In Richland Township, Michigan, state and federal environmental regulators are investigating a “significant” oil leak in Saginaw County. Local residents say the oil has been leaking since before the holidays. Read the full story by WJRT-TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240122-epa-egle-oilleak-saginawcounty
On Monday, commissioners of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District accepted a bid from Michels Corporation to build the storage facility that will permanently house polluted sediment from the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240122-michaelscorp-milwaukee-river
If you would like to attend the Jan. 31, 2024 meeting either in-person or virtually, please RSVP to Katie Reed at katherine@fwwa.org or 920-851-6472 by 1/29/24. Thank you!
The Winnebago Water Level Assessment Team provides a collaborative opportunity for stakeholder representatives and experts to develop realistic and achievable water level recommendations and related goals that reasonably balance the top priorities of multiple system users and the health of the lakes.
Meeting details:
Date: January 31, 2024
Time: 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Facilitator: Katie Reed, Winnebago Waterways Program Coordinator, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, katherine@fwwa.org, (920)851-6472 & Jim Wickersham, Winnebago Waterways Program Director, jim@fwwa.org
Where: Virtual and In person options – In Person at Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance office in Appleton & Virtual Option (see agenda for details)
CLICK HERE for the meeting agenda
Check back here for the meeting notes and presentation slides after the meeting
To visit the WWLAT website for other meeting notes and updates, CLICK HERE.
Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance recovery initiative. Contact us at wwinfo@fwwa.org
The post WWLAT MEETING: Jan. 31, 2024 appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2024/01/22/wwlat_2024_01_31/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wwlat_2024_01_31
For our Diving Deep for Solutions series, we commissioned author and journalist Kari Lydersen to examine big issues facing the lakes today and how our expert team at the Alliance for the Great Lakes is growing to meet the moment.
Residents of our Great Lakes states are surrounded by freshwater, yet for many, access to clean, safe, and affordable water is impacted by historic disinvestment or lack of local resources to improve infrastructure, notes Jenna Voss, Alliance for the Great Lakes Program Manager for Clean Water & Equity.
Indeed, many people across the Great Lakes region can’t depend on this spectacular water resource because failing or antiquated pipes and pumps contaminate water on their way to taps and flood basements and discharge sewage into rivers and lakes during heavy rains. These challenges will only get worse with climate change, as heavier rains overwhelm water systems and hotter temperatures increase the risk of toxins and pathogens contaminating drinking water.
Lead that contaminates drinking water from pipes poses a serious health risk in many communities, and drinking water can also be contaminated with “emerging contaminants” – toxic chemicals that are not widely regulated or monitored. These include chemicals from pharmaceuticals and pesticides that contaminate water through run-off or wastewater, and PFAS – thousands of “forever chemicals” from industrial processes and products.
Even as drinking water may be unsafe, it is also unaffordable for many, forcing them to choose between paying water bills and other costs.
The Alliance is proud to collaborate with coalition partners to lead the push for vastly increased investment and equity in water infrastructure and affordability. The $50 billion in federal dollars available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 offers hope for real change, but ongoing policy reform and community engagement is needed to make sure water infrastructure investments are made in effective and equitable ways, including addressing high water bills.
“Protecting and enhancing the Great Lakes ecosystem – including human health and access to safe, affordable water – should be a priority. Public health is central to creating a vibrant and thriving Great Lakes community,” said Voss. “Long-term water affordability needs to be prioritized in state and federal policy and requires dedicated investment, much like our investments in supporting watershed health.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes important revisions to and added funding for State Revolving Funds (SRFs) for clean water and drinking water. These programs offer low-interest loans and grants. The law allocates new supplementary funding of $11.7 billion each over five years to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, plus $5 billion for addressing emerging contaminants and $15 billion for lead service line replacement. The new funding comes on top of existing annual base funding appropriated by Congress.
The federal SRF programs are designed to support projects that help communities meet the requirements and goals of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, respectively. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) has long been a way to address combined sewer overflows when rainwater overwhelms wastewater systems and forces the release of untreated sewage into rivers and lakes. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) addresses the risk from lead pipes and other water distribution challenges.
