A new light icebreaker will ply the waters of the Great Lakes once it is inspected and design work to prepare its conversion is carried out, says the Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. Read the full story by The Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2021115-icebreaker
Cleveland, Ohio City Councilmen Kevin Bishop, Brian Kazy and Anthony Brancatelli have introduced legislation that will prohibit the outdoor release of large numbers of balloons. Read the full story by The Cleveland Scene.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2021115-cleveland
To mitigate the impact of shoreline erosion, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist Roy L. Widrig is inviting waterfront property owners to participate in online workshops on Dec. 9. Read the full story by The Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2021115-erie-workshops
Watching how fish move, how they use the water to their advantage has made me a better diver. Underwater, I strive to be as trim as a walleye and as effortless as a sturgeon. And while my cameraman husband hunts for photo ops with the stealth of a muskie, I can usually be found frolicking in the shallows like a carefree sunfish.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/speak-fish-teamwork-swimming-lessons/
Note: This blog is part of a periodic series of updates from Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Director of Federal Government Relations, with his view on Great Lakes policy from Washington, DC.
Increasing funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure was a key item on our list of Great Lakes legislative priorities for the Biden administration and Congress this year. After months of negotiations, Congress delivered with a vote on November 5 to approve the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 – a $1.2 trillion funding package. The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
The bipartisan bill sets the stage for sorely needed new investments in water infrastructure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the Great Lakes states will need approximately $188 billion in additional water infrastructure investment over the next twenty years. And communities around the lakes continue to struggle with contamination from aging lead service lines. Benton Harbor, Michigan, is just the latest Great Lakes community experiencing a significant water emergency caused by lead in their drinking water from the lead pipes bringing drinking water into homes.
Fortunately, the infrastructure bill makes a solid down payment on our water infrastructure needs, including the long-overdue replacement of lead service lines. Although not perfect, the bill includes an additional $62.2 billion in supplemental funding for nationwide investments in water infrastructure over the next five years, including:
This is a significant bump in funding for programs used by communities to pay for repairs and upgrades to replace lead service lines, upgrade water pipes and treatment plants, and other water and sewer needs.
An additional $1 billion for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is also included in the bill. These funds will support on-the-ground projects around the lakes to clean up toxic pollutants, restore habitat, reduce pollution from nutrient runoff, and combat invasive species.
Congress listened to advocates from around the Great Lakes region who wrote letters and called their representatives in Washington, DC, and spoke out about the critical need for funding to fix our region’s antiquated water infrastructure. And we applaud the bipartisan efforts in Congress that led to the passage of this bill, which restores and protects our Great Lakes and provides significant environmental, human health, and economic benefits for our citizens.
The post Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act To Become Law appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/11/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act-to-become-law/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202110
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/metop-spacecraft-set-retire
A recent study revealed unsafe working conditions in some Michigan nail salons, the consequence of working with hazardous chemicals and not knowing how to handle them properly.
The post Nail salon working hazards exposed first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/11/15/nail-salon-working-hazards-exposed/
Cohen will be at Howe Memorial Library in Breckinridge, Michigan, on Nov. 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. presenting “Making Teas, Tinctures and Oils at Home.”
