Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz will take a lead role in preserving and protecting the Great Lakes after being named vice chair of the Great Lakes Commission during the group’s annual meeting. Read the full story by the Herald Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-ice-glc
A recent study published in Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences measured the ice coverage of 60 lakes, and found that climate change has contributed to faster rates of ice loss. Scientist found that of those 60 lakes, Lake Superior was warming the fastest and has lost over 60 days of ice cover since 1857. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-ice-coverage
The newly launched Great Lakes FreshFishFinder.org highlights businesses where consumers can buy locally produced fish across the entire Great Lakes region. The site’s focal point is an interactive map that allows users to find a variety of fish products and offerings. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-great-lakes-fish
The International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board said it has increased outflows through the Moses-Saunders Dam that will continue through mid-December. Read the full story by the Standard Freeholder.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-lake-ontario
Erie Hack, sponsored by the Cleveland Water Alliance and others, is a contest being held around Lake Erie to promote new ideas to address serious water issues in the region. Read more about the four innovative ideas that have made it into the contest’s semifinals. Read the full story the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-erie-hack
PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam has contaminated waterways and private drinking wells in Wisconsin for decades. Between July and October, officials in nearby Eau Claire, Wisconsin shut down half its 16 municipal wells over PFAS contamination, and across the state PFAS have poisoned drinking water supplies, surface water in lakes and streams, air, soil and wildlife like deer and fish that are eaten by the state’s residents. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-pfas
The Port of Duluth-Superior announced last week it can now handle “significantly larger” volumes of containers arriving on international vessels because of expanded permissions from the Department of Homeland Security. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-duluth-port
Lake Michigan is experiencing record-breaking high water temperatures for late October. According to the National Weather Service in Chicago, these temperatures remain higher because of October’s weather being warmer than in previous years. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-lake-michigan
Expanded shipping, growing recreation and preparing for climate change are all areas that need increased focus among the Great Lakes. Officials must find ways to bolster the potential of those industries to meet the future. Read the full story The Morning Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-economic
A changing climate is altering Lake Superior in many ways including more frequent severe storms, warmer water temperatures, less ice coverage and an arrival of algal blooms. These changes are becoming a problem for us all. And, it’s time our elected officials start paying attention. Read the full story by The Capital Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211025-lake-superior
Michigan officials are working to iron out the details of a $2.5 billion spending plan focused on replacing lead water lines, improving the safety of dams and installing filtering systems in schools. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-water-plan
Northeast Wisconsin Water is launching a new watershed program to implement conservation practices that help improve water quality, including reducing sediment and runoff. Read the full story by WFRV-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-clean-waterways
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur presented her Great Lakes Authority Proposal, a plan for the nation’s largest pool of skilled and experienced production workers and the world’s largest supply of fresh water, at a field hearing of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. Read the full story by The Morning Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-proposal
A recent report on blood lead levels in U.S. children highlights the urgent need for congressional action on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better House reconciliation package, both of which include funding for cities to remove lead water lines that threaten the health of Wisconsin’s children. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-lead
A film made by Michigan United Conservation Club and the National Wildlife Federation will focus on Michigan’s outdoor traditions and economy are at risk due to the impacts of a changing climate on the landscape. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-film
Nestle Waters North America dropped its permit for a massive water withdrawal expansion in Michigan late last month but still plans to withdraw smaller amounts from the area. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-nestle
Officials at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority announced Thursday morning that the city’s Clure Public Marine Terminal can now handle much larger volumes of international shipping containers coming by water. Duluth is now one of two ports able to receive this size of shipments on the Great lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway, the other being Cleveland, Ohio. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-ports
Michigan’s NotMISpecies webinar series, sharing current information about invasive species and what’s being done to address them returns with 10 new sessions focused on emerging threats, new research and technology, educational opportunities and “how-to” tips for managing invasives in your backyard. Read the full story by WGLQ – Escanaba, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-webinar
It is time for President Joe Biden to step up and support Michigan Governor Whitmer’s decision to decommission Line 5. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-line-5
Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has restored its Lake Michigan shoreline nearly two years after a severe winter storm damaged the beach at Klode Park. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-beach-shoreline
The Biden administration is launching a broad strategy to regulate PFAS. Environmental Protection Agency Administer Michael Regan, said they are taking a series of actions to restrict PFAS from being released into the environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as military bases and increase investments in research to learn more about where PFAS are found and how their spread can be prevented. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pfas-pollution
According to a recent study published in ScienceDirect, rising temperatures and drier weather due to climate change and increasing fuel loads could double the probability of wildfires occurring in the Great Lakes region by the end of the century. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fire-climate
The operator of a Michigan oil pipeline temporarily shut down Line 5 this week after protesters posted a warning on social media that they planned to turn an emergency valve. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-line-5