Voss noted that just last year, the EPA, for the first time, examined lead service lines in its Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment.
“The inclusion of lead service lines in the survey was really important,” said Voss. “Hopefully, having more data to tell us where SRF funding is most needed will enhance states’ abilities to make a dent in the crisis.”
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, almost half the payments for lead service line replacement in disadvantaged communities must be forgivable loans – essentially grants – and almost half the total drinking water funds must be spent on disadvantaged communities.
The law also says a quarter of loans allocated to fight emerging contaminants like PFAS through drinking water infrastructure will be forgivable. Finally, the law reduced the
amount states had to pay to match the federal loans through 2023 – from 20% to 10% — taking some burden off states in the initial years of BIL funding.
Loans and grants for clean water infrastructure are available to municipalities, non-profits, and private entities, like homeowners’ associations and watershed groups. Almost half of the loans are also forgivable if municipalities meet affordability criteria or advance energy efficiency and sustainability targets.
Voss noted that while the dollars are primarily federal, states have broad authority in deciding how they are spent. Each state is required to submit an Intended Use Plan (IUP) to the federal government outlining how the state plans to spend the federal funds for water and infrastructure during that fiscal year, and the public has the chance to comment on these plans. Ultimately, these plans have a massive influence on clean water outcomes in the Great Lakes.
To equip NGOs and community organizations with the tools and understanding to navigate these layers of water infrastructure policy and to help guide states through this process with a focus on equity and climate resilience, the Alliance launched the SRF State Advocates Forum in 2021, in partnership with the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, PolicyLink, and River Network. The forum has helped more than 50 organizations engage with state SRF administrators and submit comment letters on state Intended Use Plans.
“The SRF program could be quite powerful in addressing lead service lines and water affordability problems because it has longevity,” said Voss. “Multi-year funding is needed to make sure there is long-term investment in communities, not just upfront capital where the community is later left with the bill.”
Detroit has been a poster city for the water infrastructure crisis, with environmental justice implications, as Black residents are disproportionately affected by lack of access to quality drinking water and by basement flooding, even while faced with unaffordable water bills and denial of flooding compensation claims.
As in neighboring Flint and other cities around the country, many metro Detroit residents deal with drinking water that can be dangerously contaminated with lead and other toxins, even as it is unaffordable for some families.
Monica Lewis-Patrick, President and CEO of the community organization We the People of Detroit, emphasized that the city of Detroit not only needs to overhaul its water infrastructure but needs to do it in a way that prioritizes existing residents without contributing to inequality and displacement.
“In my mind there’s two things,” she said. “One is making sure the infrastructure is being invested in so it’s going to be to the benefit of the residents who are in the city now,” not only aimed at attracting new and wealthier residents.
Second, the jobs and economic stimulus created by the overhaul need to benefit residents who have suffered for too long from inadequate investment. In support of building long-term climate resilience, Mayor Duggan’s administration released the Detroit Climate Strategy in November 2023.
The particular emphasis on clean water during the pandemic spotlighted the epidemic of water shutoffs in Detroit and other low-income communities across the Great Lakes. In Detroit, shut-offs were linked to higher rates of COVID-19 and disproportionately affected elderly and Black people.
Lewis-Patrick decried the “racialized narrative” that “Black people just woke up one day and didn’t pay their bills,” citing water rates that have more than doubled in recent decades, far outpacing wage growth, with inadequate supports for those living on fixed incomes.
Lewis-Patrick pointed to a study by Dr. Nadia Gaber featuring Detroit and showing the psychosocial impacts of not having secure access to clean water.
“Even outside of the highly concentrated Black and brown communities of the urban core, poor white folks are affected too,” she said. “Every human being deserves clean, affordable water.”
In the work of protecting and restoring the Great Lakes, it’s critical that no one is left behind. For many in the region, water flowing from the tap and running through our water systems is the primary way people connect to the Great Lakes.
