A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused on how high lake levels influence the bidirectional flow of the Chicago Area Waterway System and its connection to the Mississippi River basin. Read the full story by The Center Square.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-study
Enbridge and the Canadian government are trying to circumvent Tribal rights and avoid a mandated shutdown by the State of Michigan by calling upon a 1977 pipeline treaty. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-line-5
Environment Career Days at Monroe Middle School in southeast Michigan provided students an opportunity to collect and analyze water samples on Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-career-days
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a bill into law that will require life rings to be placed along the state’s Lake Michigan shoreline to prevent drownings. Read the full story by the Lake & Mchenry County Scanner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-life-rings
The population of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes could increase significantly in the next year or two due to pandemic delayed mitigation, and it’s currently unclear how quickly the population can be culled back. Read the full story by WJET – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-lamprey
As Chicago battles erosion intensified by climate change on its 26 miles of public lakefront, officials are scrambling to find more money for repairs, scientists are tracking the disappearing sand and environmental groups are seeking ways to protect the fragile resource. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-chicago-shoreline
Pictured Rocks National Shoreline officials say they are struggling to keep up with the crowds of visitors that flock to the picturesque shoreline in Michigan’s upper peninsula which was the country’s first designated national lakeshore in 1966. Last year, more than 1.3 million people visited the park which is seasonally staffed for around 400,000-500,000 visitors. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-pictured-rocks
In the closing round of the 2022 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, all three finalists offered ideas for dealing with threats to water supply. Innovation in water is one of Wisconsin’s most vital resources for many reasons and offers hope in the years ahead as pressures mount on the supply and quality of fresh water in Wisconsin and beyond. Read the full story by Madison.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-wisconsin-innovation
Flooding on the Minnesota-Ontario border is a disaster of historic proportions and causing millions of dollars in damages. Measurements of the flooding have topped those of the record 1950 flood that have been measured among other lakes and rivers in the watershed and increasing concern about leached mine pollutants. Read the full story by StarTribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-flooding-mines
According to the results from a Minnesota Walleye population survey, the walleye population in the St. Louis River Estuary is strong and growing. Read the full story by The Bedmidji Pioneer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-walleye
Anglers and people using the St. Marys Rapids in Sault Ste. Marie, ON are advised that the area will see the highest flow since 2019 after June 6. The compensating works gate movements are scheduled for June 6 and will increase the flow to approximately 720 cubic meters per second, or 25.4 thousand cubic feet per second. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-lake-flows
Four years ago, fisheries management biologist Heather Hettinger began stocking Elk Lake with brown trout. In 2018, she stocked 40,000 fish. In 2019, 40,000 more. The count of brown trout stocked into Elk Lake is now over 180,000. And yet, according to the reports Hettinger receives in her role with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, very few have been caught. Read the full story by Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-trout-missing
Minnesota state legislators approved a bill funding more than 40 high-priority conservation projects, including culvert improvements benefiting brook trout populations as a part of Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220606-mn-trout
The former Valley View Pork farms near Walkerville, Michigan, are at the center of a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy investigation into PFAS groundwater and soil contamination after leather tannery sludge waste was spread on fields there starting in the mid-1990s. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-tannery
The scraggly cedars growing on Lake Michigan’s white limestone cliffs are amazing. With an estimated age of 1,400 years in one case, they are the oldest living trees in Michigan, having sprouted centuries before Europeans settled North America and likely dating back to the era of the vanished Hopewell indigenous culture. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-clifftrees
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources approved a water withdrawal and consumptive use permit for Massachusetts-based Aquabounty on March 14. The permit will allow operators to pull about 28 million gallons from the Michindoh Aquifer to fill salmon tanks, plus about four million gallons per day thereafter. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-salmonfarm
With the recent expansion of service, Duluth-Superior is the only U.S. port besides Cleveland, Ohio, that’s capable of handling maritime container shipments on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-supplychain
Michigan’s summer is looking sweet: Water levels are receding, summer is expected to be hotter than normal, fisheries are strong, invasive species are mostly in check and algae blooms are expected to remain relatively low. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-amplefish
A stalled movement to give the invasive Asian carp a more palatable name has regained momentum, and the big reveal is now set for June 22. Read the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-asiancarp
Shepler’s Ferry is kicking off its Lighthouse Cruises and Night Sky Cruises this month with one new kind of cruise and some other fresh sights added into an always-popular lineup departing from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-sheplers
Always clean, drain, and dry your boat and fishing gear, says the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and check your boats and gear for aquatic hitchhikers. Read the full story by the Times Herald-Record.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-invasive
Lighthouses traditionally warn sailors away from land, but this year, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes — Marblehead Lighthouse in Ohio — will be attracting visitors like moths to a flame. Read the full story by the Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-marblehead
Didymo, most commonly referred to as rock snot, is a kind of algae that continues to spread in Michigan’s Manistee River. The appearance of rock snot was first reported last fall, and it still continues to be a problem. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-rocksnot
