The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been working to collect new mapping data on Lake Superior since 2020. This survey is part of a large effort to update the mapping of the coastal and nearshore water of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-superior-mapping
Governor Whitmer of Michigan signed off on state funding to support an early warning system along the 80-mile Lake Huron-to-Lake Erie corridor. The program involves physical monitors at treatment plants in the region that ultimately serves half the state’s population. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-water-monitoring-funding
Momentum for transitioning away from single use plastic is building in the Great Lakes. The Alliance for the Great Lakes is calling for implementing extended producer responsibility policies — holding producers responsible across the life cycle of their products. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-plastic-trash
Just when Michiganders think they know all the invasive plants and bugs to watch out for, another one gets added to the list. Lesser celandine is an aquatic plant with pretty yellow flowers found heavily in mid-Michigan near streams and in forested floodplains. Read the full story by WDRG – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-new-invasive-mi
Ten years ago this Friday, Toledo, Ohio, residents woke up to an algae-driven water crisis that brought unwanted attention from other parts of the world and inflicted a scar on the city’s reputation. Despite knowing the cause of the crisis, similar problems remain today. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-erie-algal-blooms
In Ohio, the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department drained the pond at Whetstone Park following the discovery of an invasive round goby in the water. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-pond-drain
To help better understand which of the almost 200 aquatic invasive species roaming the Great Lakes pose the greatest threat, scientists at various Michigan-based research groups ranked the top 10 species that have the greatest impact. Read the full story by WJBK – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-ranked-invasives
Enbridge Line 5 has spilled 35 times, releasing over 1.3 million gallons of toxic oil. Extending the 70-year-old Line 5 pipeline through the company’s proposed re-route is not a solution. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-enbridge-threat
All aboard the rolling robot! An autonomous electric bus will begin a monthlong deployment at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan as part of a grant-funded project by a self-driving software company. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240731-driverless-bus
Authorities have detected an oil spill in the St. Lawrence River in Montreal’s east end, less than two weeks after an oil spill in the same area. The root cause of the oil spill near Pointe-aux-Trembles on July 25 is unknown, but authorities say they found the pipe that led the contaminant to the river. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-oil-spills
Funded through grants and the Ohio Department of Education, the University of Toledo (UT) is conducting a study that will collect air from Lake Erie, where it will then be transported back to UT for testing. The study focuses on how algal blooms affect humans by analyzing the effect of the toxins on human cells in a lab. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-habs-study
A developer based in Holland, Michigan, attempting to build a marina and high-end housing at the Kalamazoo River mouth has sued the leader of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance, a nonprofit organized in 2007 to oppose development at the river mouth. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-development-litigation
Throughout the Michigan Brown Trout Festival, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers were busy gathering vital data on the fish populations in Lake Huron. Festival participants helped with this research as some anglers offered their catches as samples. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-festival-research
Two remote-controlled robotic devices are being deployed in Milwaukee to try and alleviate plastic pollution. The supermarket chain Meijer donated $250,000 to the Council of the Great Lakes Region Foundation for the technology, which was given to Milwaukee Riverkeeper. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-cleanup-robots
The last wild clutch of Great Lakes piping plover eggs recently hatched, but the scientific details read more like a daytime soap opera script. It’s a tale of one female plover who bred this season with two males on two different Lake Michigan beaches – only the second time scientists documented that behavior. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-piping-plover-breeding
The Lake Erie Waterkeepers will host various stakeholders and local press aboard a ferry boat on August 4 to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Toledo Water Crisis. Other boaters are invited to join them while monitoring marine channel 68 as they lead a boat parade in a show of support for solving the HAB problem. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-water-crisis-anniversary
More than a dozen Michigan beaches faced closures over the weekend due to increased bacteria levels. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality flagged the 14 Michigan beaches for increased bacteria levels, as of July 26. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-beach-closures
