Michigan is working to meet the new federal lead action level for drinking water by November 2027. The new rule will force all states to comply with a lead action level of 10 parts per billion. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-lead-laws
After an incredibly rough start to the Bayview Mackinac sailing course across Lake Huron on Saturday, race officials today confirmed nearly half of the fleet has dropped out due to extreme weather that snapped masts and tore sails. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-bayview-mackinac
A new peninsula has appeared at one of Michigan’s busiest beaches, but don’t expect it stay for long. Crews are building an addition to Silver Beach in St. Joseph as part of an experiment to see how different methods of putting dredged sand on the beach can reduce how long fine particles cloud the water. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-dredging-experiment
Crews have cleared a clogged sewer pipe that may have contributed to recent flooding in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The debris created a 420-foot clog in the sewer, packed with roughly 20 truckloads of material, located roughly half a mile from the pipe’s discharge point into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-clogged-sewer
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc will open the new Wisconsin Sailing and Maritime Hall of Fame in September. The permanent exhibit will honor individuals and businesses that have shaped Wisconsin’s maritime heritage. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-wisconsin-sailing
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking for tips to find the person who they say left a dead lake sturgeon on a road in Whitehall, Michigan. Damage to the fish’s left gill plate indicates it may have been snagged, which is an illegal fishing method in Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-sturgeon-poached
The Detroit River Scholars program is helping youth connect with the heritage of the river through hands-on experience on a schooner. The program aims to break down historic barriers for people of color. Read the full story by Bridge Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-detroit-schooner
Cuyahoga County’s Fresh Water Institute and the Student Conservation Association help pair students with local organizations that complete work related to Ohio’s waterways, giving the next generation of environmental scientists hands-on experience. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-cleveland-internships
An additional route has been added to the passenger ferry, RANGER III, to bring Isle Royale campers back to the mainland as wildfire smoke hangs heavy over Michigan skies. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-isle-royale
Two Michigan agencies approved key permits Wednesday for the Enbridge Line 5 tunnel to be built under the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-mi-line5-approvals
Great Lakes Tribal Nations and environmental advocates have called on state officials to shut down Line 5 for years and now decry Michigan’s approval of key permits to move the project forward. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-line5-opposition
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has temporarily closed the Sandy Creek boat launch in Monroe County because of high water levels on Lake Ontario. The closure took effect immediately after a recent inspection found that rising lake levels had caused the facility’s docks to become significantly submerged, creating a safety hazard for boaters. Read the full story by Finger Lakes Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-nysdec-closed-launch
A new study based on data from competitive angling events in the Great Lakes found that more than 20% of black bass weighed at these events are over 10 years old, with at least one individual reaching its early 20s. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-black-bass
Great Lakes cruises are exploding in popularity as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shatters another record for visitors. These cruises aren’t just providing a luxurious experience, but also important scientific research. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-milwaukee-cruises
Smallmouth bass fishing is strong along Ohio’s Lake Erie coast, with anglers reporting high catch rates and healthy fish populations. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-smallmouth-bass
In Ontario, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit reported Wednesday that a sample of water taken in the northwest arm of Dog Lake tested positive for blue-green algae. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-doglake-bga
A northern Michigan defense center is hosting a U.S. Navy military exercise off Lake Huron through Friday, July 24. The exercise, conducted at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, includes experimentation with manned and unmanned drones throughout the Great Lakes, on the ground and in the air. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-huron-military-drones
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary and S.S. Badger will open an updated exhibit in the museum and aboard the car ferry. The exhibit highlights S.S. Badger history, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan, maritime artifacts and shipwrecks in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast sanctuary. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-ssbadger-exhibit
The Marquette Maritime Museum in Michigan is preparing for its 2026 Lake Superior Day celebration on Sunday, July 19. Since 2019, the museum has held the event to educate younger generations on the importance of preserving our waterfronts, while sharing the history and beauty of the largest Great Lake. Read the full story by WZMQ-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-superior-day
Seven decades after a 1957 moonshot project to control the population of invasive sea lamprey, legislation is now before Congress that would task the Great Lakes Fishery Commission with finding a control. The bipartisan bill, dubbed the “Save Great Lakes Fish Act of 2025,” proposes a $500 million budget spread across 10 years to find a solution. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-lamprey-legislation
A recently completed restoration project along Michigan’s Lake St. Clair shoreline in Grosse Pointe Shores has brought the area back to a more natural state. Through the Great Lakes Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration supplied more than $200,000 for a feasibility study and provided a grant of more than $7,000,000 to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House for engineering, design and construction. Read the full story by the Grosse Pointe Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-coastal-restoration
Infinite Erie, alongside Erie Mayor Daria S. Devlin and Erie County Executive Christina Vogel, will present the case for expanded maritime manufacturing in Erie, Pennsylvania, at a summit in Carlisle, PA., hosted by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA). Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-maritime-manufacturing
Michigan’s Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Natural Resources Division Fisheries Program finished its spring stocking season after releasing more than 1 million fish into the Upper Great Lakes, including more than 900,000 walleye and nearly 300,000 lake whitefish. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-fish-stocking
Scientists are now able to confirm via satellite that western Lake Erie’s 2026 algal bloom has started to form, though it hasn’t yet become abundant enough to form a mat on the surface. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-algae-forming
