Cleanup Club is a non-profit that was created two years ago that focuses its cleanup efforts in rivers located in the Great Lakes basin. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-cleanupclub-michigan-greatlakes
This week, the iconic anchor outside the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Michigan got an adjustment to ensure there’s not an “anchors away” situation. The anchor is a popular photo op amongst visitors. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-anchor-upnorthmuseum-photo-op
The Douglas County Land and Water Conservation Department located in Wisconsin, has up to $4,000 in grant funding available next year for environmental projects that promote soil and water conservation or environmental sustainability. Individuals, community organizations and public entities can apply for funding from the Douglas County Environmental Reserve Fund. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-douglas-county-grants
When you think of travel on Lake Michigan, you likely think of the S.S. Badger. It has been an iconic mode of transportation connecting communities and enhancing travel experiences for decades. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-ss-badger-icon-steamship
The lakes in the Great Lakes region and around the world don’t freeze over as they did in past centuries. That has serious consequences for people, wildlife, and the environment as a whole. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-less-ice-greatlakes-climatechange
The Great Lakes are in the midst of a waterspout outbreak, and the whirlwind of activity is expected to last into the middle of this this week, forecasters say. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241014-water-spout
Wednesday October 9 marks one year since the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, transitioned to using Lake Michigan for its drinking water. The entire project was completed two weeks earlier than anticipated after years of preparation to minimize the impact of radium in the city’s groundwater supply. Read the full story by WTMJ – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-waukesha-diversion
The Great Lakes Observing System’s effort to map every meter of the Great Lakes’ bottom will pinpoint hundreds of underwater shipwrecks, illuminate topographical features and locate infrastructure. The map will also help ships avoid submerged hazards; identify fisheries; and inform erosion, storm surge and flooding models as climate change intensifies. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-lake-bottom-mapping
Little Traverse Conservancy in Harbor Springs, Michigan, has announced its new Wild Shores Initiative, aimed at protecting the undeveloped Great Lakes shoreline in the organization’s five-county service area which includes lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan. Undeveloped Great Lakes shoreline continues to be harder to find beyond those special places already protected as state or federal land or by non-profit conservation organizations. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-shoreline-protection
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mussel Watch program is collecting invasive mussels at sites across the Great Lakes to measure the concentration of harmful pollutants in their tissue. A report with the results, expected this fall, will serve as an indicator to communities that they may need cleanup. Read the full story by Michigan Farm News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-pollution-indicators
The St. Lawrence Seaway announced its September performance figures, with 23.6 million metric tons of cargo shipped since the beginning of the navigation season. While overall tonnage is slightly down compared to last year, iron, steel, petroleum and potash demonstrate positive trends that underscore the seaway’s role in North American supply chains. Read the full story by Inside Logistics.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-cargo-tonnage
The Yorkville, Illinois, City Council approved several agreements with the DuPage Water Commission on Tuesday as part of the city’s plan to receive Lake Michigan water. The agreements cover how and when the city will pay for the construction of the water line from Naperville to Yorkville and how and when the city will pay for its water. Read the full story by WSPY – Plano, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-water-agreement
Eleven major agricultural groups have asked a Senior U.S. District Judge to let them join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others in a landmark case in federal court that could affect how Ohio is allowed to manage western Lake Erie in the future. These groups claim they have a right to defend themselves from a case that could directly impact their industry. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-agriculture-litigation
A 2021 poll by the Great Lakes Water Quality Board found that 90% of U.S. and Canadian residents in the Great Lakes region support the lakes’ protection. The popularity of the Great Lakes would not have blossomed into such an ambitious and bipartisan conservation effort without the fact that three of those eight surrounding states – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – are critical swing states. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-bipartisan-support
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking comments on two draft items related to Wisconsin’s water management, conservation and efficiency efforts under the Great Lakes Compact. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-water-management-input
A New York man has set a state record for catching a 9-pound smallmouth bass from the St. Lawrence River during a bass tournament in Ogdensburg, New York. The record-breaking fish broke the previous state record for a fish caught in Cayuga Lake back in 2022 by 8 ounces. Read the full story by WPTZ – Plattsburgh, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241011-fishing-record
New York’s Rochester Embayment, a 35-square-mile bay on southern Lake Ontario’s shore, is no longer considered one of the Great Lakes’ most environmentally degraded areas, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-rocherster-embayment-delisting
After years of decline, minks are now thought to be thriving along the once-polluted Detroit River, a good sign that environmental contaminants in the river are decreasing. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-minks
As the weather cools down, cruise lines operating in the Great Lakes prepare for the end of the season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-cruise-season
A recent study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research is the first to compare all 188 nonnative species in the Great Lakes, spotlighting the plants and animals that pose the greatest threat to the region’s delicate ecosystems, fisheries and recreational waters. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-invasive-species
The USS Nantucket, a U.S. Navy littoral combat ship on its way to Boston for christening, is stopping by Cleveland on the way. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-navy-combat-ship
It’s been decades in the making, but Milwaukee’s South Shore Beach is finally on the move. The $8 million federally funded project is a part of the larger effort to tackle the county’s capital improvement projects involving the lakefront and clean up the Milwaukee River Estuary. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-south-shore-beach
The state estimates one or more pesticides are found in around 43 percent of 800,000 private wells in Wisconsin, and more than half of the pesticides detected aren’t regulated in groundwater by the state or federal governments. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-pesticides
On Oct. 17, the New York Sea Grant, the Town of Evans, New York, and the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance will host an informational meeting to help shoreline property owners, municipal leaders, and natural resource managers be better prepared to deal with the potential for seiche-caused coastal flooding and property damage along Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Observer Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241009-lake-erie-seiche-flooding
