Great Lakes water levels are continuing to fall, which is entirely normal for this time of year. Fall and winter typically see less precipitation and more evaporation in the region. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251124-lake-levels
Bridge Michigan has spent the past several months chronicling the demise of the lower Great Lakes whitefish, investigating causes, consequences and potential solutions. Now, they’re teaming up with Detroit PBS to bring the story to your screens on the latest episode of Great Lakes Now. Read the full story by the Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251124-whitefish-race
A cruise-ship operator introducing its first Great Lakes cruises next year has scheduled Toledo, Ohio, port calls as part of its four itineraries. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251124-toledo-cruise
Waves on the Great Lakes are steeper and packed closer together, making them harder to read and faster to change. Experts say that volatility can make navigating the Great Lakes even more dangerous than the open ocean. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251124-ocean-danger
This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed amendments to the Clean Water Act that would leave a majority of the country’s wetlands without federal protections. Counties in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have the most to lose. Read the full story by Circle of Blue.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-wetland-protections
After a federal appeals court held that Michigan is not immune to legal action for its decision to revoke a Canadian energy company’s easement to operate a pipeline in the Great Lakes, the Whitmer Administration is seeking an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-line5-immunity
A coal plant on Michigan’s Lake Michigan shoreline which was originally set to shut down at the end of May will continue operating after the Trump Administration issued another extension. Environmentalists decried the extension, emphasizing the effects the plant has on air quality and Lake Michigan’s water quality. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-coal-plant
A new order from the Michigan Natural Resources Commission will open more of the Great Lakes to recreational spearfishing in 2026. Proponents of spearfishing say that the expanded reach will allow more people to try the sport and could spark more interest in the outdoors. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-michigan-spearfishing
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said Thursday that it’s awarding $2.9 million in grants for projects to prevent, reduce, or eliminate polluted runoff and other nonpoint sources of pollution. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-egle-grants
People walking, running or launching boats along Lake Erie’s shorelines may have noticed more exposed beach and rock than in recent years — a subtle sign the lake has dipped below its long-term water level average after a period of record highs. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-erie-water-levels
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, is holding its annual Christmas Tree Ship event, where the public can watch Santa Claus arrive on a tugboat filled with Christmas trees for families. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-xmas-tree-ship
After years of debates, the city of South Haven, Michigan, took a significant step toward bringing lifeguards back to its Lake Michigan beaches. Supporters of a new lifeguard program include beach safety advocates and families of drowning victims. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-michigan-lifeguards
A new book by a Michigan historian explores how Mackinac Island and the surrounding Straits region became a hub for travelers from across the country. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-mackinac-book
The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation works to preserve the visitor experience of the five national parks on Lake Superior. The nonprofit is making a major fundraising push to go up against critical headwinds the National Park Service faces. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251121-superior-parks
New research by a scientist at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University has found that using dredged material from Lake Erie in place of fertilizer for agricultural practices appears to be correlated to higher crop growth and yields. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-agricultural-research
American shippers are at odds with the Canadian government over its regulations that require all Great Lakes vessels or “lakers” to install systems to treat their ballast water by 2030. The systems are aimed at preventing the spread of invasive species through ballast water that’s taken up or discharged by ships at Great Lakes ports when they load and unload cargo. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-ballast-regulations
Two Michigan Congressional delegates have introduced bipartisan legislation that would devote $500 million over the next decade to battling invasive quagga and zebra mussels, which have destabilized the Great Lakes food web and driven whitefish populations toward collapse. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-mussel-funding
The fate of Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute project around tribal land in northern Wisconsin remains uncertain as parties submit post-trial briefs following the weeks-long contested case hearing over permits issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Enbridge faces a court-ordered deadline to get the pipeline off the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s land by June 2026 — although that decision is under appeal as well. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-pipeline-case
A Lake Superior shoreline restoration project is nearing completion in Marquette, Michigan. The Superior Watershed Partnership began the project in 2017 with $2 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a $2.5 million National Coastal Resiliency grant that the city of Marquette is matching. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-shoreline-restoration
Last week, nuclear accountability organizations filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the owner of the Palisades nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan in Covert, Michigan. The lawsuit argues an exemption granted by the NRC to allow the plant to reopen was improper and asks the court to prohibit approval of the exemption. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-nuclear-restart-lawsuit
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Tuesday held its first collection of steelhead trout of the season along Trout Run at Avonia Beach in Avonia, Pennsylvania. Fish eggs from five female trout are combined with milt from three male trout, fertilizing the eggs to become the next generation of steelhead trout in Lake Erie. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-trout-spawning
A federal judge has ruled that an Elk Rapids, Michigan, food processing company illegally polluted wetlands and tributaries that drain to Elk Lake and ultimately to Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-wetland-pollution
It was 67 years ago Tuesday that the SS Carl D. Bradley sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan near Beaver Island, claiming the lives of thirty-three men. On Saturday, between 100 and 150 people attended a bell-ringing ceremony at the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City, Michigan, to remember the crew. Read the full story by WCMU – Mount Pleasant, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-shipwreck-remembrance