The company operating the two largest cruise ships on the Great Lakes, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, has ordered two more exactly like them, officials announced. The 665-foot, expedition vessels will be joined by identical ships in 2030 and 2031. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-cruise-ships
The USS Silversides, one of the most decorated submarines of World War II, has arrived in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for a three-month preservation project — its first dry dock preservation in more than 50 years. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-submarine-preservation
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s youth corps was back in Kincardine, Ontario, for the third year in a row to learn about the coastal environment, plastic pollution, and shoreline ecology. They used what they learned to protect the Lake Huron shoreline and develop their own knowledge and skills. Read the full story by The Kincardine Record.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-youth-engagement
The Erie Yacht Club recently hosted its 35th Frolic on the Bay, an event that provides boat rides and a picnic to individuals with special needs and those from disadvantaged situations. This year marked the biggest event since the program’s inception with nearly 200 guests in attendance. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-community-event
Public health officials are warning of an outbreak of blue-green algae in Lake Superior’s Black Bay, approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read the full story by SNnewswatch.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-algae-bloom
Michigan fisheries officials say that rising costs and stagnant fishing license fees could lead to further staffing and fish-stocking cuts, with only limited one-time funding provided in the latest state budget. Some lawmakers oppose fee increases, saying the Department of Natural Resources is mismanaged and shouldn’t get more public funding. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-michigan-fisheries
Water chestnut, an invasive plant species, is choking waterways along Lake Ontario, spreading faster than officials and boaters can remove it. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-water-chestnut
The proposed plan to expand Billy Bishop airport for jets could degrade water quality in Toronto’s Inner Harbour on Lake Ontario and negate the benefits of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure upgrades intended to keep it clean, according to a new city report. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-toronto-harbor
A group of marine archaeology enthusiasts will take to a southwestern Ontario beach this summer to learn more about the fatal shipwreck of the SS Erie Belle that happened more than a century ago. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-erie-belle
Heavy rain this spring, combined with ample snowmelt runoff into some Great Lakes, have boosted the water levels from below normal to above normal. Only Lake Superior is still below the long-term average for July. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-water-levels
This episode of the podcast “On Hand” recounts the story of one man’s love for Lake St. Clair, the “heart-shaped” lake, and the song it inspired him to make. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-lake-st-clair
A new book details how Downriver Detroit’s close connection to the Detroit River and shaped a region where industry and the natural environment were constantly intertwined. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-downriver
The hot weather last week has pretty well taken care of the colder-than-normal water coming out of the long winter. The exception is Lake Superior, which is still quite cold and colder than average. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-water-temps
Michigan’s Saginaw Bay-area Fire Departments participated in a “Open Water Rescue with Boat Operations” class on Lake Huron; training included identifying hazards, risk-benefit analysis, cold water survival and incident command. Read the full story by Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-water-training
Wolves that steal backpacks and enter tents have prompted officials at Isle Royale National Park to temporarily close one of the park’s 36 campgrounds. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-isle-royale-wolves
Sometime over the next few months, the University of Wisconsin-Superior is set to debut a new classroom that is unlike any other. The Sadie Ann, a 65-foot vessel described as a floating classroom, will be used for both research and instruction on Lake Superior. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-new-classroom-vessel
A small earthquake, with a 2.9 magnitude on the Richter scale, struck below Lake Michigan, off the coast of a Chicago suburb, on Wednesday, July 8, according to the United States Geological Survey. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-lake-michigan-earthquake
A bacteria contamination advisory is in effect at Ohio’s Maumee Bay State Park, covering both the inland swim area and Lake Erie, after water testing showed E. coli levels exceeding state standards. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-maumee-bacteria-advisory
An estimated 3.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment remains on the U.S. side of the Detroit River and the price tag for the cleanup is about $1 billion. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-detroit-river-contamination
Little yellow buoys that monitor weather and wave action are being deployed in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so people can check real-time conditions before they head out on the water. Read the full story by WBAY-TV-Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-green-bay-buoys
After hearing 90 minutes of public opposition to data center development, Michigan’s Garfield Township Planning Commission voted unanimously this week to advance a zoning amendment that could pave the way for a moratorium on the facilities. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-data-cetner-pause
Late-season snowmelt and weeks of steady rain caused lakes Michigan and Huron to rise 13.4 inches, the largest April increase on record. As of early July, lakes Michigan and Huron have returned to ideal conditions. Read the full story by the Benzie County Record Patriot.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-lake-michigan-water-level
A coastal geomorphologist at Michigan State University breaks down what’s happening where the land meets Great Lakes water and how lakeshore residents can use this summer’s calmer conditions to prepare for the future. Read the full story by the Huron County View.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-great-lakes-shoreline-outlook
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Conservation Commission recently granted numerous partners $9 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act funds. The money will benefit three programs in Great Lakes states. Read the full story by The American Hunter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-waterfowl-funding
For more than 20 years, 21 beaches across five counties in Michigan have been monitored weekly throughout the summer months. Beach monitoring tracks factors that affect water quality and results are posted publicly allowing residents and visitors to check water quality before heading to their favorite swimming spots. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202607010-beach-monitoring
Two sailors with Great Lakes roots are preparing to compete in the prestigious Admiral’s Cup, an elite international yacht racing competition returning in 2026 after a long hiatus. The pair, who learned to sail on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, will represent the United States as part of a team competing against some of the world’s top sailors off the coast of the United Kingdom. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260708-greatlakes-sailors-prestigious-yacht-races