“A healthy Great Lakes region is one where every person can wake up knowing our shared water will be there for them and their family,” said Joel Brammeier, Alliance president & CEO. “Water connects us all. That’s why we’re working to make sure everyone who lives here can rely on the lakes every day.”
The post Water Infrastructure: Getting Great Lakes Water to the People appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2024/01/water-infrastructure-getting-great-lakes-water-to-the-people/
A program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program began provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges. The program completed its first successful cohort last year and is seeking applicants for a new round of support in 2024.
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Natalie Chin discusses climate change impacts with Climate Champions teams in 2023. Image credit: Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve
Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron) and may include representatives from multiple jurisdictions. The teams can include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.
“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated, yearlong support for climate work.”
Teams who want to participate need to apply online by March 15 at: https://go.wisc.edu/0385yk. Teams will be selected by April and the program will begin in May.
The previous year’s projects included creating the outline of a coastal adaptation plan for Washburn and Ashland, Wisconsin, that focused on flood resilience, climate adaptation and a project priorities list; also, emergency managers from Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties developed an online form to record road maintenance activities for Great Lakes coastal counties in Wisconsin.
Applicants are encouraged to seek support for a new climate resilience effort that is relevant to their community. This could include developing a new resource or tool, initiating an assessment, bringing people together in dialog or developing a specific climate plan.
Other possible project examples include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.
For more information, visit: https://go.wisc.edu/am468e.
The post Applications open for community climate support program first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/applications-open-for-community-climate-support-program/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126885399C20.WindChillAdvisory.1268853B3A30WI.GRBWSWGRB.00359324d3a4e90854dfc1b31db7e4d8
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1268852CC7C0.WindChillAdvisory.1268853B3A30WI.GRBWSWGRB.9b55b5ae820260f9b04dfe489afda625
Pirouettes, leaps and pliés don’t come to mind when you think of environmental justice.
But for Michigan State University theater professors Deric McNish and Rob Roznowski, dance and theater are the perfect communicative devices for such serious topics.
The post Dance groups leap into environmental communication first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/01/20/dance-groups-leap-into-environmental-communication/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1268852B21E0.WindChillAdvisory.1268853B3A30WI.GRBWSWGRB.9b55b5ae820260f9b04dfe489afda625
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1268852AA670.SpecialWeatherStatement.1268852B1F24WI.GRBSPSGRB.55b57b6e07717bb15458b89b4aacd12f
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and she is at work on a children’s story.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/nibi-chronicles-violence-in-maiingan-country/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1268851D7FA4.SpecialWeatherStatement.1268852B82C0WI.GRBSPSGRB.58662523f54ce0007a5fbf00c85262da
Last week, Sea Grant’s Sharon Moen was the recipient of an Appreciation Award from the Wisconsin Commercial Fishing Association to honor her work to secure the overseas market for whitefish and cisco roe in Sweden.
In 2021, Moen responded to Wisconsin commercial fisher and fish processor requests for help in addressing challenges to the export of Great Lakes lake whitefish and Lake Superior cisco roe to Sweden. Negative sustainability ratings developed by the World Wildlife Fund-European Union prompted ICA Sweden–the largest grocery market chain in the country–and other markets, to remove the roe from shelves.
Moen, food-fish outreach coordinator, intervened and due to that educational outreach spanning roughly two years, the rating was changed last fall so sales valued at $15 million annually can resume.
Sharon Moen accepts an award from the president of Wisconsin’s commercial fishing industry in honor of her work to restore a $15-million overseas market for Great Lakes fish products. Photo: Cindy Hudson, Michigan Sea Grant.
“I’m so pleased Wisconsin Sea Grant could facilitate the flow of evidence-based information in a way that helped the commercial fishing industry,” Moen said. “Sustainable fisheries management is an important topic and one our commercial fishers, fisheries managers and Sea Grant takes seriously.”
