Northeast Wisconsin Water is launching a new watershed program to implement conservation practices that help improve water quality, including reducing sediment and runoff. Read the full story by WFRV-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-clean-waterways
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur presented her Great Lakes Authority Proposal, a plan for the nation’s largest pool of skilled and experienced production workers and the world’s largest supply of fresh water, at a field hearing of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. Read the full story by The Morning Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-proposal
A recent report on blood lead levels in U.S. children highlights the urgent need for congressional action on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better House reconciliation package, both of which include funding for cities to remove lead water lines that threaten the health of Wisconsin’s children. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-lead
A film made by Michigan United Conservation Club and the National Wildlife Federation will focus on Michigan’s outdoor traditions and economy are at risk due to the impacts of a changing climate on the landscape. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-film
Nestle Waters North America dropped its permit for a massive water withdrawal expansion in Michigan late last month but still plans to withdraw smaller amounts from the area. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-nestle
Officials at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority announced Thursday morning that the city’s Clure Public Marine Terminal can now handle much larger volumes of international shipping containers coming by water. Duluth is now one of two ports able to receive this size of shipments on the Great lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway, the other being Cleveland, Ohio. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-ports
Michigan’s NotMISpecies webinar series, sharing current information about invasive species and what’s being done to address them returns with 10 new sessions focused on emerging threats, new research and technology, educational opportunities and “how-to” tips for managing invasives in your backyard. Read the full story by WGLQ – Escanaba, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-webinar
It is time for President Joe Biden to step up and support Michigan Governor Whitmer’s decision to decommission Line 5. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-line-5
Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has restored its Lake Michigan shoreline nearly two years after a severe winter storm damaged the beach at Klode Park. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211022-beach-shoreline
One of the main concerns opponents have to two of the proposed underground sites for storing Canada’s spent nuclear fuel, one of which is in the Lake Huron watershed, is the potential impact on the environment. A group of Ontario researchers is setting the groundwork to answer that question with a new project.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/monitor-aquatic-species-nuclear-storage/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261BECAB930.FrostAdvisory.1261BECB6B50WI.GRBNPWGRB.d247dd5262ebe0d925ac4ab6bd9b722d
The salmon run is a popular time for anglers in Michigan. Snagging isn't allowed, but some think it should be.
The post Salmon run in northern Michigan highlights differing views on snagging first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/22/salmon-run-in-northern-michigan-highlights-differing-views-on-snagging/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261BEC9ED48.FrostAdvisory.1261BECB6B50WI.GRBNPWGRB.d247dd5262ebe0d925ac4ab6bd9b722d
Can two Great Lakes mayors with opposing views agree on how to protect the region’s water?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/a-political-blind-date/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261BEBD1A14.FrostAdvisory.1261BECB6B50WI.GRBNPWGRB.d247dd5262ebe0d925ac4ab6bd9b722d
This story is the first in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/sturgeon-restoration-studying-michigan-wisconsin-populations/
This story is the first in a four-part series looking at sturgeon restoration efforts.
Lake sturgeon restoration efforts are taking place across the Great Lakes basin.
But what that restoration looks like is entirely dependent on location and other factors, such as whether or not any lake sturgeon remain in the area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/sturgeon-restoration-studying-michigan-wisconsin-populations/
Farmers are set to take on a growing number of challenges in the face of climate change.
The post Uncertainty among Michigan fruit growers drives climate-related adaptations first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/21/uncertainty-among-michigan-fruit-growers-drives-climate-related-adaptations/
Climate change is one of the more pressing topics that Great Lakes Now has its eye on. Come Oct. 31, one of the largest global conferences will be convening to discuss that topic, so Great Lakes Now will be right there to help keep you up to date.
