Offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes could provide enough carbon-free energy to meet all of Ontario’s growing demand at nearly half the cost of new nuclear reactors. There’s just one problem: Ontario declared a moratorium on offshore wind projects in 2011. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-offshore-wind
The Maumee River is causing issues for the city of Toledo by increasing suspended solids in the city’s drinking water. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-maumee-river
The Great Lakes account for 90% of North America’s fresh water and 20% of the global supply, yet water affordability is a real issue in many Great Lakes states as households contend with some of the most expensive tap water rates in the nation.Read the full story by WKSU- Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-water-accessibility
Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Administrator Adam Tindall-Schlicht toured the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor last week to see expansion work. Read the full story by The Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-great-lakes-st-lawrence-seaway
Reporter Dan Egan discusses the unchecked flow of phosphorus into our waterways, often from farm runoff, and how it contributes to “dead zones” and toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie. Read the full story by Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230419-dead-zones
The Ontario government is investing nearly $1 million to support Indigenous-led projects and increased collaboration with Indigenous organizations and youth to help protect and restore the Great Lakes. Read and listen to the full story by Muskoka411.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-ontario-indigenousleaders-greatlakes
A little bird that lives along the Lake Michigan shoreline is showing new signs of life thanks to the efforts from a team at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Forty years ago, the Great Lakes piping plover was on the brink of extinction. While the population has rebounded, the birds are still considered extremely vulnerable. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-pipingplover-greatlakes-preservingmichigan
The MV Federal Dart arrived at the Port of Thunder Bay on Friday marking it as the first ocean-going “salty” vessel of the 2023 shipping season. The five-year-old Marshall Islands-flagged bulker berthed at Superior Elevator and loaded with Canadian wheat before heading back on a 15-day voyage to the United Kingdom. Read the full story by the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-salty-thunderbay
It felt like peak beach season for most of the week and first responders are already looking ahead to the summer tourism season. One way the City of South Haven tries to protect everyone who visits Lake Michigan is through a buoy that monitors water conditions 24/7. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-southhaven-buoymonitoring-24/7
More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, oil refineries, plastics manufacturers and other industrial facilities. Read the full story by the Wausau Pilot and Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-epa-sued-pfas-pollutionlimits
Stabilization measures began this week on Port Burwell’s 1840-vintage wooden lighthouse – the oldest one on Lake Erie’s north shore – so badly in need of repair it was at risk of toppling over. Read the full story by The Beacon Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-repairwork-portburwell-lakeerielighthouse
Michigan has a rich history of rearing fish since the state began operating hatcheries 150 years ago. The use of stocked fish has long been one of the cornerstones in managing Michigan’s fisheries, but it has gone through many changes over time. Read the full story by the Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-upperpeninsula-fishhatcheries-longhistory
Fish samples taken at 30 or so locations that included the Ohio River, Lake Erie and tributaries of both turned up measurable levels of the chemicals known as PFAS and PFOS. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-foreverchemicals-fish
It was the end of an era Saturday, at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. The final littoral combat ship built at the shipyard was launched and christened. The future USS Cleveland (LCS 31), a Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, is the 16th and final Freedom-variant LCS. Read the full story by Fox 11 News – Green Bay.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230417-freedomclass-combatship
A record number of cruises are expected to dock in Detroit this year as part of a growing Great Lakes cruise industry. Last year, there were a record 52 cruise ships that docked in Detroit, and according to Cruise the Great Lakes and the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, there will be 67 cruise ships docking during the season. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-detroit-cruise
Former U.N. water adviser Maude Barlow is the veteran Canadian and international water rights activist who was instrumental in securing the human right to water declaration by the United Nations in 2010. Barlow recently spoke with Great Lakes Now in an interview that in addition to the World Water conference, covered U.S and Canada’s relationship with the Great Lakes and recent tension between the two countries. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-insight
In Door County, Wisconsin, wetter weather means the water level in Lake Michigan is higher than usual for this time of year. Although, the water level isn’t as high as it was at this time last year, and the forecasted levels for this summer are nowhere near the record-setting highs they reached three and four years ago. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-levels
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office announced the Fresh Coast Maritime Challenge program in a Monday night release. The program is a partnership between Traverse Connect and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarding up to $150,000 in grants to decarbonize and electrify Michigan watercraft and marinas. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-maritime-challenge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to the Black River in Alcona County, Michigan, to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom. The applications will be conducted between April 24 to May 4 in accordance with State of Michigan permits. Read the full story by Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-lamprey-control
A storage basin containing wastewater at the Waste Treatment Plant in Washburn, Wisconsin, is on track to overflow due to the fast melting of snow, and that is threatening Lake Superior. The storage basin at Washburn’s treatment plant typically takes in 175,000 to 200,000 gallons of water per day; in four days, it took in over 3.4 million gallons. Read the full story by WDIO-DT – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-wastewater-overflow
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has made a deal to buy Batchewana Island in Lake Superior north of Sault Ste. Marie to protect it from development. It is Lake Superior’s largest privately-owned island and has 27 kilometres of shoreline and more than 2,000 hectares of forests and wetlands. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-island-purchase
This year, more than 300 students at six Milwaukee-area schools are investigating the importance of clean water, from our faucets to Lake Michigan. In the classroom, the student’s goal was to learn how to do the experiments before they run the same tests at Bradford Beach next month. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-student-water-testing
Canada’s worst invasive plant is a little less evident thanks to a comprehensive and collaborative initiative founded in 2013 that sees phragmites removed from the community. A partnership between the Municipality of Kincardine, Ontario, Dr. Janice Gilbert, and the Lake Huron Coastal Centre in 2013 created the Phragmites Management Plan to control the destructive plant. Read the full story by the Saugeen Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-phragmite-remediation