The post New book preserves relationship with plants through at-home herbalism first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/11/15/new-book-preserves-relationship-with-plants-through-at-home-herbalism/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C4474A54.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261C447C114WI.GRBSPSGRB.e00b354d9f3ab8b5ee91dd5d3d965141
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C446B198.WinterWeatherAdvisory.1261C447FDA0WI.GRBWSWGRB.b42b21ac31f496a45a2fc8763ee6412b
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C4468E0C.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261C4471340WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C445C990.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261C4469E10WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C445C030.WinterWeatherAdvisory.1261C447FDA0WI.GRBWSWGRB.b42b21ac31f496a45a2fc8763ee6412b
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C4391790.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261C4399044WI.GRBSPSGRB.27abfef4bbb8fa6594b2d1a0d35fa3eb
By Jill Zarestky, Colorado State University, The Conversation
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
Modern society benefits when people understand science concepts. This knowledge helps explain how cryptocurrency works, why climate change is happening or how the coronavirus is transmitted from person to person.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/unexpected-places-adults-learn-science/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261C43771B0.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261C438BB60WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
THIS WEEK: U.S. Passes Over $1 Trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act + Benton Harbor Community Water Council Persistence Results in Actions + Ontario government provides $2.5 million for community-based Great Lakes initiatives + Five Things You Can Do to Protect the Great Lakes + Funding for Fish and Wildlife Restoration Available + Update on Asphalt Plant Near Flint, Michigan
Late Friday night, November 5th, the U.S. House passed the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, which awaits President Biden’s signature. The bill provides investments in our nation’s drinking water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure, and includes grants to environmental justice and disadvantaged communities. Freshwater Future staff have been meeting with Congressional members to stress the importance of fully funding lead service line replacement and water access programs to ensure no parent worries if the water they are providing their children is tainted with lead and everyone has access to clean, safe, and affordable water in their homes. Learn more about what the Bi-partisan Infrastructure Bill and Build Back Better Act mean for water funding.
For over three years Freshwater Future has worked closely with the Benton Harbor Community Water Council (BHCWC) of Benton Harbor, Michigan to protect its residents from high levels of lead found in the city’s drinking water. Because no amount of lead is safe, residents have needed alternative water, filters and educational information.
Recently Governor Whitmer announced an all-hands-on-deck approach directing all of the state’s resources to Benton Harbor’s water crisis. This action comes after years of struggle by Benton Harbor residents to be heard outside of their community in order to secure the resources needed to safeguard public health in the city from lead. Benton Harbor’s story is another lesson and opportunity for decision makers to listen to residents’ priorities and concerns. Click here to learn more
Ontario approved $2.5 funding for 19 projects to reduce contaminants and nutrients that enter the Great Lakes and lead to issues such as harmful algal blooms (HABs). A couple of projects funded include the Ausable Bayfield, Conservation Authority to provide soil management and crop production support to farmers and support to the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association to develop a Soil Health Mobile Technology Suite to demonstrate the impacts of soil compaction on soil health. These projects are part of the Canada-Ontario Great Lakes Agreement that Freshwater Future Canada and our partners helped to establish.
Small actions can make a big difference! At Freshwater Future, we help thousands of communities around the Great Lakes protect their drinking water and local waters. Individual actions are powerful, too! Here are five little things with big impact that you can do to help keep our lakes healthy and clean.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting project proposals to protect, restore and enhance Great Lakes fish and wildlife habitat that fulfill one or more of the six goals of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act. Click here to learn more.
A virtual town hall is scheduled for Flint Community residents to discuss Ajax Pavement, environmental justice, and what’s to come with the proposed pavement factory on Monday, November 15 from 11 am – 12 pm.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is expected to announce the permit decision for the facility on the same day. You can register for the town hall here.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/freshwater-weekly/freshwater-future-weekly-november-12-2021/
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — State officials announced a pilot program Wednesday aimed at helping eligible residents of a Michigan city where there’s been a lead crisis pay water and wastewater bills.
