State environmental regulators are reviewing permits they recently granted for the Line 5 tunnel project, in light of a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that raised the bar for environmental reviews. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-whitmer-line5
The DuPage Water Commission has received another $500,000 from the federal government for a plan to build a $6 billion system to draw water from Lake Michigan to residents in DuPage County, Illinois. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-dupage-water
It’s been two weeks since a truck rolled into an excavation site for Enbridge’s fiercely disputed Line 5 pipeline and caused one of the largest natural gas spills in Wisconsin history in rural Iron County. The pipeline is still shut down, with service expected to resume this weekend. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-line5-gas-spill
The long-awaited date for Michigan state regulators to decide the fate of a disputed hydroelectric fleet sale, involving 13 hydroelectric dams across the state, passed without a ruling. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-hydro-dam
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has awarded Fisheries Habitat Grant funds, totaling $892,200, to ten conservation projects on lakes and streams around Michigan. Those funds are matched by $240,000 in partner contributions. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-fish-dam-projects
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it reported 99 piping plover pairs nesting in the Great Lakes region this year, which is up from 88 pairs in 2025. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260911-piping-plovers
Lawmakers have until the end of September to pass bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the landmark program that supports Great Lakes restoration and protection before its current authorization expires − creating a lapse that could jeopardize future projects and long-term planning. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-glri-deadline
With time running out to save Great Lakes whitefish, scientists are mounting a last-ditch rescue effort. This fall, state and tribal scientists will collect spawning whitefish from Lake Michigan in order to raise their offspring in hatcheries. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-whitefish-rescue
A research group is calling for funding to find out why Lake Superior is seeing algae blooms. The Wisconsin city of Superior closed Barkers Island Beach last week due to blue-green algae. That type of algae was not seen on Lake Superior until 2012. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-algal-bloom-research
A professional diver and boat captain has developed a reputation for finding what other people can’t: rings, watches, keys and phones lost deep beneath the surface of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-lake-michigan-diver
Wisconsin tribal officials are working together to promote protection and restoration and of wild rice and this year they expect an increase in harvest due to heavy spring rainfall followed by drought that has created stable conditions for the plant to grow. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-wild-rice-harvest
Michigan’s annual budget includes $2 million for wetland conservation efforts by the state Department of Natural Resources, funding critical work for endangered bird species. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-wetland-conservation-funds
Nicholas Bonde teaches research methodology to his AP Chemistry students at Marshall High each year. But over the summer, he had a chance to apply that methodology aboard an EPA research vessel, Lake Guardian, on Lake Superior for a week as part of the Shipboard Science Immersion Project. Read the full story by the Leader Independent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-science-immersion-project
Ludington State Park, located along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, has recently seen millions of dollars in upgrades and has more on the way. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking the public what should come next. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-park-upgrades
A road trip along the North Shore of Lake Superior, from Duluth, Minnesota, to Pukaskwa National Park in Ontario, Canada, packed multiple adventures into a week. Read the full story by The New York Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-superior-roadtrip
A meteor that crashed through the atmosphere over the Great Lakes produced shockwaves before landing near Lake Huron. Canadian meteor hunters eventually tracked the space rocks to Cockburn Island in Ontario, Canada. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260909-huron-meteor
With invasive species causing $138 billion in U.S. economic losses yearly, a new online database from the Great Lakes Commission aims to help e-commerce buyers and sellers in 50 states identify non-native aquatic plants and animals to avoid. Read the full story by Forbes.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-aquasale
The Trump administration lifted an unexplained stop-work order on the $1.15 billion invasive carp barrier project following a direct appeal from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and mounting pressure from Illinois officials and Great Lakes groups. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-brandon-road-update
A group of scientists from the University of Minnesota Duluth is helping design a first-of-its-kind physics experiment in Lake Superior which will detect neutrino particles and could help them better understand the sun, distant stars, black holes and even the beginning of the universe itself. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-neutrino-particle-experiment
The tide is turning against harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie thanks in part to an Ohio program called H2Ohio that encourages farmers to restrict their use of fertilizers. Read the full story by WOSU – Columbus, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-farming-practices
For over a century, the St. Louis River Estuary had a bad reputation due to years of wastewater dumping and industrialization. Since being designated as an area of concern, state and tribal agencies across both Minnesota and Wisconsin split the 12,000-acre estuary into different habitat restoration projects digging out contaminated sediment, building new storm water culverts, replanting native plants, and creating safe water access for public recreation. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-st.louis-river-restoration
Crystal Lake Public Beach in Montcalm County, Michigan, has tested positive for algal toxin microcystin after an algal bloom formed. Health officials discovered the water bloom during a routine beach monitoring. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-algal-bloom
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission recently released a draft of the final delisting report regarding environmental concerns about the Black River in Lorain County, Ohio. This is one of the final steps in the river no longer being regarded as an area of concern. Read the full story by The Chronicle Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-remediation-efforts
A Milwaukee County circuit judge has reversed a lower-court decision in a closely watched Lake Michigan shoreline access case, a ruling that could influence how Wisconsin courts interpret the public’s right to walk along the Great Lakes shoreline. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-beach-access-ruling
Visitors can get a close look at one of Michigan’s most unique fish during a free tour of the Black River sturgeon hatchery this Labor Day weekend. Read the full story by Up North Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-hatchery-tour
The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will hold a presentation on the ancient history of the Great Lakes next week including what existed in the Cambrian Period, before the Great Lakes even existed. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260904-great-lakes-history-presentation