The cities of Joliet, Channahon, Crest Hill, Minooka, Shorewood and Romeoville, Illinois are all participating in the Wyland Mayor’s Challenge that asks residents to conserve water, energy and other natural resources on behalf of their city through a series of informative, easy-to-use pledges online. Read the full story by WJOL – Joliet, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230414-water-conservation-challenge
The first piping plover to return to the Great Lakes region this spring has been reported at Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, marking the official start of another breeding season for the federally endangered shorebird. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-piping-plover
Researchers at the University of Toledo are making significant strides in tracking invasive species of fish in area rivers and the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WEWS- TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-invasives-tracking
Three ships were lost to the waters of Lake Superior more than 100 years ago, claiming the lives of more than two dozen people. Two of the three ships have now been found. Read the full story by WJMN – TV – Escanaba, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-shipwrecks
The USDA Forest Service announced Tuesday that it is investing $1.16 million to support 11 Wisconsin restoration projects. Read the full story by WLUK – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-wisconsin-restoration
The first ocean vessel of the 2023 international shipping season came from the Netherlands to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-vessel-arrival
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre will hold its biennial conference delving into the coastal sustainability challenges and solutions for Lake Huron in Grand Bend, Ontario, early next month. Read the full story by the Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-sustainability-conference
A coalition of Democratic politicians, labor unions and environmental groups is advocating for a plan that would put an offshore wind farm off the coast of Lake Michigan on Chicago’s South Side. Read the full story by Capital News Illinois.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-offshore-wind
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources released about 25,000 young brown trout into the channel between Manistee Lake and Lake Michigan last week. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-brown-trout
Leaders from 51 tribal nations, including some in Michigan, blasted Canada’s support of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline last week. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230412-line-5
As Lake Michigan fisheries managers and stakeholders have approved chinook salmon stocking increases for this year, the latest prey fish assessment shows forage levels remain low historically but with some positive year-over-year changes. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-prey-fish
A roundtable discussion of the water quality of the Western Basin of Lake Erie is scheduled for April 11 at the Maumee Bay State Park convention center in Ohio. The discussion will include thoughts from local officials and activists on the lake’s current condition and factors contributing to harmful algal blooms. Read the full story by The Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-western-lake
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) work as part of the H2Ohio Initiative has earned national attention by receiving the 2023 Wetland Conservation Achievement Award, presented by Ducks Unlimited. Read the full story by The Delaware Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-odnr-award
After being designated as a national marine sanctuary in 2021, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is working toward community engagement for its region on Wisconsin’s shore of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Press Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-shipwreck-coast
This season is an especially great time to scout for Petoskey stones on Lake Michigan shores because the winter ice and waves have moved and shifted the stones, churning up new ones and making them more accessible. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-petoskey-stones
To learn more about harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes, as well as new freshwater acidification research findings, attend Thursday’s lecture at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-habs-glmhc
The Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program (MIGSP) provides research grants to reduce the impact of invasive species in the state. This year, MIGSP has funded $3.6 million for 35 projects, several with impacts for aquatic invasive species in Southeast Michigan. Read the full story by WDET- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-invasive-species
In Ontario, Port Windsor welcomed the first “salty” – or foreign vessel – of the 2023 shipping season last week when the M/V Egbert Wagenborg arrived at arrived at ADM Agri Industries on April 4 to load grain for export. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-port-windsor
Over the last few years, Walstrom Marine has been making progress towards its goal of becoming a premium marine operator across the Great Lakes. In November, the company acquired Grand Bay Marine and is now working to merge the companies together. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-charlevoix-marine
In Michigan, Chesterfield Township officials are considering the possibility of constructing a new water storage facility in the community. The Chesterfield Township Board of Trustees voted to award engineering services for a water storage feasibility study. Read the full story by The Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230410-chesterfield-storage
As lake sturgeon in Michigan’s Black Lake in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties travel up the Black River to spawn in shallow waters, volunteers will be ready to guard the fish against poaching. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-lake-sturgeon
Thanks to over $16 million in grants from the state and federal government, the Port of Monroe will soon become the first container terminal in Michigan and the most state-of-the-art port on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXTZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-port-of-monroe
The Toledo shipping channel in the Maumee River is relatively shallow, so it has to be dredged on a regular basis to make it deep enough for freighters. Sediment brought up during that process is now being put to good use in a number of places including the new Glass City Metropark. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-toldedo-metropark
Significant erosion has been found at Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle State Park. The lack of ice along Lake Erie likely increased wave action along the shores leading to the high amount erosion. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-presque-isle
Conversation Café: A Place Worth Protecting seminar talks focused on protecting Lake Huron will take place throughout Michigan in the month of May, all of which include a free luncheon. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-luncheon-talks
An Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Monday that Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation is — and always has been — the rightful owner of Sauble Beach after decades of litigation. The 2.5-kilometre stretch of Lake Huron shoreline was previously claimed by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. Read the full story by the St. Catherines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-sauble-beach
A new immersive, hands-on course at Muskegon Community College is taking a close look at freshwater ecology. The Aquatic Ecology course introduces students to the processes that occur in local bodies of water, including the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230407-beaver-island