There has been public push back against recent reports that the Quebec government may ban all oil and natural gas development, arguing that mandating an energy will produce rolling blackouts, energy poverty, higher food prices and environmental degradation. Meanwhile, proponents in the Quebec government are advocating for a “Just Transition” focused on sustainable development. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fossil-fuel-climate
Michigan has been chosen as the site of a new Coast Guard National Center of Expertise that will study the impact of freshwater oil spills with the aim of improving effective emergency responses with offices in Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-oil-spill
In 2014, a harmful algal bloom overwhelmed the Toledo Water Intake Crib and caused a three-day undrinkable water crisis. This event showed that even in regions with resources as vast as the Great Lakes, water supplies are vulnerable to these kinds of man-made threats. Read the full story by Milwaukee Independent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-water-quality
Ontario’s Environment Minister announced $2.58 million to pay for 19 new projects, focusing on keeping soil, and potential pollution from Ontario farms, from entering the province’s streams, rivers and lakes. Read the full story by CFPL-TV – London, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-farm-runoff
Brown County Land Conservation has set aside 2022 budget funds to improve water quality and soil health working with farmers to adopt conservation practices. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pollution
Invasive zebra mussels have been found in Copake Lake, NY, during the most recent survey of the lake last month. Read the full story by Columbia-Greene Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-invasive-mussels
Citing “unsettling” revelations about the state of Michigan’s handling of Benton Harbor’s lead-in-water crisis, the leader of Senate Oversight Committee has asked Michigan environmental regulators to turn over a lengthy list of documents detailing their response. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-lead
A reported $35-million agricultural maritime export facility broke ground Friday, Oct. 15, on Jones Island in Milwaukee in what is the largest one-time investment in Port Milwaukee history since the 1950’s. Read the full story by WDJT – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-milwaukee
More than 40 organizations throughout the Great Lakes region are getting some much-needed money to help with restoration projects across several states, including Michigan. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-green-infrastructure
Jutting into Lake Erie since the end of the last ice age, the Presque Isle peninsula is an important resting and nesting place for migratory birds. More than 339 species have been identified on the 3,200-acre spit of sand, trees and marshes in Presque Isle State Park, Erie County. Read the full story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-plovers
The SS Badger backed into its dock Oct. 10 for the last time this season, letting about 300 passengers off into Ludington and ending nearly five months of daily round trips across Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-badger
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast, a stretch along the Lake Michigan shoreline, was recently designated a national marine sanctuary. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-shipwreck
An energetic group of Sandy Creek Central School student volunteers recently spent a fall Saturday helping experts replant beach grass in an effort to stabilize the fragile sand dune system along the shore of Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-dunes
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation wants to focus the conversation about climate change on Lake Huron. Read the full story by Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-huron
The Lake Erie shoreline will soon benefit from a new program that engages citizen scientists in monitoring the changing conditions along the waterfront and submitting photos, observations, and measurements to provide accurate and near real-time information. Read the full story by The Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-lake-erie
A contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just finished nearly $5 million in repairs on the Buffalo North Breakwater. Read and hear the full story by WBFO – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-buffalo-repairs
The International Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River Board has increased outflows from Lake Ontario through the Moses- Saunders Dam. This began on October 16 and will continue for approximately eight weeks, through mid-December to return water levels in Lake Ontario to the level they would be if outflow deviations had not been required this past season. Read the full story by Rochester First.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-ontario
In Ontario, the double-crested cormorant, perhaps more than any other animal species, is under siege due to the political whim of the current government, using shoddy science to justify the mass hunting of these birds. Read the full story by The Pointer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-cormorants
After several years of erosion caused by high water, including some record Lake Erie levels that cut into beaches, officials in Pennsylvania are pleased with conditions on Presque Isle’s shores. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-beach
The North Country Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area has been awarded a grant of $50,000 in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding to access and utilize Michigan Natural Features Inventory data to focus plant surveys where endangered plants coincide with likely avenues of spread of invasive plants. Read the full story by Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-survey
While supply chain issues ravage various industries and aspects of life as the world tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders at the Port of Green Bay say they have not seen the same issues due to the type of traffic the westernmost port of Lake Michigan receives. Read the full story by WLWK-TV- Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-port
All lead service lines in Benton Harbor, Michigan, would be dug up and replaced by April 2023 under a goal announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer amid an escalating response to toxic lead in the city’s water supply. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-lead
Researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University recently received $5.4 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue their study of climate change. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-climate
Great Lakes steel production fell by 11,000 tons last week, while U.S. steel mills dipped under 85% capacity utilization, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-steel
Since the first reported algal bloom in Lake Superior in 2012, no serious levels of toxins had been confirmed. That changed last month with a bloom near Superior, Wisconsin, where toxins in the water at a nearby beach were just beyond the level set for safe swimming. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-algae
President Joe Biden has chosen a new administrator to oversee Region 5 of the Environmental Protection Agency, covering Indiana and other Great Lakes states. Read the full story by WBAA- West Lafayette, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-epa
Construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel in the Mackinac Straits of Lake Michigan is officially delayed until at least 2022. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-tunnel