Great Lakes cruising has returned to the Port of Cleveland with the first ships dropping anchor in Northeast Ohio last month. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220603-clevelandcruise
The massive Viking Octantis cruise ship is due to make its first-ever stop at the small Michigan Upper Peninsula town of Houghton on Wednesday, June 1. Read and hear the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-cruise
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a goal of completing work to delist 22 of the 25 remaining Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes region. Of the three remaining AOCs that won’t be completely cleaned up, two are in Michigan. Read and hear the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-aoc-cleanup
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecasts that water levels will be above the long-term average for most of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. Read and listen to the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-water-levels
High water and ice scouring has shifted native wetlands inland and opened a door to invasive species along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coast. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-invasives
Monty, the beloved Great Lakes piping plover who died earlier this month at Montrose Beach in Chicago, Illinois, suffered from a severe fungal respiratory infection, officials announced Tuesday. Read the full story by Block Club Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-monty
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it’s awarding Ohio with a $225,000 grant to monitor water quality at the state’s beaches. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-water-monitoring
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using harbor dredge material to shore up Lake Michigan beaches this summer. Read the full story by The Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-dredge
A man raising funds to benefit youth mental health and suicide prevention, has become the first person with a physical disability to ever travel from one country to another on a paddleboard. Read the full story by the Toronto Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-paddleboard
A new form of biological control against the invasive garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolate, has been identified in the form of a tiny aphid. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-biocontrol
For the first time in 35 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a ship operating in the Great Lakes, working to map the lakebed of Lake Erie. Read the full story by WKYC- TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220601-noaa
Inflation, increased labor costs and supply chain issues have ballooned the estimated cost of a major reconstruction project at the Soo Locks shipping complex according to lawmakers, who say the pricey effort has doubled or tripled in price from current projections. Read the full story by Mlive.com
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-soo-locks
Today, the Marblehead Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the Great Lakes located along the south shore of Lake Erie, is as much tourist attraction as navigational aid, due to GPS and other on-shore landmarks. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-lighthouse
NOAA and other organizations are actively monitoring Great Lakes algae. The Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Monitoring System has been operational for several years. A new system was just launched in April of 2022 called Seagull. Both are expected to continue to be updated with new features and functionality. Read the full story by Thumbwind.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-algal-blooms
An ORV park on Michigan’s west side is temporarily restricting access to a small area for the sake of protecting a nesting pair of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-piping-plovers
A federal appeals court has declined to disturb an Indiana Supreme Court ruling, later codified into Indiana law, which declared that Lake Michigan’s shoreline is — and always has been — owned by the state for the public’s use. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-indiana-shoreline
A federal appeals court has declined to disturb an Indiana Supreme Court ruling, later codified into Indiana law, which declared that Lake Michigan’s shoreline is — and always has been — owned by the state for the public’s use. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-coal
Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio is working to preserve its Lake Erie shoreline and the village is finishing the first phase of its erosion protection project at the Township Park. Read the full story by WEWS – TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-erosion
Reducing levels of the nutrient phosphorus to control harmful algal blooms in places like Lake Erie is actually advantageous to toxic cyanobacteria strains, which can lead to an increase in toxins in the water, according to a new modeling study. Read and hear the full story by Phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-phosphorus
While forests are known to enhance the water quality of nearby watersheds, oftentimes people don’t recognize forests’ role in providing clean drinking water, according to a new study from Michigan State University. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-forests
Birders, biologists, conservationists and those who happened to be swept up in the tale of two little birds gathered this week at Montrose Beach in Chicago, Illinois to mark the end of one story — while another was just beginning. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220527-monty-rose
Despite the unpredictability of the global market, officials expect the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes to see stable growth during the 2022 shipping season, just like it did during a global pandemic. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-shipping-stable
A press conference was held on Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the restoration of the Muskegon Lake area of concern at Heritage Landing in Muskegon, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-muskegon-lake
An environmental group calculated how much Toledo, Ohio residents and others pay for drinking water because of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, and the costs quickly add up. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-drinking-water-cost
Six years after a panel of experts concluded that the state’s public works were in “a state of disrepair,” the quality of Michigan’s water infrastructure and the consequences of failure are no longer being ignored. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-water
Last month’s first full month of seasonal shipping totals in the Twin Ports in western Lake Superior dipped considerably compared to the same month a season ago. Industry leaders blamed a difficult ice-out in March and April and used dip to advocate for another U.S. icebreaker. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-shipping-ice
The tugboat named “Lake Superior” that partially sunk in the Duluth Harbor, Minnesota back in March is now floating once again. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-tugboat
