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
In many Ontario Indigenous communities, water treatment plants are staffed by a single person. A training program is trying to change that. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-water-crisis
U.S. Senator Gary Peters, co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, introduced two bipartisan bills to bolster Great Lakes fishery research and management efforts that are critical to both the Great Lakes ecosystem and Michigan’s robust fishing industry. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-bipartisan-bills
The public is invited to provide feedback on the environmental impact of a plan to restore the Grand River’s rapids in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The city of Grand Rapids is seeking $11 million to remove four dams and adding 20,000 tons of natural rock and boulders to the river. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-river-restoration-public-feedback
In a time of transformation, the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, and others comment on current environmental and political challenges and emphasize the growing importance of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-toledo-transition
The Great Lakes state of Michigan has the most lighthouses in the nation and when you visit them, you can get a stamp in the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s Passport. Small donations from passport holders have generated thousands of dollars since the passport program launched in 1994. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-lighthouse-passport
The Great Lakes passenger-car ferry, the S.S. Badger, was backing into its dock in Ludington, Michigan, this past Wednesday when the vessel collided with its permanently moored sister ship. A local fan of the vessel stated this kind of accident seemed near impossible and was a very odd occurrence. Read the full story by The Maritime Executive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-ferry-collision
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is planning to install a surveillance tower in Rochester, New York, to enhance border security along Lake Ontario. Locals had mixed reactions to the proposed tower which would provide 24/7 surveillance of the area. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-surveillance-tower
From the water, the view of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, transforms at night, especially during a recent full moon paddle with Brew City Kayak, highlighting the city’s past, present and future. Read the full story by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250919-moonlight-paddle-milwaukee
The remains of a 19th century double-masted schooner rest under just seven feet of water in Lake Huron. The Maid of the Mist dragged its anchor and ran aground during a storm in 1878, causing its keel to break. The wreckage now lies buried deep in the sand. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-1878-shipwreck
As whitefish disappear from the lower Great Lakes, scientists are hatching emergency rescue plans. One idea being floated is to take fish out of the lakes and raise them indefinitely in ponds for safekeeping. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-whitefish-rearing
An Areas of Concern Cross-Agency Partnership Summit in Toledo, Ohio, is bringing together federal, state and local partners to restore Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by WTVG – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-aoc-summit
A nearly two-year long completed river restoration project aims to significantly improve water quality and aquatic habitats in the Maumee River as well as improve the health of Lake Erie. Read the full story by WTVG – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-maumee-restoration
The Campbell’s Co. admitted on Monday to polluting the Maumee River that feeds into Lake Erie over a six-year span at the company’s massive canning facility in western Ohio. The company admitted to violating the Clean Water Act at least 5,400 times between April 2018 and December 2024. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-campbell-pollution
The Buffalo Sewer Authority is being sued after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation alleged that nearly three million gallons of “untreated sewage and runoff” are being discharged each year, impacting the Lake Erie basin. Read the full story by WIVB – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-nydec-sewage-lawsuit
An environmental group is suing the City of Racine, Wisconsin, to disclose projected water use at Microsoft’s Mount Pleasant data center, one of the first moves in what will likely become the next phase of controversy over Great Lakes water rights. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-data-center-water-use
Oakland County, Michigan, is challenging the state’s mandate to improve how it operates in one drainage district, arguing it would require taxpayer-funded investment without “evidence” the measures will improve water quality or protect public health. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250917-state-permit-challenge
While the discovery of a wooden schooner hidden beneath the depths of Lake Michigan for nearly 140 years is noteworthy on its own, it also was the first time citizen scientists and community historians from around the Midwest were able to participate in looking for a historic wreck. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-lakemichigan-shipwreck-found-citizens
As global aquaculture has grown to meet increasing demand for protein, a small but determined group of inland fish farmers in the Great Lakes region are building a more sustainable, local supply. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-inland-farmers-sustainable-future-greatlakes
The Army Corps of Engineers’ latest cost estimate for the mega project to build a new shipping lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, has dropped to $2.6 billion. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-pricetag-soolocks-drops
The state of Michigan began testing a random assortment of rivers and streams for microplastics this year. Data from the first sampling round is being analyzed and quality-checked, but the preliminary results are not encouraging. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-michigan-microplastic-pollution-state-waters
First lit in 1901, the red-roofed, south light house in the Duluth Canal has stood longer than the lift bridge itself. It has now been acquired by the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association, and they’re looking to give it some much needed renovations before opening it for tours in 2027. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-historic-lighthouse-tours
Bowling Green State University biology students have made the University’s Ecology Research Station home to dozens of mini experiments to support the state of Ohio’s efforts to mitigate harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250915-bgsu-students-ohio-wetlands-implementation
