Scientists used an autonomous underwater vehicle to explore shipwrecks in Lake Michigan for the first time. The expedition highlighted the significant challenges of exploring the Great Lakes, even with advanced tools. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-underwater-robot-deep-scans-lake-michigan-shipwrecks
In New York, Farmers across five Finger Lakes counties are receiving major support for conservation projects that reduce runoff, manage nutrients, and improve long-term water quality throughout the state. Read the full story by Fingerlakes1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-fingerlakes-award-waterquality
As the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking approaches, a new book revisits the ship’s captain, Ernest McSorley, and the tragedy that claimed 29 lives. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-last-captain-edmund-fitzgerald
At Cleveland’s Sturgeon Fest, to be held on October 4, 1,500 lake sturgeon fingerlings will be released into the Cuyahoga River. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-lakesturgeon-cuyahogariver
A show that brings Great Lakes beach glass enthusiasts is returning to Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 11 and 12. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-erie-expo-beach-glass
An $8 billion data center campus is coming to Port Washington, Wisconsin. The city’s common council unanimously approved the development in August, despite dozens of residents sharing their concerns over the potential environmental impacts and energy needs of the massive facility. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20251001-port-washington-data-center-watersupply
As the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal approaches on October 26 in New York, organizers are seeking to temper the celebration with an acknowledgment of the waterway’s displacement of Native American communities. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-erie-canal-bicentennial
From dining on authentic cuisine served on the ill-fated freighter to a solemn laying of wreaths on the water, the Detroit Historical Society is hosting a weekend of events to honor the 29 mariners who died in the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald nearly 50 years ago. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-edmund-fitzgerald-anniversary
As part of a court case filed by environmental advocacy groups, The Campbell’s Company recently admitted to violating the Clean Water Act more than 5,000 times from 2018 to 2024 at their Napoleon, Ohio, facility which discharges water into the Maumee River. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-campbells-violations
A cruise line focused on U.S. destinations will join the growing Great Lakes cruising industry in 2026. The new ship will sail lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Ontario from May to August 2026 with 9- and 14-day itineraries. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-great-lakes-cruises
After recent sightings, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is increasing monitoring in Lake Winnebago for invasive round gobies. The DNR is working with local fishing groups and partners to help catch the fish. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-winnebago-gobies
With the closing of a crossing between a sleepy Ontario island and a village in New York State, islanders face modest inconvenience — and the end of an era. Read the story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-us-canada-ferry
Local historians are looking for one of the last radios to be in contact with the Edmund Fitzgerald. The radio was among discarded items when the Auxiliary Coast Guard building in Grand Marais, Michigan, was emptied. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-missing-radio
A lake sturgeon reintroduction program in Ohio’s Maumee River has released 3,000 fingerlings annually since 2018. Early survival rates are promising, and researchers aim to establish a self-sustaining population of 1,500 sturgeon by 2038. Read the full story by WFFT-TV – Fort Wayne, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-maumee-sturgeon
A new business provides lessons along the Detroit River on a relatively new type of watercraft. e-Foils, motorized surfboard-like watercraft derived from kiteboarding, allow users to travel over the water at up to 30 mph for about an hour at a time. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-efoil-lessons
A $5.5 million expansion at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, made room for a pilot house, a new permanent gallery, space for rotating exhibits, offices, a conference room and places for seminars and workshops. Read the full story by the Toledo City Paper.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250929-museum-expansion
Cities across the Great Lakes are trying to plan and prepare for a growing population due to climate migration. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-climate-migration
Federal cuts to Great Lakes science would harm the quality of life, the multibillion-dollar economies built around the lakes, and emergency preparedness, a group of environmental advocacy officials, academics and local government representatives said Wednesday. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-greatlakes-science-cuts
Mayors from major cities in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region launched a 10-year economic transformation plan positioning the region as a “Fresh Coast” corridor to capitalize on growing global water scarcity. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-fresh-coast-initiative
Thunder Bay, Ontario, is joining the first-ever Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup on September 28, World Rivers Day. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-thunderbay-cleanup
An employee error led to the wastewater leak at the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, earlier this month. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-wastewater-overflow
The Chicago River made news recently for hosting an open water swim, the first organized swim event in the river in nearly 100 years. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, may not be ready for such an event. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-cuyahga-river-swim
Expanding underwater spearfishing in Michigan would open more of the Great Lakes to the sport and broaden the kinds of fish anglers could harvest, but wildlife regulators must first approve the change. Read the full story by WJBK – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-michigan-spearfishing
City council members are demanding accountability after a chemical spill from Lubrizol’s Avon Lake, Ohio, facility released 6,600 gallons of diluted polyurethane into Powdermaker Creek. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-avon-lake-spill
Great Lakes piping plovers, a rare shorebird species endemic to the Great Lakes basin, are experiencing a remarkable resurgence in northern Michigan. Read the full story by Up North Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250926-piping-plovers
After the U.S. Coast Guard closed its Grand Marais, Minnesota, station in 2022, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa launched what’s believed to be the first Indigenous-led coast guard, now rescuing vessels and serving Minnesota’s North Shore. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-indigenous-coast-guard
Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany reintroduced the Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve Act this month, which aims to designate Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin as a National Park. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-apostle-islands
The U.S. Coast Guard Sector of the Eastern Great Lakes plans to introduce a tool called Aqua Alerts, which will be sent straight to the public’s phones to notify them and local mariners about search and rescue efforts on Lakes Erie and Ontario. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-aqua-alerts
