The U.S. Coast Guard will need more than $3 billion to maintain its icebreaking capacity in wintry weather along the Great Lakes, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-icebreaking-cost
An interview with the chief operating officer for the Chicago-based non-profit, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, details the Great Lakes region’s efforts to stop the advance of invasive carp via the Brandon Road lock and dam in Joliet, Illinois. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-carp-policy
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is at 4.8%, up from just 0.4% of ice coverage the Great Lakes had on January 2 of this year. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-ice-coverage
Lake Erie rose about 4.5 feet in Buffalo, New York on January 13 when a blizzard that swept across the upper Midwest caused a tidal-like phenomenon called a seiche. The water came from Toledo, Ohio where the lake dropped about 5.5 feet on the western end, resulting in an overall difference of 10.1 feet. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-blizzard-seiche
What initially started off as a little bit of fun during the COVID-19 pandemic turned into two separate world record-breaking, 100-foot underwater photoshoots conducted in Tobermory, Ontario. Read the full story by CKNX – Wingham, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-huron-photoshoot
Spend enough time on a Great Lakes fishing pier or in a bait and tackle store, and you’ll likely hear someone ask if the lakes have flipped. Understanding what it means for the Great Lakes to “flip” is invaluable for anyone interested in finding fish. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-seasonal-flip
Dangerously cold conditions are expected to continue throughout the Chicago area Tuesday, with the wind chill potentially reaching as low as -27 degrees Fahrenheit. But the dangerous temperatures didn’t deter two Chicago men from their habit of jumping into Lake Michigan, one of whom continues a more than 1,200-day jump streak. Read the full story by the Daily Jefferson County Union.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-chicago-plunge
Unseasonably warm weather last month has been a boon to shipping companies. On the other hand, businesses that cater to winter tourism crowds like outdoor skating rinks and ski hills have faced a difficult start. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-winter-economy
A public meeting will be held to discuss renovation plans for Jamie Farr Park Shelter and Penn 7 Park in Toledo, Ohio. The Penn 7 Park had been a dumping point for silt dredged from the Maumee River’s shipping channel for decades, but 59 acres were restored with a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Initiative Partnership grant awarded to the Great Lakes Commission and subcontracted to the city of Toledo. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-farr-park
Photos circulating social media show what appears to be a long-lost structure stuck at the bottom of Lake Erie, revealed when the storm pushed water from the lake’s western basin out east. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-shipwreck
Although sodium chloride is an effective way to melt ice on roads, it can negatively impact wildlife when used in excess. Leftover road salt — or de-icing salt used on sidewalks and driveways — washes into storm drains and ultimately into our waterways. Read the full story by The Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-less-salt-protect-watersheds
In Ohio, the Miller Ferry to Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island shared several breathtaking photos of Put-in-Bay that show larger-than-life rock structures. Parts of the bay and shoreline usually hidden beneath Lake Erie were on display thanks to the effects of a seiche and high winds. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-highwinds-exposes-lakeerie-putinbay
Driving through blizzards, gusting winds, super-chilled water — these are the things that warm the heart of a “laker.” For winter surfers on the Great Lakes, bad weather is almost always good. The worse the weather, the better the surfing. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-wintersurgers-michigan-badweather
Last Friday, ship enthusiasts in Northern Michigan were excited to see the Arthur M. Anderson ore carrier motor into Little Traverse Bay to seek protection from the storm. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-famousfreighter-northernmichigan
The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will host the next segment of its Working Waterfront Lecture Series, featuring a program about the Mackinac Railway ferries and their role in ice breaking on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Herald-Palladium.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-greatlakes-icebreakers
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and New York Sea Grant have announced they are partnering to bring eight small time grants to regional waterfront communities along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. Read the full story by the Finger Lakes Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-commentary-nyseagrant-greatlakesbasin-smallgrantsprogram
A new $226 million stormwater master plan and flooding strategy in Innisfil, Ontario, was approved by town council, but how to pay for the plan’s recommendations is yet unknown. Read the full story by Barrie Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-innisfilstormwater-flooding-investment
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is offering everyone a chance to learn more about invasive species and what the average citizen can do to help stop their spread with a series of webinars this winter. Read the full story by WSJM – St. Joseph, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-statewebinars-address-invasivespecies
Basalt is the type of dark, igneous rock that forms when lava oozes out of volcanoes and cools quickly near the surface. Hawaii is mostly built from basalt, but then, so is the North Shore of Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240115-lavaflows-helpedshape-hawaii-northland-greatlakes
New regulations to combat the spread of aquatic invasive species went into effect in Pennsylvania on January 1. Boaters are now required to check their boats and trailers for aquatic life and plants before leaving a waterway property. Read the full story by WMPT-TV – York, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-invasive-species-regulations
According to lake carriers’ data, there has been a more than 20% increase in shipments across the Great Lakes this year. The weather conditions have made it easier for ships carrying iron ore to sail with fewer ice delays. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-shipping-boost
Educators from all eight Great Lakes states will have the chance to spend a week with scientists aboard the research vessel Lake Guardian as it crisscrosses Lake Erie this summer. The 2024 shipboard science workshop is open to educators and other professionals whose students are in fifth through 12th grades. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-educator-research-vessel
In New York, the Port of Oswego Authority is pressing for an equitable share of Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Authority argues that most of the PIDP grants have gone to East and West Coast ports, while only 2% of the funds went to two Great Lakes ports. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-port-grants
During the last week of 2023, the city of Eastpointe, Michigan, issued a public advisory for water customers after several homes in the area with known lead service lines were tested and were found to have high lead levels in their drinking water. This was the third such advisory since the end of 2022. Read the full story by C & G Newspapers.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-lead-advisory