The state of Michigan has picked a team from the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering department for a nearly $200,000, yearlong project to develop a maritime strategy for the state. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-maritime-strategy
New standards adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exempt the existing fleet of ships on the Great Lakes from installing new ballast water treatment systems to control the spread of invasive species. But they don’t apply to the current fleet of lakers. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-laker-standards
Last year, Michigan’s environmental agency drafted more rigorous rules to protect state waters from a new tide of farm-based pollution. Stronger regulatory measures could succumb to political pressure from farm and energy interests. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-water-protections
Anglers in Pennsylvania’s portion of Lake Erie reported the second-highest walleye catch rates since 1993 for July and landed in the top five highest rates for August. A July survey found a catch rate of 1.99 fish per hour. Read the full story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-pennsylvania-walleye
Scientists are preparing to test selective fish migration tools in a project in Traverse City, Michigan. A fight is brewing over which fish get to pass. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-fish-passage
Officials from federal, state, and Allen County, Ohio, governments took part to celebrate this week as the wraps came off an H2Ohio project that has restored 19 acres of wetlands. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-h2ohio-project
For many First Nations, securing a water treatment plant is only one hurdle and finding experienced operators is another. A 15-month drinking water internship was created for interns to accumulate 1,800 hours of on-the-job experience, as well as four different certifications. Read the full story by Canada’s National Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-water-internships
Eight rural communities in Michigan are getting help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fix water infrastructure problems like sewage contamination, aging pipes, and flooding. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-rural-water-infrastructure
A record amount of federal aid will soon flow to states to help fix, replace, or demolish their aging dams. Midwestern states are largely missing out on that historic pool of money when compared to other U.S. regions. Read the full story by Inside Climate News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-dam-aid
The Illinois governor along with state and local officials celebrated the completion of a $73 million project to preserve the rapidly eroding shoreline at the Illinois Beach State Park near Zion, Illinois. The investment preserves several miles of natural Lake Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by the Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241007-illinois-shoreline
A recent study found the total amount of money spent on fishing gear, transportation and food doesn’t truly reflect the worth of a fishing trip to Great Lakes anglers, with anglers willing to spend $100 more than the actual cost. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-great-lakes-fishing
A new drone technology is set to make big waves in Pollution Probe’s mission to clean the Great Lakes of plastic waste and it’s starting in Ontario’s Lake Simcoe. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-drones-to-clean-lake
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mussel Watch program is collecting zebra and quagga mussels at sites across the Great Lakes to measure the concentration of harmful pollutants in their tissue. A report will serve to identify areas with high levels of harmful chemicals. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-noaa-mussel-project
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission will be hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Michigan’s Cheboygan Opera House. The Fish Thief tells the true story of the fight to save the Great Lakes fishery from one of the most destructive invasive species: the sea lamprey. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-documentary-screening
Dozens of juvenile lake sturgeon with transmitters implanted into them were released into Ohio’s Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The release of the surgeon into the water is a pilot project for a larger goal of reintroducing the endangered fish into the waterway. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-sturgeon
Lake Superior is known for its pristine waters, but a combination of nutrient additions from increasing human activity (including farming and development), warming temperatures and stormy conditions have resulted in more frequent blooms of potentially harmful algae. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-lake-superior-agal-blooms
A total of 33 conservation and restoration projects throughout the Great Lakes basin will receive $13.8 million in grants from the Sustain Our Great Lakes partnership, with 11 going to Michigan. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-sustain-our-great-lakes
State and local agencies, as well as federally recognized tribes and higher educational institutions, are encouraged to apply for new money the federal government is making available to support phosphorus-reduction outreach and technical assistance efforts in the western Lake Erie basin. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-federal-phosphorus-reduction-money
The H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego, New York, will host “Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario – A Journey of Discovery” by Jim Kennard as part of their History Lecture Series on Sunday, October 20th at 1:30pm. Kennard will dive into some of the most important shipwrecks discovered in Lake Ontario by his team and shipwreck peers. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-shipwrecks-of-lake-ontario
Every $1 in federal funding to clean up pollution and other environmental damage to the Great Lakes area yields more than $3 in economic activity, and restoration activities have bipartisan support. Passing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2024 will not only reverse the environmental harms of the past, but is also a critical investment in the future of Great Lakes communities. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241004-glri
The Great Lakes Observing System is leading a campaign to map every meter of the bottom of the Great Lakes. The effort will pinpoint hundreds of underwater shipwrecks, illuminate topographical features, and locate infrastructure. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-lakebed-maps
The Great Lakes Water Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday they will partner on a multi-year study to improve flood resiliency in southeast Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-michigan-floods
No matter the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the country will have a vice president from the Great Lakes region. How have Vance and Walz advocated for the Great Lakes region thus far? Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-great-lakes-veeps
The Shedd Aquarium, in partnership with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University, has been tracking fish movements to understand how fish use large urban rivers. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-chicago-river-fish
In an innovative project propelled by the Great Lakes Protection Fund, water nonprofit Freshwater is teaming up with several land trusts on a regional approach to improving water quality around the Great Lakes. A primary goal is to restore select croplands to perennial vegetation, which reduces runoff and erosion while trapping carbon in the soil. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-water-quality-partnership
Lake Michigan’s surface temperature has been above average nearly every day this year so far. As heat trapping-greenhouse gasses continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, the Great Lakes region is projected to grow warmer and wetter in the years and decades to come. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20241002-lake-temps