With hundreds of shipwrecks sitting at the bottom of the Great Lakes, the state of Michigan works to prevent theft, damage and corrosion with legally protected locations known as underwater preserves which were established in 1980. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-underwater-preserves
Escanaba, Michigan, the small Upper Peninsula town on the northern shoreline of Lake Michigan, is expecting dozens of visits from Victory Cruise Lines in 2025. Escanaba welcomed cruise ships for the first time in 2023 from American Queen Voyages, which was the successor of Victory Cruise Lines after the owner retired. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240729-cruise-destination
The Apostle Islands could soon become Wisconsin’s first national park, thanks to an effort by several federal lawmakers. Becoming a national park would attract more people to the Apostle Islands, sharing the natural beauty of the islands and shores of Lake Superior. Read the full story the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-apostle-islands
For nearly 40 years, the New York Department of Conservation considered the Lake Ontario shoreline from Webster to Parma, New York, to be an Area of Concern (AOC). After four decades of restoration work, regulators recommend removing the lakeshore from the AOC list. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-aoc-delisting
Researchers have ranked the top 10 most invasive species in the Great Lakes based on the havoc they cause in the ecosystem and their impacts on humans. Read the full story by Newsweek.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-most-unwanted
As weather patterns shift, blue-green algal blooms are appearing in areas where they wouldn’t commonly occur. Researchers from the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research in Windsor, Ontario, are working to understand blooms in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-blue-green-algae
Lake Erie will soon host a pioneering water treatment process, the first of its kind in the U.S., thanks to a partnership involving the Cleveland Water Alliance and a South Korean tech company. Avon Lake Regional Water in Ohio was selected as the testing site. Read the full story by The Morning Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-water-treatment
Birds that grow up dining from Saginaw Bay, Michigan, and other polluted Great Lakes sites are far more likely to be infertile, lay eggs with embryos that don’t survive, or raise chicks that fail to develop, according to recent research. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-toxic-hot-spot
According to a color analysis of satellite imagery of lakes around the world, Lake Ontario holds the top spot for the bluest lake. Lake Superior ranks second. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-bluest-lakes
Activists gathered to mark the anniversary of the 2010 oil spill near Marshall, Michigan, where a ruptured pipeline released about a million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River. Activists admonished the pipeline’s owner for its safety record and current plans for the Line 5 pipeline in northern Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-spill-anniversary
Registration is now open for a relay swim event that will mark the 50th anniversary of the tragic shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The 17-stage, 411-mile relay swim begins in Lake Superior, where the shipwreck lies, and ends in Detroit, the ship’s intended destination. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-shipwreck-swim
As more green infrastructure projects are installed across the state of Michigan, more workers are needed to maintain them. Friends of the Rouge, a Detroit-area nonprofit that manages the River Rouge watershed, is offering a short course about maintaining green infrastructure like rain gardens. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240726-green-infrastructure
Biologists are investigating why whitefish numbers in the lower Great Lakes are cratering without adequate spawn classes to replace them. New evidence indicates the fish, which lay eggs on shallow reefs that rely on winter ice cover, are being squeezed by shifting temperatures. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-whitefish-populations
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is issuing a precautionary notice to residents based on visual confirmation of a blue-green algae bloom on Lake St. Clair. Residents on the municipal drinking water system can drink the water, unless they are notified otherwise. Read the full story by the Kingsville Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-habs-notice
The city of Toronto dumped more than 1,300 megalitres of partially treated wastewater into Lake Ontario during Tuesday’s torrential downpour. Three wastewater plants were “bypassing,” a process in which stormwater and sewage are diverted from a secondary treatment procedure. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-sewer-bypass
A partnership led by the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition and the University of Wisconsin-Madison received $10 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sustainable Agricultural Systems program earlier this summer. The partnership builds on existing efforts by tribal nations in Wisconsin to reinvigorate their traditional agricultural practices. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-tribal-university-partnership
The wreck of the historic 130-foot Margaret A. Muir schooner has been found off the coast of Wisconsin more than 130 years after it plunged to the bottom of Lake Michigan with the captain’s beloved dog on board. Read the full story by CBS News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-shipwreck-discovery