COP26 is the next annual UN climate change conference.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/cop26-questions-un-climate-change-conference/
The Biden administration is launching a broad strategy to regulate PFAS. Environmental Protection Agency Administer Michael Regan, said they are taking a series of actions to restrict PFAS from being released into the environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as military bases and increase investments in research to learn more about where PFAS are found and how their spread can be prevented. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pfas-pollution
According to a recent study published in ScienceDirect, rising temperatures and drier weather due to climate change and increasing fuel loads could double the probability of wildfires occurring in the Great Lakes region by the end of the century. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fire-climate
The operator of a Michigan oil pipeline temporarily shut down Line 5 this week after protesters posted a warning on social media that they planned to turn an emergency valve. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-line-5
There has been public push back against recent reports that the Quebec government may ban all oil and natural gas development, arguing that mandating an energy will produce rolling blackouts, energy poverty, higher food prices and environmental degradation. Meanwhile, proponents in the Quebec government are advocating for a “Just Transition” focused on sustainable development. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-fossil-fuel-climate
Michigan has been chosen as the site of a new Coast Guard National Center of Expertise that will study the impact of freshwater oil spills with the aim of improving effective emergency responses with offices in Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-oil-spill
In 2014, a harmful algal bloom overwhelmed the Toledo Water Intake Crib and caused a three-day undrinkable water crisis. This event showed that even in regions with resources as vast as the Great Lakes, water supplies are vulnerable to these kinds of man-made threats. Read the full story by Milwaukee Independent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-water-quality
Ontario’s Environment Minister announced $2.58 million to pay for 19 new projects, focusing on keeping soil, and potential pollution from Ontario farms, from entering the province’s streams, rivers and lakes. Read the full story by CFPL-TV – London, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-farm-runoff
Brown County Land Conservation has set aside 2022 budget funds to improve water quality and soil health working with farmers to adopt conservation practices. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-pollution
Invasive zebra mussels have been found in Copake Lake, NY, during the most recent survey of the lake last month. Read the full story by Columbia-Greene Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-invasive-mussels
Citing “unsettling” revelations about the state of Michigan’s handling of Benton Harbor’s lead-in-water crisis, the leader of Senate Oversight Committee has asked Michigan environmental regulators to turn over a lengthy list of documents detailing their response. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211020-lead
Mark Benjamin has been coming up and creating mazes since he was young, making it a lifelong passion.
The post 21 years later, Best Maze still stumps visitors first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/20/21-years-later-best-maze-still-stumps-visitors/
Children’s health advocates are pushing to install drinking water filters in Michigan schools and child care centers to protect them from lead poisoning.
The post Drinking water filters eyed as better option to testing in Michigan schools and day care centers first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/20/drinking-water-filters-eyed-as-better-option-to-testing-in-michigan-schools-and-day-care-centers/
U.S. Senate Funding Bills Boost Clean Water, Great Lakes Investments
Federal interior and environment bill contains $350 million for Great Lakes restoration, $3.3 billion for water infrastructure.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (October 19, 2021)—The U.S. Senate released its nine remaining funding bills yesterday that boost federal investments to restore the Great Lakes, remove toxic lead from drinking water, confront sewage overflows, and reduce farm and city runoff pollution. The interior and environment spending bill contains $350 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and more than $3.3 billion to upgrade drinking water and sewage infrastructure. The boost in clean water priorities is more than was allocated in last year’s federal budget, although less than bills backed by the U.S. House.
“We are glad to see the U.S. Senate boost funding for essential clean water programs that people depend on for their drinking water, health, and quality of life,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Federal investments are producing results in local communities, although we know serious threats remain. We encourage House and Senate leaders, as well as the Biden Administration, to use all of the tools at their disposal to fully fund restoration efforts and to ensure every person in this country has access to clean, safe, and affordable water. This includes robust federal investments to protect the health of people and communities, as well as policy solutions that prevent pollution and further harm. Further, as climate change continues to exacerbate many threats – from sewage overflows to toxic algal blooms to flooding in neighborhoods – we encourage elected officials to act with urgency, purpose, and ambition so that we meet this moment with solutions that are commensurate to the threats at hand. Delay will make the problems worse and more expensive to solve.”
