The voluntary way has been tried and found wanting. The health of Lake Erie requires a firm regulatory regime to deliver the necessary reduction in phosphorous loading — now rather than later. Read the full story by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-voluntery
Green Bay is the largest freshwater estuary in the world, and now the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is leading the search for a site between Marinette and Door County to become a National Estuarine Research Reserve. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210412-reserve
A fishing expedition for a highly invasive species of carp is underway in the waters of the Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-scarecarp
A new study by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shows that high-capacity wells have been reducing the level of three lakes in the Central Sands region, affecting ecosystems and recreation in the area. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-centralsands
Gary, Indiana, and other lakefront municipalities are one step closer to accessing a tool designed to encourage development along Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-lakefronts
In Michigan, a spill of firefighting foam at the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport caused a spike of PFAS pollution at the Kalamazoo wastewater treatment plant, sending some into the Kalamazoo River. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-kalamazoo
The City of Hamilton, Ontario, will spend $40,000 on a biodiversity plan it says will help protect local habitats and species. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-hamilton
Visitors to New York’s Genesee River will notice something new this spring and summer — a series of mile markers and reflective signs to help guide kayakers on their adventures. Read the full story by the Daily Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-kayakers
In Alpena, Michigan, bereft of runoff from melting snow, Long Lake’s water level is the lowest in recent memory. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-longlake
The muskellunge, some of which can exceed 50 inches, make their way from Wisconsin’s Lake Monona each spring with hopes of leaping into Lake Wingra. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210409-muskies
A new report finds that the Great Lakes basin’s large urban centers, including Metro Detroit, are now being confronted with significant climate challenges, but also stand to benefit from prudent investment in green infrastructure. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-climate-change
According to the study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, focus groups from both of Michigan’s peninsulas identified environmental threats for coastal communities and called for education on how to be better stewards of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-environmental-education
This past winter was drier than normal over the Great Lakes drainage basin. As a result, the Great Lakes water levels continue to decline faster than the typical late winter decline. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-water-levels
Operators of recreational boats less than 26 feet long on federally-regulated waters, including Lake Superior, are now required to have and to use an engine cut-off switch and associated engine cut-off lanyard under a new federal law passed by Congress and enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-boat-engine
Traverse City, Michigan’s multi-million dollar FishPass Project has seen ongoing arguments between the city and some residents who don’t want to see the project break ground. Now the Great Lakes Fishery Commission has filed a motion to become a formal party in the lawsuit. Read the full story by WPBN -TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-fishpass
An alarming spike in the number of drownings across several of the Great Lakes last year may have been linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, a new research study finds. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-drownings
Lake Michigan water levels are down a foot and homeowners along the lakeshore are happy. Read the full story by WOOD – TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-lakefront-homeowners
After a year in lockdown due to COVID-19, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s largest research vessel left the harbor in Chicago, and was expected to reach the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair by Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release from the EPA. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-lake-guardian
Conservationists are celebrating the Chicago Park District’s announcement Wednesday of a 3.1-acre expansion of Illinois’ Montrose Dune Natural Area, a site that’s gained international attention in recent years as the nesting home for a pair of endangered Great Lake piping plovers, Monty and Rose. Read the full story by WTTW – TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-chicago-plovers
The Erie Canal is a more than 360-mile canal connecting the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and took only 8 years to build. Read the full story by History.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-erie-canal
Located near the western shore of Michigan, Muskegon Lake was declared an Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. After designing, planning and restoring areas of the Muskegon Lake shoreline, the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project is preparing for revegetation this spring. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-restoration
Located near the western shore of Michigan, Muskegon Lake was declared an Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. After designing, planning and restoring areas of the Muskegon Lake shoreline, the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project is preparing for revegetation this spring. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-restoration
Lake Michigan appears to have hit its seasonal low for 2021 and lake levels are expected to begin their seasonal rise. Lakes Michigan and Huron, treated as one body of water in the Army Corps’ measurements and analysis, are about 1 foot below their record-breaking level last year of 581.63 feet, and about 2 feet above average water level for the last century. Read the full story by The Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-water-levels
Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory have used the only known long-term dataset of deep-lake temperatures to determine that Lake Michigan’s temperature is slowly increasing over the past 30 years, subtle changes that over a long timeframe could shorten big lakes’ winters, lengthen their summers and have a big impact on everything from fish populations and algae blooms to winter storms and erosion. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-michigan-climate
Ohio voters could be asked to approve borrowing $1 billion in November 2022 to pay for improvements to Lake Erie and state waterways, including water treatment systems, wastewater management, watershed restoration, research and other items, under the banner of Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio program. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-ohio-waterways
Michigan researchers are asking for volunteers to transcribe paper fish observation records that date back more than a century as part of a project at the University of Michigan that aims to understand how climate change and other factors have impacted fish in Michigan lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-fish-climate
