In Lucas County, Ohio, advocates and local leaders brought people out to Lake Erie to see first-hand the lack of progress on the blue-green algae problems, which are still prevalent after 10 years. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-lakeerie-health-toledowatercrisis
In a rare rebuke to the industrial farm sector, the Michigan Supreme Court this week ruled that state environmental regulators have full authority to require big livestock and poultry operations to improve their handling of billions of pounds of manure that contributes to serious contamination of state waters. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-michiganswaters-supremecourt
A contentious short-term housing rental ban is looming over one of Michigan’s most popular beach towns. Park Township, Michigan, home to Holland State Park beach, is still in litigation over enforcing a ban on short-term rentals. As it lingers in court, current rental owners are wary of the future of their investments. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-lakemichigan-town-bans-rentals
After more than a year, the cause of a Lake Michigan diesel spill in Manistee, Michigan, has yet to be shared with the public. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-manitowoc-dieselspill
The attempted cheating during a Cleveland-based competition in September 2022 drew worldwide attention. The two Lake Erie walleye anglers lost their nearly $100,000 boat, were fined and lost fishing rights for three years. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-fishingscandal-lakeerie
Though there are many ways to enjoy Michigan’s waterways – swimming, fishing, paddling, boating and more – the Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants to ensure that your priority is safety in and around the water. Read the full story by Radio Results Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-michigandnr-watersafety-hotweather
Whitefish numbers are declining in northern Michigan, and some scientists believe the heart of the problem lies with the invasive quagga and zebra mussels that have invaded our waters. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-declining-whitefish-northernmichigan
In Chicago, a volunteer group has been busy pulling discarded Divvy bikes from Lake Michigan, citing fears over the dangers these battery-powered bikes can pose to the water. Divvy is a bicycle sharing system in the Chicago metropolitan area. Read the full story by NBC Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-divvybikes-dumped-lakemichigan
Bills to name the stonefly Michigan’s state insect are now before committees in both the state House and Senate, thanks to the work of 5th grade students and teachers from Grand Rapids, Michigan. If you see a stonefly, the water nearby is clean. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240805-stonefly-michigansinsect
Ten years ago, Toledo shut down its water system because a toxic algae bloom had formed around its water intake structure in Lake Erie. Safeguards are now in place that will prevent a system shutdown from happening again, but a large reduction in cyanobacterial blooms has yet to be achieved. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-toxic-algae-blooms
The Glen Lake Association is on a three-year mission to remove invasive koi from the crystal-clear lake next to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-giant-koi
Midwestern states are spending millions every year to prevent invasive carp from entering rivers and lakes. Barriers might slow them down but stopping them completely may be impossible. Officials and researchers think, however, that the creation of consumer markets for silver carp could work to manage their numbers. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-invasive-carp
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the Port of Milwaukee to highlight federal funding — more than $9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — that helped upgrade its agricultural export facilities. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-port-investments
The Great Lakes are full of zebra mussels, one estimate puts their population in the Great Lakes alone at 750 trillion. While projects are underway to try and reduce their numbers, their steady expansion to the Western U.S has many concerned. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-zebra-mussels
Carnivorous plants, a picturesque pebble beach and outcrops of a rare type of volcanic lava rock highlight Minnesota’s newest nature preserve. The Icelandite Coastal Fen Scientific and Natural Area is about 10 miles northeast of Grand Marais on the foggy northern shore of Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-rare-wetland
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Commerce Department has awarded a nearly $1.85 million grant to St. Louis County, Minnesota, to help address climate change impacts on the coast of Lake Superior. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-shoreline-grant
The last coal-fired passenger steamship in the U.S., the SS Badger, is attempting to become more green while maintaining its steam-powered charm as it travels across Lake Michigan between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-badger-alternative-fuel
A fuel tank exploded in Lake Huron after a military fighter jet dropped them during an emergency over Michigan on Wednesday. Read the full story by WJBX-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-fuel-tank
U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) say they have secured the $450 million in federal funding included in the Fiscal Year 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for the Soo Locks construction project. Read the full story by the SooLeader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240802-soo-locks-funding
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
