Over 4 miles out from Cleveland, Ohio, salt mines exist 18,00 feet under Lake Erie. The mines are millions of years old and every day between 11,000-14,000 tons of salt are processed there to be applied to winter roadways. Read the full story by WANE-TV – Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260327-erie-salt-mine
Cruise the Great Lakes officials spent time in Erie, Pennsylvania, to determine if the city can be a port site in the future. Representatives gave a rundown of the economic and tourism impact of the cruises. Read the full story by the Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260327-great-lakes-cruises
In the late 1800s, a Great Lakes ship captain had more to worry about than icy water and temperamental gales. There were pirates on the lakes that had their eyes set on precious cargo like timber, cattle and leather goods. Actor Tom Kastle and director Francisco Torres explain how they bring the centuries-old pirate from the sea to the stage. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260327-great-lakes-pirates
Due to climate change, the Great Lakes are heating up faster than others globally. Of all the lakes in the world, Lake Superior was identified as one of the fastest warming in 2021, and its neighbors aren’t far behind. Read the full story by Pelham Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-warming-regions-ontario-climate-data
Below Cleveland, Ohio, in a subterranean world many surface dwellers don’t know exists, miners extract a crucial winter mineral — salt. The Whiskey Island salt mine, owned by food giant Cargill, helps supply road salt across the Northeast and Great Lakes, where a colder, snowier-than-usual winter has driven demand. Many municipalities exhausted supplies that typically last through spring. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-lake-erie-salt-mine-winter-roads
According to a recent poll, 55% of Chicago residents say the Lake Michigan shorefront is Chicago’s most distinguishing feature. Lake Michigan is considered important by 94% of adults in the city and suburban Cook County, Illinois, with 59% saying it’s very or extremely important. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-lake-michigan-chicago-defining-assest
The Great Lakes shipping season begins when the Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior with the lower Great Lakes, open for ship traffic just after midnight on Wednesday. But vessels begin to stir several days before the locks open and the first ship of the season left Duluth on Monday. This new season starts with cautious optimism from port officials, who hope for a rebound following a challenging previous year. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-greatlakes-shipping-season-duluth
Lake Huron’s water levels are expected to fall about 11–12 inches below the long-term average and several inches below last year, reflecting a broader trend of declining levels across the Lake Michigan–Huron system. The drop is noticeable along shorelines and could affect navigation and coastal conditions, though it is part of normal variability influenced by weather and climate patterns. Read the full story by the Manitoulin Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-lake-huron-dropping
As the St. Lawrence Seaway began its 68th navigational season this week, questions remain about what its operating season should be. The previous season ended in January, the latest closing date in history, as ice slowed down the waterway. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-st-lawrence-seaway-shipping-season
The Great Lakes region is wasting large amounts of usable “waste heat” from sources like power plants, data centers, and sewage systems, which could instead be captured to provide clean, low-cost energy for heating and cooling. While the technology exists, progress is slow due to financial, political, and organizational barriers rather than technical limitations. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-greatlakes-wasting-massive-source-clean-energy
A new initiative promising the full use of each fish cleaned in the Great Lakes region has come to Lake Erie, and Walnut Creek has the first station in the region to take the pledge. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260325-lakeerie-fish-waste-recycling
Invasive carp, weighing up to 100 pounds and eating 10% of their weight in algae every day, could pose an existential threat to the Great Lakes. A multi‑layered barrier project at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam has been stalled after the Trump administration paused the funds, leading state leaders to press for its release. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-invasive-carp
After decades of delays, the vision for the Port of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, gets government attention and this time city officials say the timing is right for the project, and to help diversify the Sault’s economy. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-sault-shipping
The ambitious plans of artificial intelligence data centers are raising concerns about the long-term health of the Great Lakes region’s critical natural resource: abundant fresh water. Read the full story by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-ai-water
Increased consumption is depleting water sources in the Great Lakes region, most notably groundwater. Consumption keeps climbing and the depletion is raising concerns for residents, water experts, and lawmakers. Read the full story by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-groundwater-protections
Despite the abundance of water in the Great Lakes, this region is not immune to drought, flooding, or threats to water quality and water quantity. Water security is about mitigating the risks to water quality and quantity to maintain vibrant economies, and social, cultural, and ecological integrity. Read the full story by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-water-security
The boiler from the 1914 shipwrecked Silver Spray remains just offshore of Chicago in the Morgan Shoal, the ancient shallow bedrock in Lake Michigan. Chicago residents and advocates fear an Army Corps erosion plan to protect the lakefront could harm this rare natural refuge. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-morgan-shoal