The federally-funded program is designed to help households that have had water disconnected or are facing disconnection pay to have it restored.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/ap-program-benton-harbor-residents-bills/
The latest public works package, which totals $1.2 trillion in spending, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives late last week, which includes $1 billion in federal funding for Great Lakes restoration efforts. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-infastructure-bill
The 962-square-mile Shipwreck Coast sanctuary is the country’s fifteenth and Lake Michigan’s first. The sanctuary has 36 known shipwrecks (21 of them are listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and up to 59 more are suspected. Diving, snorkeling and paddling a boat are the easiest ways to explore the sanctuary. Read the full story by the Smithsonian Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-national-marine-sanctuary
Lake effect snow is notoriously tricky to forecast but Paul Pastelok, a senior meteorologist with Accuweather, predicts a normal to slightly above normal lake effect season for Upstate New York. Read the full story by The Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-lake-effect-snow
Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor and their tenant, bulk cargo handler Metro Ports, are trying to reduce the environmental impact of a port famous for creating a huge portion of the nation’s steel. The port is a member of Green Marine, a multi-national organization started in 2007 in the Great Lakes region that encourages ports, their on-site tenants and ships to improve their sustainability through a voluntary certification program. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-burns-harbor
In the U.S., recreational anglers have been mining Lake Erie for “yellow gold” walleye for decades, and the current trend of skyrocketing fish populations has only helped to firm up the economic benefits that support thousands of households around the lake. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-walleye
Lake temperatures have gradually been getting warmer for the last few decades. As Lake Michigan is currently 5 degrees warmer than average in areas, there is possible implications for ice cover, evaporation and lake-effect snow going into the winter. Read the full story by the Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-warm-lakes
New York Sea Grant is organizing an online workshop for Lake Ontario waterfront property owners to highlight erosion mitigation measures. The Dec. 7 workshop will focus on the western Lake Ontario shoreline areas of Niagara and Orleans counties. Read the full story by the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-shoreline-erosion
In areas where floods were once rare, now some neighborhoods are flooding repeatedly. Stormwater sewers are being overwhelmed by more intense storms. To find a solution, researchers at the University of Michigan are helping wastewater managers to use internet connected sensors to better manage sewers. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-flooding-app
Parks Canada and Windsor are exploring the possibilities of turning some of the city’s most ecologically sensitive areas into a new national urban park. The National Urban Park project was announced last summer and has a budget of $130 million ($105 million USD) drawn from $2.3 billion ( $1.86 billion USD) in funding to help Canada meet its goal of preserving 25% off the country’s waterways and coasts by 2025. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-parks-canada
Port Huron, Michigan is taking steps to stabilize parts of the Black River Canal’s eroding shoreline but officials said it is too soon to know what a long-term fix will look like, much like the rest of the city’s miles of aging seawall. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211112-port-huron
By Ed White, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Wednesday approved a $626 million deal to settle lawsuits filed by Flint residents who found their tap water contaminated by lead following disastrous decisions to switch the city’s water source and a failure to swiftly acknowledge the problem.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/ap-judge-million-settlement-flint-water-litigation/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, 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/2021/11/flooding-sewers-app-research/
Ring-billed gulls travel between populated beaches and human waste sites like landfills and water treatment plants, carrying human pathogens with them.
The post Beach-dwelling gulls are vehicles for bacteria first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/11/12/beach-dwelling-gulls-are-vehicles-for-bacteria/
By Dustin Dwyer, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, 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/2021/11/mayor-benton-harbor-support-state-fix-water-system/
By Sarah Cwiek, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, 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/2021/11/white-house-line-5/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Gabrielle Ahlborn, Great Lakes Echo
Environmental groups say they hope that a new Environmental Protection Agency administrator for the Great Lakes region works to restore infrastructure while revitalizing an agency they say is depleted and demoralized.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/epa-regional-administrator-infrastructure/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Gabrielle Ahlborn, Great Lakes Echo
After an unusually warm and stormy summer, the Great Lakes region has in store a “frosty flip-flop” winter, according to the 2021-22 Farmers’ Almanac forecast.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/farmers-almanac-forecasts-frosty/
Gary and Roseann Sauvey have been operating Kaspar’s Lake Breeze Cottages in one capacity or another for 65 years.
The Sauveys’ waterfront home sits on a couple acres, sporting a side yard with five 20×20 cottages that haven’t changed much over the decades. From beautiful, quaint wood interiors to a small fishing pier and breathtaking sunrises, it’s a site stuck in time.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/walleye-lake-erie-population-ohio-economy/
Parks Canada and Windsor are exploring the possibilities of turning some of the city’s most ecologically sensitive areas into a new national urban park.