About Moen’s contribution, the association’s president Daniel Schwarz, said, “Moen’s commitment to this global project was extraordinary. No matter the size of the obstacle thrown her way, she managed to effectively tackle it and successfully conquer it. It is rare these days to see someone who truly cares to the point of no option for failure. Moen took the time to understand the issues at hand directly meeting with fishermen, processors/exporters around the upper Great Lakes in addition to reaching out to regulating government offices to collect updated correct information regarding the current status of the upper Great Lakes fishing industry.”
He continued, “Moen then effectively communicated all this information to Scandinavian regulatory agencies as well as consumers to build back the confidence in and credibility of the Great Lakes products. This enormous undertaking by one person took great leadership and communication skills, determination and passion.”
Schwarz is the owner of Dan’s Fish Inc., which is based in Sturgeon Bay. Wisconsin’s tribal and state-licensed commercial fishers primary catch lake whitefish, cisco and lake trout from Lake Superior. In Lake Michigan, state-licensed commercial fishers target lake whitefish and yellow perch. Burbot, rainbow smelt and chubs also make up part of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes commercial catch.
The post Moen honored by Wisconsin’s commercial fishers first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/moen-honored-by-wisconsins-commercial-fishers/
By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/restoring-ontarios-lost-grasslands-important-as-planting-trees/
By Mark Sherman, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Supreme Court justices on Wednesday voiced support for weakening the power of federal regulators, but it was not clear whether a majority would overturn a precedent that has guided American law for four decades over everything from the safety of food and drugs to environmental protection.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/ap-supreme-court-wrestles-with-major-challenges-to-power-of-federal-regulators/
People on the western shore of Lake Erie witnessed strange sights after a winter storm came through on January 13. Parts of the lake that are usually under water were suddenly dry and visible, after wind gusts up to 55 mph pushed large volumes of water east. At least one long-lost human-made structure and striking natural features were revealed.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/strong-winds-uncover-spectacular-features-and-long-lost-structures/
The Biden administration has set aside $17 billion to improve maritime infrastructure, money that many want to invest into capital improvements at Great Lakes ports. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-infastructure-funding
Eight ships will spend the off-season in the Duluth-Superior twin Ports, twice as many as last winter, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-twin-ports
Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell and Lisa McClain introduced a bipartisan bill today that would authorize $200 million to conduct high-resolution bathymetric mapping of lakebeds of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-lakebed-mapping
Elk Rapids, Michigan, is surrounded by water. To protect their future the city plans to hire a shoreline management coordinator through a new state program known as the MI Healthy Climate Corps. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-climate-crops-program
The 748-foot S.S. Philip R. Clarke entered the Soo Lock facility’s Poe Lock around 9 a.m. on Tuesday to close out the 2023 navigation season. Read the full story my MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-soo-locks
Lake Superior has long been known as the icy lake, but studies have shown that Superior is one of the fastest warming lakes in the world. And it’s not just Superior, the surface temperature and all five of the Great Lakes has increased in the last few decades, having profound impacts across the region. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-warming-trends
Wisconsin abounds with water resources but in some corners of the state, access to fresh water can be scarce or expensive. Efforts are underway to convert sewage into a safe, drought-resistant source of drinking water. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-wisconsin-water
At the bottom of Lake Huron there’s a ridge that was once served as an ancient caribou hunting site. Computer scientists are using artificial intelligence to predict caribou movement and help find important archaeological sites. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-ai-caribou
Twenty-one Great Lakes region fishing companies have signed the organization’s 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge, committing to using all parts of the whitefish, lake trout, yellow perch, and walleye that they catch by 2025. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240119-100-great-lakes-fish
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/nceis-marine-microplastics-database
By Shantal Riley, Undark
Shantal Riley is an award-winning health and environmental reporter, focused on water quality in communities of color. Her work has been featured by Frontline PBS, NOVA PBS, the Washington Post Magazine, and other publications.