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that the Soo Locks are set to close for more than two months while crews perform seasonal maintenance. The 1,200-foot Poe Lock will reopen March 25 and the 800-foot MacArthur Lock will reopen April 24. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-lock-maintenance
A new study from Cornell University warns that climate warming and lake browning – when organic matter from forests turns the water brown – is making the bottom of most lakes in the Adirondacks unlivable for cold water species such as trout, salmon and whitefish during the summer. Read the full story by WNBF – Binghamton, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-fishing-threats
In Ohio, Cleveland Metroparks sees its purchase of a key property along the Cuyahoga River as a big step toward creating a continuous path on or near the waterfront. The $3.5 million acquisition of 3.3 acres from Grain Craft, a onetime flour mill, is seen as an opportunity to secure land for public access on the river. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-waterfront-access
The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will host the next entry in its lecture series on January 17 with a presentation on the Mackinac Railway Ferries. Mackinac Railway Ferries operated on the Great Lakes from the 1880s until 1984 and became a model for ice breakers around the world. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240112-ice-breaker-lecture
Many of the Great Lakes’ important ports and waterways are aging and need updating, and that’s something leaders in Rust Belt cities are hoping to do with $17 billion from the Biden administration. Read the full story by National Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-infrastructure-investment
Midwesterners that surf Lake Michigan’s slurpee-like waters in winter are a tight-knit clan of construction workers, artists, autoworkers, engineers, and even retirees all with a special connection to the lake. Read the full story by WBEZ – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-winter-surfing
The city of Flint, Michigan, says a small oil spill into the Flint River has been contained and the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is investigating the source of the contamination. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-oil-spill
A trail camera captured a rare sighting of a marten inhabiting Madeline Island off the coast of Bayfield, Wisconsin. Wildlife biologists say this is a promising sign of recovery after reintroduction work in the 1950s. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-marten-sighting
With less than a week remaining until intra-lake shipping ends on the Great Lakes for the season, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority has numerous achievements to celebrate. Read the full story by WTIP – Grand Marais, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-shipping-achievements
A permit to build a new section of the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac was granted last month, but several organizations argue it violates the Michigan Environmental Protection Act and that alternative options were not adequately considered. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-line5-appeal
Five threats to the Great Lakes watch out for in 2024 include exotic species, plastic pollution, the Line 5 pipeline project, Canadian nuclear waste, and vanishing ice. Read the full story by Buffalo Rising.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-great-lakes-threats
Ohio will soon embark on removing the Gorge Dam to create a free-flowing and healthier ecosystem in the Cuyahoga River, but first, a $100 million collaboratively funded clean-up of 875,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment must occur. Ohio’s collaborative funding approach could be a model for cleaning up contaminated sediments in Michigan’s Detroit and Rouge rivers. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-sediment-cleanup
Grant funding will be used to educate and empower waterfront residents to reduce stormwater pollution and erosion along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240110-stormwater-education-grant
This year, the Great Lakes are under the influence of a strong El Niño, bringing a short-term warming trend to the region. But scientists say evidence of long-term climate change can also be seen in the region’s ice formation trends. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-low-ice
A bill that would realize the Great Lakes’ first offshore wind farm in Chicago is under consideration in the Illinois state senate but there are many unknowns, and the project is likely several years out from construction. Read the full story by The Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-chicago-wind
In Michigan, the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority is providing funding to a nonprofit to help designate a 92-mile stretch of the Grand River as a state recreational water trail stretching from the headwaters to its mouth in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-grand-river
Blue-green algae blooms paint Lake Erie’s waters bright green for hundreds of square miles every summer. Some scientists think they may be home to the next pharmaceutical drug. Read the full story by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-algae-pharma
December 2023 was Milwaukee’s warmest December on record according to a state climatologist. The unseasonably warm weather and lack of snow and lake ice have had a wide range of effects on the state. Read the full story by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-wisconsin-warmth
The most comprehensive study ever undertaken of marsh birds’ abundance around Great Lakes coastlines shows many of the bird species thriving over the past decade-plus, likely because of recent high water levels. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-coastal-birds
The National Park Service may restrict beach areas previously open to the public if piping plovers nest in new habitat area created by an excavation project at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-plover-restrictions
Great Lakes iron ore pellet shipping jumped sharply in 2023 compared to 2022. Shipments on the Great Lakes hit 51.1 million net tons for the year. Read the full story by the Mesabi Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-ore-shipments
A Chicago psychotherapist and clinical social worker have organized ‘Climate Cafés’: gatherings for those struggling with the emotional burdens of climate change. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-climate-cafes
Disposal of a wind turbine once its 20-30 years of service ends usually results in incineration or life in a landfill. One Ohio company is repurposing blades into functional pieces of art, including benches, tables, and planters. Read the full story by Cleveland Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240108-turbine-art
A 20th company recently signed a pledge to use 100% of commercially caught Great Lakes fish. This pledge details how a fish can be turned into products, increasing profits and eliminating waste. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240105-fish-pledge
An exhibit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, transports visitors to a surreal underwater future with interactive sculptural elements and hidden passageways where invasive species have overrun the Great Lakes ecosystem. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240105-immersive-exhibit
A phenomenon called pancake ice was caught on video in Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior by a lakeshore homeowner. This is an indication that the Great Lakes will, hopefully, freeze soon. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240105-pancake-ice