The post Parks Canada and Windsor explore possible new national urban park first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/11/11/parks-canada-and-windsor-explore-possible-new-national-urban-park/
Late Friday night on November 5th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bi-partisan $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. It had been lingering in the House as House leadership awaited the Senate’s passage of a package called the Build Back Better (BBB) Act, a $3.5 trillion spending plan. House leadership had wanted to pass both bills in the House together.
Together the Infrastructure and BBB Acts would provide a substantial amount of funding for water projects, including grants to environmental justice and disadvantaged communities. The BBB also includes policy language to develop a permanent Low Income Housing Water Assistance Program in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while also providing an additional $225 million for the program, ensuring financial assistance for people who are struggling to pay their water utility bill while the nation figures out how to make water rates affordable for everyone. Together these bills may provide the largest amount of water funding in U.S. history, but they fall short of some of the Biden administration’s promises, like $45 billion to replace all the lead lines in the U.S. So what are in the Infrastructure and BBB Acts? See the table below to see some important water programs and their funding levels within the two Acts. Be sure to stay tuned though, BBB is still being negotiated, as you can see from the differences in the Sept and today columns, and hopefully will be passed before the end of November.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/call-to-action/bi-partisan-infrastructure-bill-and-build-back-better-act-what-does-this-mean-for-water-funding/
Wayne Valliere is an artist-in-residence at Northwestern University and one of only a handful of Native birchbark canoe builders left in the United States. His canoe’s recent launch into a choppy Lake Michigan is likely unprecedented in modern times. Read the full story by The Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-canoe
Experts have confirmed the recent bird and fish die-off that brought hundreds of carcasses to the shores of Ontario’s Wasaga Beach is likely botulism, and it likely has a lot to do with invasive species. Read the full story by Orillia Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-dieoff
Several Great Lakes states mark popular gamefish with an adipose fin clip. If anglers catch an adipose fin clipped fish, they should turn in the head at a local drop-off station. Fish tag returns help biologists understand survival, age and movements of important sport fish. Read the full story by the Manistee News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-adipose
Minnesota pollution officials on Monday released a proposed impaired waters list for 2022, an update that included the addition of 15 northeastern and central Minnesota water bodies where fish have been contaminated with long-lasting chemicals. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-impaired
The U.S. and Canada will discuss the future of an oil pipeline that crosses part of the Great Lakes and is the subject of rising tension over whether it should be shut down, the White House said Monday.. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-line5
The Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network announced that a total of 4,055 sturgeon, including an additional 728 this fall, have been released into the Cass, Tittabawassee, Flint, and Shiawassee rivers since 2017. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-sturgeon
Researchers are hoping new data from research buoys that were pulled from the water this week will help them monitor Lake Michigan. These buoys were deployed in partnership with Northwestern Michigan College and Michigan Technological University. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-yeah-buoy
This work was supported in part by the Solutions Journalism Network.
Under an ominous gray and blustery sky, forklifts dig into piles of jet-black furnace coke, dumping it into a ship tethered in the eastern channel of Burns Harbor in Northwest Indiana. Nearby are towering piles of red iron ore pellets, and just across the channel loom the smokestacks, conveyors and furnaces of a steel mill.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/sustainable-shipping-burns-harbor-port-industrial-coast/
Results from a survey of 241 municipalities in the Great Lakes Basin show coastal damage from climate change in these regions will cost at least $1.94 billion over the next five years. Those same communities have already spent $878 million on coastal damages over the past two years. Read the full story by the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-climate
It’s been a busy year for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, which has discovered a record-high nine shipwrecks across Michigan’s lakes. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-shipwrecks
It was 46 years ago today that the Edmund Fitzgerald was being loaded with 26,000 tons of iron ore, prepped for what would become her doomed final voyage. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211110-edmund-fitzgerald