The city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has been officially entered into consideration as the location for the federal government’s new Canada Water Agency, although a final decision on the location for the new agency won’t be made until 2022. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-water-agency-canada
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Enbridge to shut down their Line 5 oil pipeline by May 12, but the company has so far refused to comply, leading to a showdown between the biggest mover of oil in the United States and one of the country’s emerging political leaders on climate, over land in her own state. Read the full story by Grist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-line-5-michigan
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation announced two new pen-rearing projects for Atlantic salmon this spring, targeting Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario waterways. Read the full story by Sun Community News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-fish-new-york
Enbridge wants to show the Joe Biden administration that the tunnel the Canadian company is building for its oil pipeline under Lake Michigan is exactly what the U.S. president’s plan for better infrastructure is all about. Read the full story by Bloomberg News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210407-line-5
There’s no forecasting system in place, but recent research from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists, published in the journal Natural Hazards and based on the Ludington meteotsunami, might help forecast future waves. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-meteotsunamis
April showers bring May flowers. They can also flood basements, turn streets into rivers and cause sewer overruns into Lake Michigan. Homeowners can help us avoid that by what they plant around the house. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV- Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-rain-gardens
The Miller 3 wildfire in the Miller Woods section of the Indiana Dunes National Park was declared “controlled” on Monday, and trails in the area are expected to reopen this week. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-wildfire
The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks issued an advisory not to consume any Smelts caught south of Batchewana Bay to the St. Mary’s River headwaters (the Goulais Bay area) due to a toxin which has recently been detected in them called Toxaphene. Read the full story by Sault Online.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-smelts
The level of Lake Superior remains well above normal but it is also well below its high-water mark of a year ago. The International Lake Superior Board of Control reports that Superior was 18 centimeters (7.1 inches) higher than its long-term average (1918 to 2020) for this time of year at the beginning of April. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-superior
An incident involving gunfire near tribal spearfishers last year is prompting tribal and state officials to send a warning that harassment won’t be tolerated during this spring’s tribal spearfishing season. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-tribal-spearfishers
The Eastern Seaboard has the Appalachian Trail, the Western Seaboard has the Pacific Rim Trail, and the Rocky Mountains has the Continental Divide Trail. If the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has its way, southeast Michigan will soon have a regional trail of national significance called the Great Lakes Way. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-great-lakes-way
Duluth’s mayor is pressing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to investigate whether the agency is responsible for erosion along a six-mile stretch of Lake Superior beach. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-beach-erosion
Nestled along Lake Michigan is Grand Haven Michigan’s iconic lighthouse. Now, more than 150 years after it was built in the 1870s, the lighthouse is inching closer to bringing people inside its doors for the first time in years. Read the full story by WZZM-TV- Grand Haven, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-lighthouse
Enbridge Inc. wants to show the Joe Biden administration that the tunnel the Canadian company is building for its oil pipeline under Lake Michigan is exactly what the U.S. president’s plan for better infrastructure is all about. Read the full story by Bloomberg Green.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210406-enbridge
Recent events in the Suez Canal drew worldwide attention to the fact that when a cargo vessel goes sideways in a shipping channel, it can cause big problems. Those working within the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes system reflect on the economic damage that could be done if a similar situation occurred closer to home. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-shipping-delays
A ship quarantined off Milwaukee, Wisconsin because of an outbreak of COVID-19 will finally be allowed to dock on Monday. Read the full story by WLS- TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-shipping-vessel
A drop of $52 million in spending on the cleanup of the Lake Erie watershed is another result of the coronavirus pandemic and a new bill from Ohio State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, is designed to reinvigorate and secure those funds. Read the full story by the Sentinel-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-erie-cleanup
New York Sea Grant, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), announced that funding is now available for projects that engage youth under the age of 21 and address local watershed challenges and New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda priorities. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-ny-sea-grant
A network of farms in the Wisconsin counties of Oconto, Marinette and Shawano aiming to demonstrate environmentally sustainable farming practices has been launched through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-sustainable-farming
A wave of water known as a meteotsunami surged across Lake Michigan and damaged homes and boat docks in the beach town of Ludington, Michigan, almost exactly three years ago. Now, scientists say it was the first of its kind ever documented in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Weather Channel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-meteotsunami
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is forecasting a three-inch rise in Lake Superior water levels during April and expects the lake to remain above average through summer. Read the full story by WDIO – TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-superior-water-levels
Detroit History Tours in Michigan has announced the return of its legendary boat tours on the eighty-five-foot-long tall schooner, the Appledore IV, following the cancelation of last year’s boat season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by the Detroit Metro Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-detroit-sailing
A federal judge has dismissed the latest attempt by property owners in a northwestern Indiana town to deny public access to Lake Michigan beaches. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-indiana-beaches
The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership, a coalition of U.S. and Canadian maritime groups, commissioned the “American Anchor” film series to “tell the untold tale of shipping in America.” The new short film series shines a spotlight on Great Lakes shipping and its wide-reaching economic impact. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times .
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-shipping-film
