The Kalamazoo River flow below Morrow Dam will be reduced to a mere trickle several times this month while utility divers replace dam gates. River flow will be reduced to about 100 cubic feet-per-second — an unprecedented reduction, say local anglers. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-kalamazoo-river
Last week’s announcement by the Trump administration to end federal endangered species protections for gray wolves was met with resistance from some Minnesota leaders and conservation groups. One of those groups said the fight isn’t over. Read the full story by WXPR-Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201103-gray-wolf
Biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Central Michigan University have started working toward that goal with a project to propagate, or rear, snuffbox at Consumers Energy’s Webber Dam on the Grand River, near the town of Lyons in Ionia County, Michigan. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The Ottawa SWCD has partnered with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Great Lakes Commission to launch two new nutrient trapping programs, which are promoting practices intended to intercept and hold water, nutrients and sediments in and on farms fields to mitigate loss running off to Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nutrient-trapping
The agency searching for a location for an underground storage facility for about three million spent nuclear-fuel rods says it has reached a “milestone” in regard to one of the potential Ontario sites on its narrowed short list. Read the full story by The Chronical Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-nuclear-waste
The corpses of song birds migrating south while using Lake Michigan as their interstate and GPS are being found after colliding with Milwaukee buildings. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-milwaukee-birds
Strong winds caused big waves at Lake Michigan Sunday afternoon and evening. Waves could be seen crashing over Grand Haven’s south pier, which caused flooding. Read the full story by WOOD-TV- Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-michigan-waves
Anglers will have the opportunity to catch trout on remote lakes in northeastern Minnesota following helicopter-based fish stocking efforts this fall. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-minnesota-stocking
After the Department of the Interior announced Thursday the delisting of the Grey Wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), management for wolf populations will be handed over to state jurisdiction in 60 days. In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources will handle the task. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-wisconsin-wolves
During an online PFAS summit, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy aquatic biologist Brandon Armstrong announced that PFOS is showing up more often and in greater concentrations in fish. . Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-pfas-fish
Governor Gretchen Whitmer spent time on the campaign trail in Traverse City, Michigan Thursday, talking about water quality issues while stumping for a state house candidate. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-water-quality
The U.S. Coast Guard is reminding people of the dangers presented by cold weather as cold air and water temperatures significantly decrease survival time for anyone immersed in the water or exposed to the elements. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-coast-guard
Construction for FishPass hasn’t started just yet, but Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and other project partners celebrated the project’s start in Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-fishpass-traverse-city
Michigan non-profit organization Stand Up for Great Lakes made a $13,000 donation to Paddle Antrim. The donation will be used to help bring awareness to the chain of lakes in Antrim County and help keep them clean. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201102-antrim-county
Participants in this year’s St. Lawrence River Institute’s River Symposium Science Day in Cornwall, Ontario, learned about the important waterway and the impact it has had on Akwesasne residents over thousands of years. Read the full story by The Gananoque Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-river-symposium
In Ontario, Waterfront Toronto announced that the new Cherry Street North bridge has been completed, and is embarking on a journey down the St. Lawrence from Nova Scotia to Toronto for installation. The bridge will connect the new “Villiers Island” to Toronto and the revitalized Port Lands. Read the full story by Toronto Urbanized.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-Toronto
Walpole lsland First Nation is planning to establish a commercial fishing industry. Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, on the border between Ontario and Michigan. Read the full story by The Courier Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-chief
A $2.9 million cleanup of contaminated sediments along the Detroit River will help bring a new look to the Motor City and set the stage for the completion of the Riverwalk by linking two popular waterfront parks. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-motor-city
Many areas in Ontario experienced record-hot temperatures in 2020 which, combined with high-intensity rainfall and with periods of calm, are favorable to algal bloom formation. Read the full story by Barrie Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-algae-bloom
In Ohio, the Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District is offering property owners and farmers in the Turtle Creek and Portage River watersheds financial incentives through new cost-sharing programs for nutrient best management practices. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-nutrient-trapping
Genesee County, Michigan, has agreed to sell its last remaining parcel of property near Lake Huron, netting $600,000 from the land that remained after construction of a Lake Huron intake for the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-genesee-county
Protections for most gray wolves will once again be eliminated under a final rule announced by the Trump administration. The decision removes gray wolves, except for the Mexican wolf, from the endangered species list in the lower 48 states. The final rule would take effect in January. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-gray-wolf
A group of Native American tribal citizens utilized a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac to take a look at Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines. They may have inadvertently confirmed the most important finding in Great Lakes archaeology in at least a decade. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-ice-age
This past week, the Invasive Species Centre – through the Asian Carp Canada program – presented a panel of experts to discuss the threat of Asian carps, and the measures being taken to keep these invasive species out of our Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Kingston Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-carp-session
Erie, Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle State Park beaches continue to show signs of erosion, but officials are still calling the 2020 sand replenishment a success. Read the full story by the Erie Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-presque-isle
Due to the relatively dry spring and summer, the 2020 algae bloom came in on the lower side of the forecast which was between a 4 or 5 out of 10. Read the full story by WNWO -TV– Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-eries-habs
A partnership composed of public and private entities has accomplished its mission of restoring a floodplain in North Perry Village on Lake Erie in Ohio. Read the full story by The News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-floodplain-restoration
