Lake Erie’s cyanobacteria bloom has shrunk to an area of approximately 300 square miles, but officials continue to warn that the water remains toxic and residents should exercise caution. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250903-erie-algal-bloom
The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, in Michigan has a carbon fund that accepts donations from residents to fund local conservation efforts such as tree plantings that sequester carbon from the air. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250903-carbon-fund
The Supreme Court of Canada, in its decision released Thursday morning, announced it won’t hear an appeal of lower court decisions that confirm the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation’s ownership of a disputed piece of Lake Huron beachfront. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-beachfront-ownership
A dry summer in Montreal, as well as across southern and eastern Ontario, has pushed water levels in the lower St. Lawrence River to their lowest August level in more than a decade, affecting fishing, boating and commercial shipping. Read the full story by The Montreal Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-water-levels
Given society’s growing interest in AI, the data center industry will likely continue its rapid expansion. But without a consistent and transparent way to track water consumption over time, the public and government officials will be making decisions about locations, regulations and sustainability without complete information on how these massive companies’ buildings will affect their communities and environments. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-data-center-water
Lake Superior State University students are conducting one of the first studies to replicate real oil spill conditions in large mesocosms to potentially change how scientists respond to oil spills in freshwater systems. Read the full story by The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-oil-spill-research
Before boating season comes to an end, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is giving away free boat washes to address the threat posed by invasive plants and animals. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-invasive-species-prevention
The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in West Michigan has officially earned “operations status,” becoming the first commercial nuclear power plant in the U.S. to reopen after a shutdown. Once the 800-megawatt plant in Covert Township resumes power generation, it will provide enough electricity to serve over 800,000 homes and businesses. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-nuclear-plant-restart
The U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative awarded the Ohio Department of Agriculture a $1 million grant to help expand conservation efforts in the Western Lake Erie Basin to help reduce nutrient runoff. Read the full story by SpectrumNews1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-conservation-grant
Cigarette butts are polluting Lake Erie, prompting local efforts to clean up the shoreline and protect the environment. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is leading initiatives to educate the public on the importance of proper disposal to prevent litter from entering the water. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-cigarette-pollution
A major step in the eventual removal of the Gorge Dam from the Cuyahoga River is about to commence. Dignitaries including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. EPA Region 5 Administrator Anne Vogel are expected to celebrate the plan to remove nearly 900,000 cubic yards of sediment from behind the dam. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-sediment-removal
The SS Alpena, the oldest working freighter on Michigan’s Great Lakes, is back on course for another shipping season. The ship was built in 1942 and still carries cement to and from Alpena in northern Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250829-oldest-freighter
Lake Superior is the lone holdout in a mussel invasion that has overtaken every other Great Lake, a salvation credited to low calcium levels, cold water, and relative isolation. But a spate of recent outbreaks are testing old assumptions about the lake’s defenses. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-superior-mussels
Waterspouts swept across the Great Lakes this past weekend as a cold front moved into the region from Canada, and the region may see more in the coming days, weather experts say. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-waterspouts
More than 20 years ago, a young girl in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula tossed a message in a bottle into AuTrain Bay on Lake Superior, never expecting to see it again. That bottle traveled over 1,000 miles to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and has finally been returned to its sender, now grown up and living in Marquette, Michigan. Read the full story by the Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-bottle-message-travels
Tawas Lake, a 1,600-acre inland lake not far from Lake Huron, is home to Michigan’s largest bed of native wild rice, called manoomin in the Native Anishinaabemowin language. A new lake management plan for Tawas Lake will start with efforts to remove invasive species from the lake – a goal everyone supports. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-tawas-wild-rice
Those for and those against constructing a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac are making their cases. A comment period for the necessary permits from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy ends this Friday. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-line5-comments-close
Visitors sometimes leave stuff behind at Great Lakes beaches. One of the most common pieces of plastic trash found are cigarette butts. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-cigarette-polution
Following a protest by First Nations and environmentalists of the planned use of herbicides along Lake Huron’s shoreline, a forestry company has cancelled plans to spray herbicides that contain the chemical glyphosate in the area. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-canceled-herbicides
The United Nations has recently designated August 27 as World Lake Day. The day should be used to acknowledge the benefits derived from the Great Lakes and take action to ensure that they remain healthy. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250827-world-lake-day
Demand for water in Great Lakes states is likely to spike from data centers, mining and other uses. Officials should take a more proactive management approach to stave off shortages, according to a new report published by the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-datacenters-waterdemand
Shoreline erosion on Lake Ontario is happening as more extreme storms are making bigger waves that churn up more sediment and pull it deeper into the lake. For the St. Lawrence River, shoreline erosion happens when the river and its tributaries flood. Local governments, organizations, and communities are seeking solutions and investing in shoreline resilience. Read the full story by North Country Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-shoreline-erosion
Two lighthouses have helped guide ships into the canal and under the Aerial Lift Bridge into Duluth-Superior Harbor for over a century, and both lighthouses may soon be open to the public. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-duluth-lighthouses
A Door County, Wisconsin, tour guide spotted something unusual, leading to the discovery of a cargo ship that sunk over a century ago. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-wisconsin-shipwreck
Until a Michigan shipwreck hunter found it, the Carruthers was the last of eight vessels still missing on Lake Huron that sank during a 1913 storm. It also, until recently, was among the largest sunken ships in the Great Lakes that were still lost. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-huron-shipwreck-carruthers