Officials in Avon Lake, Ohio, will soon take the next step in redeveloping the former power plant site along Lake Erie into a public park and mixed-use district that could eventually include restaurants, housing, marinas and hotels. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-avon-redevelopment
This year a very thin ice bridge formed on Lake Superior between Michigan’s remote Isle Royale and the mainland, but the Isle Royale wolf and moose study, now entering its 68th year, detected no wolf movement across the ice. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-isle-royale-wolves
A visionary plan for how Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay might look years from now was generally well-received by residents. But those who attended the plan’s rollout also had a lot of concerns about how access would be maintained for boaters if the Sandusky Bay Initiative’s most ambitious project is built. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-sandusky-bay
St. Louis County, Minnesota, is asking for state funding to beef up the Lake Superior shoreline at Scandia Cemetery, where erosion has revealed human remains. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260323-cemetery-erosion
Winter maintenance at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is wrapping up as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prepares to mark the start of the 2026 Great Lakes shipping season. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-poe-lock
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) surveys the diverse and important Great Lakes fisheries every year between April and November. Surveying for 2025 has concluded, and DNR fisheries biologists are now synthesizing the findings and preparing for next year’s surveys. Read the full story by the Oscoda Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-huron-fisheries-surveys
After heavy March rainfall in the Great Lakes region, the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board is now predicting water levels to slightly exceed the average but adds that flooding risk remains minimal. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-ontario-water-levels
Fisheries experts from Ohio, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania and the province of Ontario will gather for the annual Lake Erie Committee meetings of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to establish total allowable catch limits for Lake Erie walleye and yellow perch harvests in 2026. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-erie-fisheries
In February 2025, a stream in Ontario’s Lake Simcoe watershed was saltier than ocean water due to winter road salt runoff. Accumulating levels of salt in the water impacts groundwater, fish, and drinking water. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-salt-simcoe
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday that more than $1 billion has been delivered to fund replacement of a major bridge connecting Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. The money will go to fund the $1.8 billion replacement of the Blatnik Bridge. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-blatnik-bridge
The inspector general for the Environmental Protection Agency is warning people about eating fish from the contaminated Eighteenmile Creek in Niagara County, New York. The lack of signage by the creek warning of fish consumption advisories and the contamination has been a problem for years. State authorities say they do not have the power to erect any signs. Read the full story by WIVB-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-eighteenmile-creek
An iconic Lake Michigan lighthouse, the Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Mason County, Michigan, could be restored two years earlier than expected due to the unanticipated speed with which the project has received support. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-michigan-lighthouse
Waste and litter are often found on or in lakes and streams during ice fishing season in the Great Lakes region. The Keep It Clean campaign uses different educational, legislative and enforcement methods to remind fishers, campers and everyday citizens to be aware of garbage they bring on their trips. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-ice-fishing-trash
New York’s Scajaquada Creek was the site of a more subdued, long-term environmental catastrophe compared to its infamous neighbor, the Love Canal. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260320-scajaquada-creek
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper has announced a $1.6 million grant program through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to support environmental restoration projects in Western New York communities. The Western New York Great Lakes Restoration Grant Program will award funding ranging from $25,000 to $500,000 to community projects addressing invasive species, habitat restoration or nonpoint source water pollution. Read the full story by the Clarence Bee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-restoration-grants
To prepare for the opening of the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the St. Lawrence Seaway Sunday morning, the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Martha L. Black arrived in Montreal to transit the distance of the Seaway and to create a path where needed. Read the full story by NNY360.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-seaway-opening
President Donald Trump said he’s working to save the Great Lakes from invasive carp, but the announcement comes as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has paused funding for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project that aims to block invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes. The pause is part of a broader administrative review despite Congress already appropriating $274 million for the $1.15 billion project. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-invasive-carp-funding