New research shows a fivefold expansion of seawalls, riprap, groins and other hard armoring of Lake Michigan beaches in recent years. Coastal armoring temporarily protects properties from erosion but makes the problem worse in the long run. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-armored-shoreline
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s $3 billion ‘Project Clean Lake’ has passed the halfway point, with billions of gallons of sewage already kept out of Lake Erie. When completed, massive storage tunnels will help capture and treat 99% of the district’s combined stormwater and sanitary sewage. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-project-clean-lake
The Riveredge Nature Center in Saukville, Wisconsin, has raised hundreds of lake sturgeon that will soon be released in Lake Michigan. In partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, this rehabilitation effort has released over 22,000 sturgeon in the past two decades. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-sturgeon-release
The Lake Michigan car ferry, S.S. Badger, crashed into a docked ship last week when its engines didn’t respond. The engines are in working order despite this anomaly, but the ship’s damaged seagate was removed and will be replaced at the end of the season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-badger-collision
In terms of popular fascination, few shipwrecks compare to the foundering of the Edmund Fitzgerald in a 1975 Lake Superior storm, with the loss of its entire 29-person crew. The shipwreck’s ‘human element’ keeps its story alive. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-edmund-fitzgerald
The Alliance for the Great Lakes recently issued a report that the Great Lakes region isn’t prepared for the dramatic water and energy use demands of data centers. The region is at a critical moment, one that requires caution, statewide oversight, strong regional planning, and transparency. Read the full story by The Capital Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-data-centers
Long rumored to be on the floor of the lake but never seen, the F.J. King schooner had eluded divers and taunted storytellers for generations. It was miles off the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin. Read the full story by the New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250924-new-shipwreck
The Michigan Supreme Court said it will hear a challenge brought by Indigenous Nations and environmental advocates who argue that the Michigan Public Service Commission broke state laws in approving Enbridge’s proposal to construct a massive oil tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-pipeline-legal-challenge
The Michigan Supreme Court said it will hear a challenge brought by Indigenous Nations and environmental advocates who argue that the Michigan Public Service Commission broke state laws in approving Enbridge’s proposal to construct a massive oil tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-pipeline-legal-challenge
According to a new report by the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Clean Wisconsin, nitrate contamination could cost communities millions of dollars in remediation and lead to higher health care bills for thousands of residents in largely rural areas where people rely on private drinking water wells. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-nitrate-impacts-report
According to a new report by the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Clean Wisconsin, nitrate contamination could cost communities millions of dollars in remediation and lead to higher health care bills for thousands of residents in largely rural areas where people rely on private drinking water wells. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-nitrate-impacts-report
One billion dollars will be spent in efforts to “significantly” improve water quality in the Niagara River, according to an agreement announced Friday between the Buffalo Sewer Authority, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Attorney General’s Office. Read the full story by WIVB-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-water-quality-funding
One billion dollars will be spent in efforts to “significantly” improve water quality in the Niagara River, according to an agreement announced Friday between the Buffalo Sewer Authority, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Attorney General’s Office. Read the full story by WIVB-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-water-quality-funding
According to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), about 20,000 gallons of wastewater leaked into Lake Michigan from MMSD contractor Veolia’s South Shore facility on Sept. 18. MMSD is in the process of investigating and has reported the spill to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-sewer-overflow
In celebration of “Coastal Awareness Month,” the Wisconsin Department of Administration announced $1.3 million in Wisconsin Coastal Management Program grants for 35 coastal communities across the state. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-coastal-grants
The Trump administration is stepping into the legal fight over whether Enbridge can continue to operate an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel, arguing that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer interfered with U.S. foreign policy when she revoked the line’s easement almost five years ago. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-federal-intervention
The Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, a partnership between Wisconsin’s 13 public universities, has announced its commitment to investing more than $4.2 million in funding to support water education and water research programs. The collaborative hopes the investment will boost Wisconsin’s water workforce for years to come. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-water-investment
Every dollar that the federal government directs to state environment departments enables the Great Lakes and every other region to steward natural resources, yielding many times the value of the federal contribution. State environment departments make the case that they merit more financial support, not less, and express concern over President Trump’s proposal to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 55%. Read the full story by Circle of Blue.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-federal-funding
The Buffalo Sewer Authority has reached a settlement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation over past water quality violations, agreeing to pay a $20,000 penalty and invest at least $100,000 in improvements at Roosevelt Park in Buffalo, New York. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-park-improvements
On Saturday, the Alliance for the Great Lakes hosted its Adopt-a-Beach event as part of an international coastal cleanup. Around 2,000 of those volunteers worked to clean up the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250922-beach-cleanup
In the battle against invasive species, the common muskrat emerges as an unlikely hero. A new study sheds light on these oft-overlooked rodents and their ecosystem-altering behaviors – and how humans might replicate their actions to combat invasive aquatic plants. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-muskrat-management
A $330,000 grant has been bestowed upon the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in order to study the impact of microplastics on aquatic life in Lake Michigan. A team will collect fish around Lake Michigan and Green Bay and examine their stomach contents to identify the size and types of plastic particles they contain. Read the full story by WHBL – Sheboygan, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-microplastics-grant