This is the third consecutive year of record-setting piping plover breeding in the Great Lakes. Now an increasing number of the federally endangered birds are establishing nests on the Lake Huron side of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-piping-plover
As the sun rose over Lake Superior on the morning of August 24th, over 150 people went to Park Point, Minnesota, to participate in the first annual Great Lake Superior Swim. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250825-lake-superior-swim
A new study shows that Great Lake surface temperatures have experienced increasing extremes from heat waves to cold spells dating back to the late 1990s. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-lake-temperature-extremes
Michigan Department of Natural Resources researchers said they determined a lake trout caught in Lake Superior in 2023 was 62 years old. According to officials, the fish, dubbed Mary Catherine, is the oldest known lake trout in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-old-trout
Experts on aquatic ecosystems say confirmed reports of blue-green algae blooms on Lake Superior are a cause for concern, but the degree to which they’re tracked nowadays is much more robust than in the past. Read the full story by SNnewswatch.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-superior-algal-bloom
Yorkville, Illinois, is preparing to receive Lake Michigan water from the DuPage Water Commission to replace the diminishing aquifer that currently serves the city. Officials say bids to build the first section of water pipeline are more expensive than expected. Read the full story by WSPY – Plano, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-pipeline-bids
Work to reintroduce Lake Sturgeon to the Maumee River and Lake Erie is showing some promising results, researchers say. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-sturgeon-comeback
Earlier this month, the 1,000-year-flood event that hit Milwaukee led to the largest combined sewer overflow since the Deep Tunnel – a combined wastewater and stormwater sewer system – was installed in 1992, with more than five billion gallons of untreated water released into nearby waterways over the course of 78 hours. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-combined-sewer-overflow
Moving boats up and down through Erie Canal locks 34 and 35 in Lockport, New York used to take more than a dozen people 100 years ago; now, it’s a job of one. The current team of three operators, all of whom take solo shifts, is working through the celebration of the Erie Canal’s bicentennial anniversary. Read the full story by WKBW-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-erie-canal-bicentenntial
The Alliance for the Great Lakes invites volunteers from across the Great Lakes region to join for a Great Lakes Day of Action. Hundreds of Adopt-a-Beach volunteers will clean and celebrate Great Lakes shorelines as part of the International Coastal Cleanup. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250822-beach-cleanup
The Great Lakes’ water supply is threatened by increased demand from industries like data centers and mining, coupled with climate change impacts. Data centers, attracted by tax incentives, consume vast amounts of water, often untracked, while mineral mining poses contamination risks. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-water-supply-risks
Toronto’s deep lake water cooling network draws cold water from the lake and passes it through heat exchangers and circulates the cool water through a closed loop, connecting downtown buildings. When two of Toronto’s largest hospitals tapped the frigid depths of Lake Ontario for cooling, the impacts were immediate. Read the full story by the Penticton Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-ontario-cooling-system
The Trump administration’s budget proposal calls for a $1.7 billion reduction in NOAA’s budget and directs the complete elimination of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. This jeopardizes the existence of Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the only federal freshwater research labs serving the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WEMU – Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-funding-cuts
Lawmakers in the Michigan House and Senate introduced several bills last week to crack down on microplastics in the Great Lakes. Specifically, the proposed legislation aims to limit pollution and study its impact on public health. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-microplastic-bills
Owen Sound is one of six Ontario communities joining the first-ever Great Lakes Coastal Cleanup on World Rivers Day, to tackle shoreline litter and protect local waters. Read the full story by The Owen Sound Current.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-coastal-cleanup
Michigan wildlife managers are proposing a new lake sturgeon catch and release season in one portion of the state and a shortened harvest season in another. These decisions are informed by fisheries biologist assessments of lake sturgeon populations and law enforcement capacity to support the regulated seasons. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-lake-sturgeon-regulations
Lake Superior has been named the cleanest lake in the United States in a new 2025 report which analyzed chemical data from the nation’s largest lakes and determined that Superior’s water registered virtually zero pollution. Read the full story by The Sun Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-clean-superior
A new FishPass barrier will replace the Union Street dam in Traverse City, Michigan, which is the last barrier between Lake Michigan and the Boardman-Ottawa River. This passageway will have the ability to sort and selectively pass desirable fish while blocking harmful invaders. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-fishpass-project
The Great Lakes are filled with around 35,000 islands. Two of them have just been named among the top 11 most underrated islands in the country: Drummond Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-great-lake-islands
Researchers used tree ring data and Indigenous oral histories to reconstruct the fire history of the Great Lakes region. Reintroducing controlled burns, often following Indigenous practices, is suggested as a way to manage forests and adapt to a changing climate. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250820-fire-history
Starting Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s sea lamprey control team will begin putting lampricides in the Muskegon River in Michigan. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-muskegon-lampricides
A malfunctioning research buoy from the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in Superior, Wisconsin, was rescued by the RV Blue Heron during a July trip shared by several area scientists. The buoy measures levels of potentially toxic blue-green algae. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-blue-heron-rv
Two of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, are within a fraction of a degree of their warmest surface water temperature measured in the past 30 years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-warm-greatlakes
A new nature reserve created by the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists includes high cliffs, scenic bays and offshore islands at a 213-acre site on Lake Superior south of Neebing, Ontario. Read the full story by TBnewswatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-superior-nature-reserve
A Wisconsin adaptive sailing program created by the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, in coordination with the Abilities Center, allows anyone to go sailing in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250818-adaptive-sailing