Lorain County commissioners and staff continue to work toward a regional sewer and storm water treatment plant that would lower costs for all residents of Lorain County, Ohio. The project has been underway for a year, but first, a number of steps in a “complex” process must be met. Read the full story by The Morning Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-wastewater-treatment-regionalization
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $7.56 million contract to Great Lakes Dock & Materials, LLC, to make repairs on approximately 1,450 feet of the lake side of Dunkirk Harbor‘s breakwater in Dunkirk, New York. Read the full story by WRFA – Jamestown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-breakwater-repair
Although some parks and sports fields in Mississauga, Ontario, are still closed following last week’s torrential rainstorm, the city says the damage could have been significantly worse without strong stormwater infrastructure in place to mitigate the floods. Read the full story by insauga.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-stormwater-infrastructure
Wildlife monitoring of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers this summer resulted in a consecutive year for setting a record for the number of unique piping plover breeding pairs, breaking the record set last year. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-piping-plover-breeding
Government officials along with Citizens Against Wind Turbines in Lake Erie (CATWILE) are holding a rally to oppose wind turbines in the Great Lakes in Irving, New York. CATWILE is a group of citizens focused on informing and educating the public about the risks and opposing the building of industrial wind turbines in Lake Erie. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240724-turbine-advocacy
Climate change is altering Lake Erie: warmer water temperatures increase the risk of toxic algal blooms. Less ice cover in the winter can lead to more soil erosion. And its water levels are fluctuating at a faster rate. A new program at Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) will prepare a new workforce of scientists, engineers and data analysts to help communities navigate these impacts. Read the full story WVXU – Cincinnati, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-climatechange-lakeerie-ohio
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers delivered his weekly radio address highlighting the recent investment of nearly $1.3 million in grants to support quality of life, foster economic development, protect and improve the Great Lakes resources, and create resiliency in Wisconsin’s coastal communities through the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-govivers-investments-wisconsin
Lake Erie’s annual algae bloom has begun to form weeks ahead of schedule off the coast of southeast Michigan, but scientists say they expect only a moderate bloom this year. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-lakeerie-toxicalgaebloom
Lake Erie water levels are slightly above average midway through July but a far cry from the record levels reached a few years ago. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecasts that water levels will fall in the coming months, but July is seeing an uptick from June. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-lakeerie-forecast
The Marquette Maritime Museum celebrated Lake Superior Day with a festival Sunday afternoon. The annual event, which is celebrated on the third Sunday of July, focuses on Lake Superior’s importance. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-marquettemaritimemuseum-lakesuperiorday
The 100th Port Huron to Mackinac race began Saturday morning and broke the record for the most registered sailing teams. Sailboats are now crossing the finish line up at Mackinac Island as the race begins to wind down. Read the full story by WPHM – Port Huron, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-porthuron-mackinac-race-comestoend
This time of year, many people are out enjoying the beaches in Duluth, Minnesota, but on Saturday some spent time cleaning up the sandy shores of Lake Superior. Read the full story by WSAW-TV – Wausau, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-beachcleanup-parkpoint-greatlakes
Maumee, Ohio, area residents are being asked to weigh in on $2 million to $5 million of fish and wildlife habitat improvements planned for the Maumee River near the city’s Towpath Park. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-maumeeriver-wildlifeimprovements-towpathpark
Northeastern Wisconsin Great Lakes Sport Fishermen held its 49th annual Salmon Derby July 5-7 at the Manitowoc Marina. 362 people registered to participate. At the end of the three-day event, 1,295 fish were registered by participants, the highest number of fish registered since 2016. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-manitowoc-salmon-derby
Great Lakes Towing Co has added another newbuild to its fleet of ice-class tugboats as it celebrated 125 years of business. The latest Cleveland-class newbuild was built to US Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping requirements for towing, handling and docking ships in the ports along the coasts of the Great Lakes of North America. Read the full story by Riviera Maritime Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240722-greatlakes-towing-125anniversary
A Michigan State University Extension program called the Reduce Invasive Pet and Plant Escapes or RIPPLE program works with hobbyists, retailers and gardeners to minimize the release of invasive species into the wild. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240719-rehome-program