This story was supported in part by The Uproot Project, which is operationally and financially supported by Grist.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/the-toxic-sands-threatening-fish-in-lake-superior/
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/ams-2024
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Elk Rapids is surrounded by water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/elk-rapids-wants-to-help-its-shoreline-through-new-state-climate-corps-program/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Ben Eiler, Great Lakes Echo
The founder of a company that uses drones to recover deer carcasses that hunters cannot find says that Michigan’s prohibition of the practice violates his First Amendment rights.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/lawsuit-could-complicate-drone-laws-for-michigan-hunters-and-anglers/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/michigan-lawmakers-have-more-energy-priorities-in-2024/
A legal fight about how to dispose of the copious manure generated by Michigan’s largest livestock operations has reached Michigan’s highest court, with potentially far-reaching implications for the state’s ability to limit pollution of all kinds. The case comes as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Canada struggle to address the agricultural pollution that sullies lakes and rivers across the region and turns Lake Erie bright green with algae every summer. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240117-manure-court
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
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/vital-pacific-ocean-climatology-updated
By Zaria Johnson, Ideastream Public Media
This story was originally published by Ideastream.
Northeast Ohio’s parks are frequented by white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and a variety of squirrel species throughout the year, along with migratory birds, monarch butterflies and more. But where do these critters spend their winters?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/where-northeast-ohios-wildlife-spends-the-winter/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126884FD5A58.WindChillAdvisory.126884FE3130WI.GRBWSWGRB.1b6f9f4bce18f973108c8d2372b0331d
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126884FC8BB4.WindChillAdvisory.126884FE3130WI.GRBWSWGRB.1b6f9f4bce18f973108c8d2372b0331d
The trek in the Great Lakes region’s efforts to stop the advance of invasive carp could be classified as a long, strange and seemingly never-ending trip.
It started in the early 2000’s when advocates were successful in securing electric barriers to repel the fish. That was an interim measure and was followed by an over-the-top $18 billion plan to separate two great watersheds.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/great-lakes-policy-advocate-calls-out-illinois-for-intransigence-on-invasive-carp-solution/
Attention Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, Garden Club Members and others advising home gardeners; this webinar is for you! Representatives from UWEX and DNR will join Melinda Myers to talk about current threats, available resources and ways we can all work together to manage invasive plants. To register for the free webinar, click the button below!
Melinda Myers is the author of numerous gardening books, including The Garden Book for Wisconsin, Small Space Gardening and The Midwest Gardeners Handbook. She hosts the “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. She offers free gardening webinars on her website at www.MelindaMyers.com.
Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on X! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
Winnebago Waterways and Keepers of the Fox are Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance programs. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization working to protect and restore water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
The post Invasive Plants in Your Yard? Here’s What To Do appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2024/01/16/invasive-plants-in-your-yard-heres-what-to-do/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=invasive-plants-in-your-yard-heres-what-to-do
Original Story: Livia Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times
Inside a fishbowl, the goldfish — a species of carp native to East Asia, bred for aesthetic delight and traditionally believed to bring good fortune — is hardly more than home décor. Usually just a few inches long, it is among the easiest of pets to keep.
But released into the wild, the seemingly humble goldfish, freed from glass boundaries and no longer limited to meager meals of flakes, can grow to monstrous proportions. They can even kill off native marine wildlife and help destroy fragile and economically valuable ecosystems.
“They can eat anything and everything,” said Christine Boston, an aquatic research biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Over the past several years, Ms. Boston and her colleagues have been tracking invasive goldfish in Hamilton Harbour, which is on the western tip of Lake Ontario, about 35 miles southwest of Toronto. The bay has been decimated by industrial and urban development as well as by invasive species — making it among the most environmentally degraded areas of the Great Lakes.
Their study, published last month in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, could help pinpoint goldfish populations for culling, said Ms. Boston, who is the lead author. “We found out where they are before they start spawning,” she said. “That’s a good opportunity to get rid of them.”
The fast-growing female goldfish, Ms. Boston noted, can also reproduce several times in one season. “They have the resources,” she added, “and they can take advantage of them.”
Goldfish were first spotted in Hamilton Harbour in the 1960s, but largely died off in the 1970s because of industrial contamination. In the early 2000s, their population appeared to recover. Goldfish can tolerate a wide range of water temperatures, reach sexual maturation quickly, and can eat nearly anything, including algae, aquatic plants, eggs and invertebrates, Ms. Boston said.