This week, growers across the Lake Erie grape belt were abruptly informed in a letter that one of their processors, “Refresco,” will no longer buy their grapes effective immediately. According to a representative on the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau board of directors, the agreement termination impacts 126 growers in Pennsylvania and New York, with 2,600 acres of grapes having nowhere to ship; in 2025, that had an economic impact of about $5 million. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-grape-growers
Minnesota Historical Society crews began scaffolding around the iconic Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior, part of a three-month restoration project to repair damaged bricks and mortar. To help prevent future cracking, the historical society will also install moisture sensors and a new HVAC system to help circulate air around the building to prevent condensation. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-lighthouse-restoration
The Wisconsin Historical Society announced March 11 that the wreck of the 144-foot-long, three-masted schooner F.J. King, which sank in 1886, is now listed on the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places. The shipwreck is historically significant because the remains are a very intact example of a shipping vessel unique to the Great Lakes and should continue to provide maritime archaeological information. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-shipwreck-preservation
As the S.S. Badger car and passenger ferry gears up for its 2026 season, Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc., which owns the Badger, announced that long-time chief engineer Kevin Diedrich is retiring. Since joining the Badger’s crew in 2001, Diedrich has worked every position in the engine department, according to the company. Read the full story by the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-carferry-season
Pennsylvania State Senator Dan Laughlin, a Republican from Erie, introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania Senate to increase the penalties for anglers who intentionally foul hook or snag a fish in the Commonwealth. The legislation would allow the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission to increase penalties for certain violations, such as snagging, without impacting other regulatory provisions. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-fishing-fines
The U.S. Coast Guard is set to reopen multiple regulated waterways in the northern Great Lakes, starting on Thursday, March 19. According to a Coast Guard announcement, the waterways include the Pipe Island Passage, West Neebish Channel and the waters between St. Ignace, Michigan, and Mackinac Island. Read the full story by The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-waterway-reopening
According to the Mayor of Avon Lake, Ohio, residents have informed city officials that they want more access to Lake Erie. Avon Lake’s Planning Commission will consider a proposal to rezone the land where the now-demolished Avon Lake Power Plant stood along the edge of Lake Erie from industrial to special commerce accompanied by a lakefront mixed-use overlay district. Read the full story by The Chronicle-Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-lakeshore-redevelopment
According to a research scientist at the Large Lakes Observatory on Lake Superior, because lake ice cover is impacted so heavily by weather, and Minnesota’s winter weather has become more variable, so too, has the “ice out” date each year for many lakes across the state. In addition to the ecological impact of ice out variability, the increasingly unpredictable season shift impacts human communities and industry. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260318-ice-variability
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin want President Donald Trump to put money where his mouth is on a massive project to help stop invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes — a project the Trump administration paused in December. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-brandon-road
In December 2025, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board approved to reduce commercial fishing quotas for whitefish in Lake Michigan by 40% in response to a dramatic population decline. Those quotas went into effect at the beginning of this year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-whitefish-quota
From the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, to PFAS contamination and pipeline threats to Michigan waterways, three profiles in honor of Women’s History Month highlight women leading the fight for clean water and environmental justice across Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-ej-women
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has intervened in Consumers Energy’s plan to sell its suite of 13 hydroelectric dams to a Maryland private equity firm. It’s the first time the department has gotten involved in a case before Michigan’s energy regulators, who will rule on the sale. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-dnr-dams
Scientists and engineers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and other organizations are tracking an autonomous underwater vehicle beneath the ice in Lake Erie as part of a research project to better understand the lake’s ecosystems. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-erie-auv
A $5.75 million federal grant has been awarded to the Lake Forest Open Lands Association to support a preservation project along 57 unique ravine systems stretching 22 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-ravine-preservation
As the S.S. Badger car and passenger ferry gears up for its 2026 season, its chief engineer of 24 years is retiring. He lived on board for seven months of the year, crossing Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Ludington, Michigan, more than 400 times each season. Read the full story by the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-badger-retirement
A man survived after being swept into Lake Michigan by waves while on a closed pier in South Haven, Michigan, last Friday. The life ring used in the rescue came from stations installed in 2023 as part of the city’s ongoing beach safety program. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260316-pier-rescue