The coronavirus pandemic is encouraging more Ohioans to be hikers, bicyclists, kayakers, and campers while at the same time devastating other parts of Lake Erie’s tourism-based economy, such as amusement parks and waterparks. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-erie-recreation
The coronavirus pandemic is encouraging more Ohioans to be hikers, bicyclists, kayakers, and campers while at the same time devastating other parts of Lake Erie’s tourism-based economy, such as amusement parks and waterparks. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-erie-recreation
Tamaracks are Wisconsin’s only native coniferous tree that is not an evergreen. The trees can be found throughout Wisconsin, but their numbers are dropping. Since 2000, over 150,000 acres of tamaracks have died across the Great Lakes states due to warmer temperatures, droughts and the eastern larch beetle, according to Treehaven at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wisconsin-tamarack
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday will announce a new rule to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states. Read and hear the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wolf-delisting
The COVID-19 pandemic brought droves of people to Wisconsin’s outdoors this year. And a study released Wednesday but conducted before the arrival of the coronavirus lays out just how important activities like biking, camping, hiking, golf and scores of other outdoor activities are to the state’s bottom line. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wisconsin-tourism
Dams are inspected by the state of Michigan on a cycle of every three years. A recent inspection ordered by Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller found the county’s dams to be in good shape with any chance of failure being highly unlikely. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-macomb-dams
Dams are inspected by the state of Michigan on a cycle of every three years. A recent inspection ordered by Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller found the county’s dams to be in good shape with any chance of failure being highly unlikely. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-macomb-dams
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, the nation’s largest provider of dredging services, announced October 22 that it is moving its national headquarters to Houston, Texas, from Oak Brook, Ill. The company will maintain a business and operations support center in the Oak Brook area. Read the full story by the Waterways Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-gldd
As the high-profile legal case over the Lake Erie Bill of Rights continues, Toledo residents are stuck paying over $200,000 in legal fees for the entity suing Toledo over the bill. Communities involved in protracted environmental litigation often find themselves responsible for huge legal bills, which can discourage such municipalities from taking such action. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-costly-lebor
A new long-term study of Ontario loons revealed fewer chicks are currently being born than in previous years. Scientists say declines in loon chick hatches are possibly connected to declines in Great Lakes water quality. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-loons
This shipping season has witnessed an influx of international freighters on the Great Lakes, many transporting wind turbine parts to drop off in Duluth bound for wind farms in the northern plains. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-shipping-windmills
Lake Ontario is slightly above its long-term average water level, and forecasts predict that levels will decrease over the next month. However, some are concerned about flooding over the winter and spring and are calling for more water to be released from the Moses-Saunders dam to avoid this scenario. Read the full story by WRVO – Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-ontario-levels
Nearly two months after a new law went into effect restricting the use of hazardous PFAS foams, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is still trying to write rules for enforcing it amid disputes over what is considered foam and how to define effective treatment. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-wi-pfas
The Port of Thunder Bay in Ontario is on track to have shipped its highest per-tonne volume of goods in well over two decades this year, bucking the downward trend seen by most ports during the pandemic. The port has been buoyed by a strong global market for Canadian grain. Read the full story by TVO News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-shipping-grain
A new survey of the towns of Somerset and Yates in New York found that 83% of residents oppose a wind power project on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-wind-opposition
Michigan announced it will retain an international civil engineering firm to provide a technical review of Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project after environmental groups raised concerns about the Michigan’s ability to adequately evaluate the project. Read the full story by WKAR – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-line5
The Superior Watershed Partnership won the 2020 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award for their habitat restoration projects along the shores of Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-superior-watershed-partnership
The Erieau Marina in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, along Lake Erie is getting help from the Ontario government to tackle plastic pollution using new plastic capture technology. Read the full story by CTV – News Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-ontario-plastic-marinas
Canadian grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway topped 6.2 million tonnes at the end of September, maintaining its 20 per cent increase over the 2019 season, according to the latest results. While the ‘grain rush’ has helped lift cargo totals, Great Lakes-Seaway shipping also reported decreases in commodities related to steel production, and the energy and construction sectors. Read the full story by Manitoba Co-operator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-shipping-seaway
A western Michigan city has been selected to receive a $5.1 million federal water infrastructure improvement grant to help pay for lead service line replacement. The grant will help fund 1,700 lead service line replacements in the coming years. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-water-lead-infrastructure-grant
Approximately 20 households in East Bay Township near Traverse City, Michigan could have drinking wells contaminated with PFAS chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks with state and local health officials seeking to test the properties, provide bottled water as a short-term safety precaution, and potentially switch the homes to municipal hookups going forward. Read the full story by The Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-pfas-pollution-michigan
The oil pipeline company Enbridge pushed to limit what a state regulator could consider regarding relocating the Line 5 twin pipelines across the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-line-5-review
Rainstorms dumped 4.4 inches in 36 hours on Traverse City, and its sewage system didn’t overflow has it had in previous large rain events. City officials continue to investigate infiltration to prevent a repeat of the past three spills; the worst sent more than 50,000 gallons of sewage into the Boardman River. Read the full story by The Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-sewer-traverse-city-infrastructure
