. If the sanctuary is established, the state will co-manage it with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read the full story by The Citizen.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-marine-sanctuary-proposal
Promote Michigan President Dianna Stampfler will swing through the Harbor Beach (Michigan) Area District Library on Wednesday, March 15, with her Ladies of the Lights presentation to talk about women in the Great Lakes region who have worked in lighthouses for Women’s History Month. The presentation includes readings from newspaper articles, autobiographies, and historic photos of the women and the lighthouses they cared for. Read the full story by Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230310-lighthouse-women
The State of Michigan said nearly three-dozen projects will share $3.6 million to help fight invasive species throughout the state. The program is run through several state departments, and the goal is to prevent the introduction of new invasive species, strengthen early detection, limit the spread and manage and control widespread, established invasive species. Read the full story by the WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-invasive-species
In Clayton, New York, the Thousand Islands Land Trust has been given $5.4 million in state water quality grant funding to protect more land along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-land-trust
New research has found that some freshwater fish across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are contaminated with toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-pfas-fish
The Town of Whitby, Ontario, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada have a plan to revitalize the Lake Ontario waterfront, the water, and its surrounding ecosystem after a study determined the extent and risk of chemical contamination from a building upstream. Read the full story by Global News Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-waterfront-cleanup
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur announced the award of $99,590,000 in additional federal funding, secured as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ annual work plan, to support four projects critical to the economic development and environmental health of Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, Lake Erie shoreline communities, and the Great Lakes region as a whole. Read the full story by the Fremont News Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-ohio-harbors
In the upper peninsula of Michigan, the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy in cooperation with Waucedah Township purchased over 4 miles of waterfront property on the Sturgeon River in Dickinson County to develop a protected area and natural recreation park. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-sturgeon-river-park
In Michigan, the Saugatuck harbor and adjoining Kalamazoo River will be cleared for boaters to safely use this summer thanks to roughly $900,000 in federal funds to dredge the waters. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-saugatuck-dredge
Anglers use the “Fishbrain” app each day to log, photograph, and post their best fish catches, and it could help researchers better understand how fish are affected by climate change. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-social-media
In an effort to further expand opportunities for its students while helping to address the worker shortage in the marine industry, the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, Michigan has selected the Irish Boat Shop, of Harbor Springs, Michigan to be the first member of its new program, the Marine Dealers Education Network. Read the full story by The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230308-boat-building
As western water woes continue, some experts and authorities say a national-level problem like this requires an innovative solution. Some are suggesting diverting Great Lakes water and desalination. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-watercrisis-west-greatlakes-desalination
Acidification is happening in the Great Lakes, and new research right here in Lake Huron will continue to provide insight into what that means for plants, wildlife, and humans. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-lakehuron-acidification-research
Officials are asking people who engage in outdoor sports on the Great Lakes to use caution in some areas Monday through Thursday. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-anglers-icebreaking-avoid
Concentrations of toxic PFAS chemicals remain high in bluegill and smallmouth bass in the Huron River, located in southeast Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-southeastmi-pfas
Starry stonewart is an invasive species that came from Europe and Asia and — like so many others — was unintentionally released into the Great Lakes through cargo ship ballast water. It is very costly to manage once a lake is infested, making early detection key to managing it effectively. Read the full story by DL-Online.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-starrystonewort-aquaticinvasivespecies
A 116-year-old steamship that ferried passengers and goods in the upper Great Lakes is bound for the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario. The museum announced Friday that it had acquired the SS Keewatin from a development group in Port McNicoll, east of Midland, where it has been a museum ship since 2012. Read the full story by the Kingston Whig Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-maritimemuseum-keewatin-steamship
Members of the Chicago Fire Department were among the thousands who braved the frigid waters of Lake Michigan for the Polar Plunge Sunday morning. Read the full story by WBBM-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-lakemi-polarplunge
The Canadian government has invited stakeholders to apply for a new US$9.2M Ballast Water Innovation Programme (BWIP). Vessels need to use a ballast water management system to comply with the regulations and reduce the risk of introducing and spreading aquatic invasive species in Canada. Read the full story by Riviera Maritime Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-canada-ballastwater-regulations
Large paper corporations along the Fox River in Wisconsin dumped tons of polychlorinated biphenyls into the river in the 1950s, contaminating fish and making the water unsafe for people. Fifty years later the chemicals were still there. Paper Valley is the story of the fight to get the chemicals removed from the river. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230306-foxrivercleanup
Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur announced on Thursday the awarding of $99,590,000 for projects in the Great Lakes Region. The funds secured are for four projects that are critical to the economic development and environmental health of Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, Lake Erie shoreline communities and the Great Lakes region as a whole. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-funding
The Great Lakes Water Authority is updating its Water Residential Assistance Plan for customers who struggle to pay their bills. The biggest change is that the program is now income-based. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-gl-water-authority
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is hosting a series of virtual “Conversations & Coffee” meetings, focusing on fisheries management around the state. Virtual meetings will be held throughout March and April. Read the full story by WHMI-FM – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-dnr-fish-meetings
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is holding a series of public meetings to provide information and get public input on the designation of part of Lake Ontario as a national marine sanctuary. Read the full story by WRVO-FM – Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-marine-sanctuary
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the completion of a series of flood resiliency projects in the Village of Fair Haven, Cayuga County. The projects will help mitigate the impact of future high-water events and improve the resiliency of Cayuga County’s shoreline. Read the full story by WSTM-TV – Syracuse, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-flood-resliency
The State of Michigan is giving $3.6 million in grants to efforts to stop the spread of damaging plant, animal, and insect invasive species. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-invasive-species
Great Lakes Lightning Sprints is returning to the snowy Soo area for a second year in a row to make sprint races on the St. Marys River a local tradition. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-lighting-sprints
The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Board of Commissioners have given preliminary approval to a list of proposed fee adjustments for various fishing licenses and permits for the 2024 license year. Read the full story by Erie News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-license-fee
The city of Saugatuck, Michigan will receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge its harbor and portions of the Kalamazoo River. For the 2023 fiscal year, the Corps has allotted $895,000 for the project. Read the full story by WOOD-TV.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-dredging
The Charlevoix, Michigan lighthouse is lucky to still be around and has been in need of constant love and attention for most of its life. It is public sentiment that has kept the iconic structure standing through the years. Read the full story by the Petoskey News Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230303-lighthouse
The city of Detroit and the Wayne Metropolitan Action Agency recently added 1,125 gallons of water per person per month to a program that prevents water shut-offs in low-income households, expanding a program launched in August to erase water bill debt, repair plumbing, and lower monthly bills for low-income residents. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230301-water-shutoff-prevention
A new national report gave Michigan a failing grade for its efforts to combat lead contamination in school drinking water. While the researchers praise Detroit schools for working to install hundreds of filtered water stations across the school district, they award only partial credit for Michigan’s plan to replace every lead service line in the state by 2041. Read the full story by WKAR-TV – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230301-lead-response-report
In 2019, a team of historians, underwater archaeologists, and technicians located the wreckage of the Ironton, a 191-foot (58-meter) cargo vessel that collided with a grain hauler on a blustery night in September 1894, and deployed remotely controlled cameras to scan and document it. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan, plans to reveal the location in coming months and is considering placing a mooring buoy at the site. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230301-ship-wreck-discovery
The Canadian Coast Guard has responded to just 20 requests for icebreaking on the Great Lakes this winter as ice coverage for the lakes is at a record low for this time of year. Read the full story by Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230301-icebreaking-usage
