While the Western Lake Erie watershed, which includes the Raisin and Huron rivers, has a low amount of toxins, its overall water quality remains poor, according to a report by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The watershed earned an overall grade of 49%, a “C” score in the study. Read the full story by Bedford Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200825-lake-erie
The first phase of a $4.9 million outdoor enhancement project at Belle Isle’s Dossin Great Lakes Museum has been completed. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200825-dossin-museum
As algal blooms flourish on the edges of the Great Lakes, lake management groups seek to reduce the flow of nutrients into the water that feeds the algae. However, a recent report by the International Joint Commission explains that the deeper offshore waters aren’t getting enough nutrients. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-low-nutrients
Researchers from the University of Minnesota are monitoring water along Lake Superior beaches for signs of the virus that causes COVID-19. After more than a month and a half of testing, there’s not yet any sign of it. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-signs-of-covid
Efforts are underway to clean up Muskegon Lake in western Michigan, a lake that was once essentially used as a dump. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-lake-junk
A minor earthquake near Detroit Beach rattled Downriver areas of Michigan and was felt in places through the region but left the nearby Fermi 2 nuclear power plant in a safe condition, officials said. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-earthquake
A handful of Michigan state parks are equipped with WiFi, making them an out-of-the-box option for anyone working (or schooling) from home this fall and willing to take their home office on the road. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-work-at-state-park
All five of the Great Lakes’ surface water temperatures are still above their 1995-2020 averages, according to NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch. These high water temperatures are mainly caused by persistent warm weather along with light winds. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-water-temperatures
Two conservation corps – Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps and Cream City Conservation Corps – gathered to work together for the first time to clean up decades’ worth of fallen trees, branches and debris from Cedar Creek in eastern Wisconsin. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-milwaukee-area-cleanup
After the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed a report of zebra mussels in Farm Island Lake in June, the Farm Island Lake Association has doubled its efforts to keeps lake residents informed about aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by the Aitkin Age.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-zebra-mussels
Through webcam-based lessons, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakes is offering free virtual distance learning programs with classrooms or students at home. Read the full story by Up North Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-sleeping-bear-dunes
Cruise the Great Lakes, a coalition of states, Canadian provinces, cruise lines, ports, and convention/visitor bureaus, has agreed to a pledge that outlines the safety precautions cruise lines will take to keep passengers safe from COVID-19 in 2021. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200824-cruise-ship-pledge
The St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River corridor is known for its muskie fishing, but the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking to learn more about these well-traveled waterways and how they are fished. They need some help from anglers to do it. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-angler-data
Evanston, Illinois, aldermen agreed to spend about $750,000 earlier this month in stop-gap measures to help protect the city’s eroding shoreline. The $750,000 to be spent in Evanston aims to address damage caused by record high Lake Michigan water levels, coupled with severe storms and intense waves. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-shoreline-fixes
It’s the most isolated place in Michigan. And despite sweeping changes elsewhere, life on Beaver Island remains serene. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-Beaver-Island
A group of 85 anglers dropped poles in the water Thursday for the first day of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society’s 2020 YETI Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair, one of nine stops in the series. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-bass-tourney
At least 88 waterspouts or funnels were spotted across the Great Lakes this week, setting a new world record, according to the International Centre for Waterspout Research. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-waterspout-record
The state of Michigan and other defendants have reached a $600 million settlement in the Flint water crisis lawsuit that will provide hundreds of millions in payments to city residents. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-Flint-settlement
That’s the tongue-in-cheek message from U.S. Coast Guard, which found an inflatable shaped like the mythical creature floating in Lake Superior on Wednesday. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-unicorn
Despite signs of a rebound this summer, cargo moving through the Port of Duluth-Superior is still down 30% compared to last year. Lost time can’t be made up on the Great Lakes, and we’re seeing that reflected in the port’s 2020 tonnage totals. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-cargo-lag
Despite signs of a rebound this summer, cargo moving through the Port of Duluth-Superior is still down 30% compared to last year. Lost time can’t be made up on the Great Lakes, and we’re seeing that reflected in the port’s 2020 tonnage totals. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-cargo-lag
A drone has been pulled from Lake Michigan following an aerial assault from a bald eagle. The drone was operated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-drone-eagle
Western Lake Erie’s 2020 summer algal bloom is growing along the Ohio shoreline and moving as far east as Sandusky and the Lake Erie islands. But the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration bulletin shows its toxicity remains relatively low for now. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200821-algal-bloom
Desperate measures to protect homes from erosion and high water could have lasting impacts on Great Lakes’ once-natural coastlines that have been hardened with rock and steel. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-seawalls
According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, a nonprofit that tracks drownings, there have been over 900 drownings in the Great Lakes since 2010. In 2020, there have already been 60 drownings — 34 of which took place in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-drownings
In 1959, L. David Mech arrived on the remote Isle Royale national park in Lake Superior to study the interaction between wolves and moose. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-isle-royale