In Illinois, the City of Joliet is working to approve a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to establish a collaborative framework between the city, labor unions, and contractors to ensure that work is completed safely, efficiently, and in the best financial interest of residents. The PLA applies to eight major work packages that include essential improvements to the city’s water system, all of which are required to facilitate the delivery of Lake Michigan water by 2030. Read the full story by WJOL – Joliet, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-labor-collaboration
A U.S.-based cruise company won’t be launching its new Great Lakes itineraries out of Cleveland next year as originally planned, opting instead to launch from Buffalo, New York. Toledo will be the cruise company’s only port call in Ohio. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251119-cruise-launch
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has several improvements underway in Erie, including a plan to increase the number of steelhead trout it produces and a new vessel. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-pa-steelhead
Stanton Yards, a Detroit riverfront development, aims to be a gathering place where people find inspiration in art and reconnect with nature through the transformation of the former Gregory Marina. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-stantonyards
New research reveals how gray wolves in Isle Royale National Park, Michigan seasonally alter their habitat preferences to align with beavers’ habitat preferences, a shift that might have implications for the island’s ecosystem. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-wolves-beavers
Chicagoans and Northwest Indiana residents are living on land that once belonged to Potawatomi Tribes. The Potawatomi Pokagon Band claims the land as where their Tribe was born. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-potawatomi-lands
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is taking steps to terminate Michigan’s Au Train Dam’s operating license following years of unresolved safety violations. The move marks the most serious enforcement action against the century-old dam, which is considered one of the state’s riskiest privately-owned hydroelectric structures. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-dam
The city of Lorain, Ohio has invested millions in cleanup and infrastructure to prepare the former steel industry site for mixed-use development to reshape its waterfront. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-steel-redevelopment
New rules from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on when and how the largest animal farms dispose of manure and liquid wastes are being praised by environmentalists as a step toward improving state water quality — and blasted by farmers as more costly bureaucratic impositions that won’t better the environment. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-farm-waste
A Canadian dive team searching for the century-old wreck may have stumbled upon a far rarer prize: a pristine shipwreck that could date back 50 years earlier than expected, offering a rare window into a little-understood era of shipbuilding. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-shipwreck
Most passengers on Great Lakes cruises are from the U.S. and Canada; however, the number of French- and German-speaking tourists is climbing. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251117-michigan-cruise-visitors
In Chicago, Illinois, 40 acres of lakefront property will be restored for a public park at the site of a toxic landfill that’s been operating along Lake Michigan for 40 years. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-newpark
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy says there’s not enough money to take care of Michigan’s dams — especially the ones that have put off maintenance for decades — and it’s putting people and property at risk. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-dams
Many of this year’s funding cuts to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Sea Lamprey Control Program have been reversed, and the program has secured full funding for 2026. But its future remains uncertain. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-lamprey
A northern Michigan tribe along with local environmental organizations have scored a major victory in a legal case in Elk Rapids against Burnette Foods, a nearby fruit processing operation, for allegedly polluting wetlands and Spencer Creek. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-elkrapids
Increased demand due to residential and industrial growth has strained the water system in North Dundas, Ontario. One long-term solution to this problem is to connect to the water system in South Dundas, which draws water from the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by The Morrisburg Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-dundas
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, is studying a neighborhood to see how people deal with their leaves. Leaves naturally contain phosphorus and other nutrients, which are great for growing plants and your lawn, but bad for rivers, streams, and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-mulch
In Michigan, the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant emits over a ton of noxious hydrogen sulfide gas annually. The city is pursuing its latest odor-busting project — a $135 million sludge dryer. Read the full story by WMUK – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-sludge
Lake Erie’s mythical monster, Bessie, was spotted Wednesday in the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. But this Bessie looked a bit different, thanks to the artistry of a plastic pollution awareness advocate. Read the full story by Ideastream Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251114-bessie
Michigan lawmakers hope to unveil legislation in Washington this week that would dramatically increase funding to prevent invasive mussels from wiping out whitefish in the lower Great Lakes. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-invasive-mussels-funding
As data centers proliferate across the Great Lakes, driven by AI’s soaring demands, communities face a dual reality: economic growth and environmental challenges. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-michigan-data-centers
Ontario plans to merge thirty-six conservation authorities to seven to improve efficiencies for the organizations that monitor water levels and erosion, manage recreation, and teach people about the environment. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-ontario-conservation-authorities
A recent lake sturgeon stocking effort took place in the Cattaraugus Creek by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Read the full story by Syracuse.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-ny-sturgeon
Every year as summer ends, Indigenous Michiganders head out onto lakes and rivers to collect wild rice, a staple food with cultural significance to these communities. Read the full story by WKAR-TV – East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-michigan-manoomin
As cold air rushes over the Great Lakes in late fall and early winter, the ingredients for powerful snowstorms fall into place. Lake Erie may be the smallest of the Great Lakes, but it packs the biggest winter punch. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-snow
On October 1, the federal government shutdown began, halting many research projects tied to federal agencies, including those vital to the University of Michigan’s Great Lakes programs. The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research works in partnership with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and depends on federal collaboration for critical work on water quality, algal blooms, and regional climate impacts. Read the full story by WEMU – Ypsilanti, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-annarbor-research
A type of algae called M. wollei appeared in Lake St. Clair in 2010. It’s vexing residents. Local, state, and federal agencies have a plan to control it. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251112-stclair-algae-muck