After nearly four decades of restoration efforts, around 20,000 hectares of western Nipigon Bay, located at Lake Superior’s northernmost point in Ontario, and part of the Nipigon River were removed as an Area of Concern in the Great Lakes on Friday. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-area-of-concern-delisting
Nine U.S. Great Lakes ports have received the 2025 Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. for posting record international cargo volumes during the 2025 navigation season. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-port-cargo-record
According to a new report, a regional initiative has diverted 24.3 million pounds of fish byproducts from landfills in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence region. The materials are being converted into fish meal and oil, pet food and treats, fertilizer, compost, bait, and fish leather and are generating about $3.4 million in economic value. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-fish-byproduct-reuse
The city of Yorkville, Illinois, is required to test how much water the city consumes ahead of receiving Lake Michigan water in 2028. Reducing the city’s non-revenue water loss to 10% was previously a key provision by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to green-light the $224.4 million Lake Michigan water sourcing project. Read the full story by Shaw Local News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-water-audit
An $800,000 pilot project to remove large mats of algae build-up from three locations on Lake St. Clair is set to begin this fall. The field trial will allow two contracting groups to remove the mats with researchers studying what happens after. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-algae-mat-removal
Researchers with the Great Lakes Center for Freshwaters and Human Health are currently studying the different harmful aspects of algal blooms. The algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie is just under 400 square miles, with the highest concentrations in Ohio’s Maumee Bay. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-algal-bloom-research
The Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, Minnesota, is expanding its lake sturgeon restoration efforts into a new building and exhibit set to open in fall 2027. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-sturgeon-restoration
The cruise ships that stopped in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, this summer generated nearly $63,000 in economic impact, according to estimates from the area’s tourism center. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-cruise-economic-impact
Howard Allen Tanner, the groundbreaking conservationist who revolutionized the fishing landscape of the Great Lakes in the 1960s, has died. As chief of Michigan’s Fisheries Division, Mr. Tanner spearheaded the introduction of Pacific salmon to the Great Lakes, fundamentally reshaping Michigan’s fishery and establishing a robust fishing economy that remains a major force today. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260902-fisheries-pioneer
Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division has received one-time funding of $350,000 for whitefish recovery. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-michigan-whitefish-funding
Officials with Enbridge said that a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision is delaying a controversial project to encase the Line 5 pipeline. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-enbridge-line5-delay
There is still an ongoing battle to bring western Lake Erie’s algal blooms under control, but reducing algal blooms will be only one of the Lake Erie issues confronting Ohio’s next governor. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-lake-erie-future
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has asked Enbridge to halt pipeline rerouting work after a natural gas liquids spill near Saxon, Wisconsin. The department also asked for Enbridge’s timeline for controlling the release, plans for mitigation, groundwater information and updates on air monitoring data. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-enbridge-spill
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ recent discovery of juvenile invasive carp closer than ever to the Great Lakes sent shockwaves through the region. With the threat to the region’s vital fishing and recreation industries, the Brandon Road Interbasin project is the best chance to hold invasive carp at bay. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-brandon-road-commentary
Consumers Energy is advancing its plan to curb water flow to a popular section of the Manistee River next month so it can inspect damage at one of its 13 hydropower dams, although company officials say they have not settled on a “final path forward.” Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-manistee-dam-inspection
The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (Gun Lake Tribe) will be releasing 21 lake sturgeon into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan on September 1. The release will take place during the annual Nmé Celebration where hundreds of community members gather for the release of the fish, known as nmé in the Pottawatomi language, which were raised through the tribe’s lake sturgeon rehabilitation program Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-sturgeon-release
On Thursday, Superior Watershed Partnership led a beach grass planting event at McCarty’s Cove in Marquette, Michigan, alongside 13 Michigan Healthy Climate Fellows from across the state. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-superior-beach-grass
As an Up North resort works to build a glamorous camping, or “glamping,” complex near the Boyne River — complete with luxury cabins, a spa, a restaurant, equestrian center and more — it’s also working to restrict the public’s access to that area of the water and shoreline. That doesn’t float with some locals, river advocates or the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260831-glamping-river-access
The Great Lakes Commission has launched an online database to help buyers and sellers comply with regulations on aquatic plants and animals sold online, with a goal of preventing invasive species from spreading to the Great Lakes region through online commerce. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-invasive-species-sale-prevention
The bipartisan Congressional Great Lakes Task Force, state agencies in Illinois and Michigan, and environmental organizations have all sent requests to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to resume construction on a critical barrier project after work stopped without explanation, even as invasive carp have been found closer to Lake Michigan than ever before. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-invasive-carp-barrier-construction
Researchers say the findings from a new study suggest that temporary merlin translocation could become a promising non-lethal management tool for reducing predation pressure on Great Lakes piping plovers. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-piping-plover-study
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) hopped on his motorcycle for his last state tour, stopping Thursday to see how the FishPass construction project was coming along in Traverse City, Michigan. Sen. Peters recently secured $22.7 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding, which helped make the project possible. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-fishpass-project
The United States Department of Agriculture announced Monday it would be purchasing $20 million of Concord grape juice, which is mostly all grown right here along the shores of Lake Erie. Some growers say it’s only going to help the farmers with existing contracts and does not address the 126 farmers who still don’t have a home for their grapes. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-grape-growers
More than 100 feet below Lake Michigan’s surface, the Jennibel, a schooner that sank in an 1881 storm, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260828-shipwreck-registered