The chance of a La Niña developing this fall has been increased to 60 percent. When La Niña is strong enough and lasts into winter, the weather pattern can be altered to a more harsh-winter situation. Read and view the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-la-nina
The Brecksville Diversion Dam and historic Pinery Feeder Dam have been removed and the Cuyahoga River is now free-flowing in Brecksville for the first time in over 190 years, according to National Park Service (NPS) officials. Read the full story by Akron.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-brecksville-dam
The Huron County Health Department announced the closure of Bird Creek Park and Wagener County Park beaches Aug. 19 due to high E. coli levels. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-ecoli
On Wednesday, a hydraulic excavator operator transferred dredged sands from a barge into a slurry box on the bay side of Park Point near the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth as part of a project to rebuild some of the eroding shoreline. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribute.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-park-point
Seven athletes will combine to swim, paddleboard and kayak 50 kilometres from Amherstburg, Ontario to Leamington, Ontario Saturday to raise awareness and funds for Lake Erie’s health. Read and listen to the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-erie-fundraiser
Colin Boyd Shafer, a documentary photographer working for Environmental Defence, is highlighting the strong connections area residents have with the lake. Their stories that will be presented in a documentary this fall. Read the full story by Chatham This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-lake-erie
Bowling Green State University professor Dr. Timothy Davis was one of nine international researchers recently named to the Scientific Steering Committee for GlobalHAB, an international program that is jointly sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Read and view the full story by the Sentinel-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200820-algal-blooms
Lake Erie fish trawls give fisheries biologists a pretty accurate picture of the strength of the most recent walleye hatch, and from that, a look at the prospects for the future of walleye fishing on Erie. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-lake-erie-walleye
A long-awaited dredging project has begun at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan with the goal of restoring visitor ferry service to North Manitou Island next year. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-dredging
Recent policy changes by Ontario threaten the protection of natural areas in the Lake Simcoe watershed as aggregate extraction will soon be permitted in the habitats of endangered species and other natural features. Read the full story by Orillia Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-lake-simcoe
Despite all the investments, Chicago and communities on the North Shore are once again scrambling to cope with the effects of an overflowing Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-higher-lake-michigan
A doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, Wolfson is leading a multi-year study to fit about 40 trumpeter swans across the state with GPS tracking collars this summer to learn more about their movements, mortality risks and habitat use. Read the full story by the Brainerd Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-trumpeter-swans
The Tuscarawas River has become Ohio’s 15th state water trail, a designation that will help encourage recreational use of the waterway by residents of the Buckeye State. Read the full story by Coshocton Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-water-trail
Reconstruction work on Duluth’s Lakewalk features new designs like large rocks strategically placed along the shore to break up wave energy from Lake Superior. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-duluth-lakewalk
Cleveland Water is warning some residents on the city’s west side they may see water with a slight yellow color coming out of their taps. Read the full story by WOIO-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-discolored-water
A greenish-blue ooze coming from the ground in Troy, Michigan, has residents complaining of a foul odor and worrying it might be toxic. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Troy, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-bubbling-ooze
The state of Michigan recently unveiled a new interactive map providing information on shipwrecks in Michigan Great Lakes waters. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200819-shipwrecks
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences scored both the Western Lake Erie basin and the Western Lake Erie watershed in a report card for the year 2018. The basin scored 58%, a C+, based on indicators in water quality, fish and algal blooms. Read the full story by Farm and Dairy.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-erie-report
A draft report suggests Norfolk County, ON should adopt a piecemeal response to a changing climate. Through hundreds of specific modifications, the report says Norfolk can fortify itself against a future which climate models suggest will be warmer, wetter and punctuated with more frequent events that include drought and extremes of heat and cold. Read the full story by Simcoe Reformer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-norfolk-ontario-climate
A free app and website, Swim Guide, was developed as a part of the Swim Drink Fish initiative by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper to help people find healthy beaches, and includes E. coli and water quality results for Kingston swimming locations. Read to the full story by Kingstonist News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-swim-guide-water-quality
More than 140 businesses in shoreline communities have received a portion of $17 million from New York State’s Lake Ontario Resiliency Program; the grants were awarded to businesses affected in the eight-county area that surrounds Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Read and view the full story by Niagara Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-ontario-business-grants
Michigan regulators have rejected a plan to convert a drainage canal in suburban Detroit to a sewage overflow treatment basin on Lake St. Clair, citing residual chlorine in the treated sewage that would have made a wetland unworkable. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-michigan-sewer-plan
Bay Mills Indian Community has developed a draft watershed management plan for Michigan’s Waishkey River which is now in a review period; over five years, partners created a watershed management plan to reduce pollutants including pathogens, nutrients, pesticides, sediment and heavy metals. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-waishkey-river-plan
The St. Mary’s River Drive Boardwalk in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario will be under repair and remediation as a construction firm was awarded a $741,795 contract. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200818-sault-construction-funding