The feral goldfish are also destructive, uprooting and consuming plants that are home to native species. They help spawn harmful algal blooms by consuming the algae and expelling nutrients that promote its growth, Ms. Boston said, creating conditions that are intolerable to native fish.
To track the goldfish, the researchers captured and sedated 19 of the larger adults and surgically implanted tags the size of AA batteries into their bellies. The tags, which sent signals to acoustic receivers around the bay, provided researchers with a map of their locations.
Eight of the fish died, but the remaining 11 led Ms. Boston and her colleagues to find that the fish tended to spend the winter in deep waters and moved to shallower habitats by spring, where they prepared to spawn.
Some options for removing the goldfish, she said, include capturing them with specialized nets deployed beneath winter ice, or using “electro fishing,” which involves stunning the fish with an electrical current and scooping them from the water. Both techniques, she added, would avoid killing the native fish.
Nicholas Mandrak, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, said that while goldfish were introduced to North America in the late 1800s, the wild population had begun to “dramatically increase” in the past two decades. Their spawning explosion, he said, resulted partly from people in densely-populated areas releasing pets in urban ponds.
Climate change may play a role, because of the goldfish’s capacity to adapt to warming and poorly oxygenated waters, he added.
“There are literally millions of goldfish in the Great Lakes, if not tens of millions,” Dr. Mandrak said.
Despite the threat, he added, environmental managers tend to forget the goldfish. “They just assume, ‘It’s been there for 150 years — there’s nothing we can do about it.’”
The problem is not unique to Canada. In Australia, a handful of unwanted pet goldfish and their offspring took over a river in the country’s southwest. Feral goldfish have flooded waterways in the United Kingdom, and, in Burnsville, Minn., the discovery of football-size creatures in a lake in 2021 led officials to beg their constituents: “Please don’t release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes!”
People wrongly believe that because goldfish are “small and cute” they won’t pose a problem when released into the wild, said Dr. Ricciardi. “It’s the ‘Free Willy’ syndrome.”
Goldfish, he added, are just a small part of a vast invasion of non-native species whose outcomes can be unpredictable, and in some cases, are worsened by climate change.
“Under human influence, beasts are moving faster farther in greater numbers, reaching parts of the planet they could never reach before,” he said. “We’re talking about the redistribution of life on Earth.”
Anthony Ricciardi, a professor of invasion ecology at McGill University in Montreal, noted that not all invasive goldfish become supersized, but even the small ones are problematic, outpacing native fish populations and damaging the environment.
Their football-shaped bodies can swell to a size that makes them too large a meal for predators — up to about 16 inches long. “A fish would have to have a really big mouth to eat it,” she said.
Photo Credit: Vincent Tullo (New York Times), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
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Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
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Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Military investigators make disturbing discovery at O’Hare and Midway airports: ‘It’s there forever‘ — The Cool Down
For years, Chicago and military firefighters used a firefighting foam known as AFFF, which contains toxic PFAS.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/pfas-news-roundup-forever-chemicals-in-fish-building-a-better-response-to-pfas-contamination/
This article explores the experiences of women of colour in the British Army during the Second World War, and the influences of race and gender on their work, focusing specifically on the experiences of British-Indian SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan. Inayat Khan’s experiences in training and fieldwork are analyzed based on her relationship with superiors and colleagues, taking into account their racial and gender-based biases, as well as Inayat Khan’s relationship to her own identity as a woman of colour in a largely white male environment. Ultimately, women within the British Army experienced a number of disadvantages due to prevalent misogynistic beliefs of the time, and as a woman of colour Inayat Khan additionally navigated the difficulties that came with commonplace racism. However, these hardships intersected with the advantages Inayat Khan and other female SOE agents were able to acquire from their unique identities. Throughout this article the intersection of these hardships and advantages is explored to determine their direct influence on Inayat Khan’s ability to carry out her work.
The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History
The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/gljuh/vol9/iss1/9