The release of the Senate funding bills comes as members of Congress discuss the fate of a $1 trillion infrastructure investment package and additional legislation to fund federal safety net and climate change programs. The Senate bills released yesterday will fund the U.S. government for fiscal year 2022, which goes from October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. The next step of the process is for House and Senate negotiators to reach consensus on a final federal budget before a temporary budget deal expires in December.
The Senate proposal to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $350 million is $10 million above the Biden Administration’s budget request, but $25 million below the authorized levels of the program supported by the House. The Senate spending bill includes the following key programs:
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 170 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
The post U.S. Senate Funding Bills Boost Clean Water, Great Lakes Investments appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/u-s-senate-funding-bills-boost-clean-water-great-lakes-investments/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
CenterPoint Energy recently proposed to construct two natural gas combustion turbines in place of its former coal-based plant.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/energy-illinois-clean-energy-bill-michigan-heating/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/introducing-nceis-regional-climate-services-directors
Climate change and more fuel for fire are the culprits.
The post Great Lakes wildfires could double first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/19/great-lakes-wildfires-could-double/
This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.
LUDINGTON (AP) — The SS Badger backed into its dock Oct.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/ss-badger-makes-final-lake-michigan-crossing-of-season/
I Speak for the Fish is a new monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/i-speak-for-the-fish-setting-sturgeon-free/
A reported $35-million agricultural maritime export facility broke ground Friday, Oct. 15, on Jones Island in Milwaukee in what is the largest one-time investment in Port Milwaukee history since the 1950’s. Read the full story by WDJT – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-milwaukee
More than 40 organizations throughout the Great Lakes region are getting some much-needed money to help with restoration projects across several states, including Michigan. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-green-infrastructure
Jutting into Lake Erie since the end of the last ice age, the Presque Isle peninsula is an important resting and nesting place for migratory birds. More than 339 species have been identified on the 3,200-acre spit of sand, trees and marshes in Presque Isle State Park, Erie County. Read the full story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-plovers
The SS Badger backed into its dock Oct. 10 for the last time this season, letting about 300 passengers off into Ludington and ending nearly five months of daily round trips across Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-badger
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast, a stretch along the Lake Michigan shoreline, was recently designated a national marine sanctuary. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-shipwreck
An energetic group of Sandy Creek Central School student volunteers recently spent a fall Saturday helping experts replant beach grass in an effort to stabilize the fragile sand dune system along the shore of Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-dunes
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation wants to focus the conversation about climate change on Lake Huron. Read the full story by Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-huron
The Lake Erie shoreline will soon benefit from a new program that engages citizen scientists in monitoring the changing conditions along the waterfront and submitting photos, observations, and measurements to provide accurate and near real-time information. Read the full story by The Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-lake-erie
A contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just finished nearly $5 million in repairs on the Buffalo North Breakwater. Read and hear the full story by WBFO – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-buffalo-repairs
The International Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River Board has increased outflows from Lake Ontario through the Moses- Saunders Dam. This began on October 16 and will continue for approximately eight weeks, through mid-December to return water levels in Lake Ontario to the level they would be if outflow deviations had not been required this past season. Read the full story by Rochester First.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-ontario
In Ontario, the double-crested cormorant, perhaps more than any other animal species, is under siege due to the political whim of the current government, using shoddy science to justify the mass hunting of these birds. Read the full story by The Pointer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211018-cormorants
By Matthew Daly, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a broad strategy to regulate toxic industrial compounds associated with serious health conditions that are used in products ranging from cookware to carpets and firefighting foams.
Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said it is taking a series of actions to limit pollution from a cluster of long-lasting chemicals known as PFAS that are increasingly turning up in public drinking water systems, private wells and even food.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/ap-epa-strategy-regulate-pfas/
“A Backyard Prairie. The Hidden Beauty of Tallgrass and Wildflowers” is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $24.50.
The post New book celebrates ‘hidden beauty’ of native prairie through Illinois couple’s journey to turn back time in their own backyard first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/10/18/new-book-celebrates-hidden-beauty-of-native-prairie-through-illinois-couples-journey-to-turn-back-time-in-their-own-backyard/
