Despite the unpredictability of the global market, officials expect the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes to see stable growth during the 2022 shipping season, just like it did during a global pandemic. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-shipping-stable
A press conference was held on Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the restoration of the Muskegon Lake area of concern at Heritage Landing in Muskegon, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-muskegon-lake
An environmental group calculated how much Toledo, Ohio residents and others pay for drinking water because of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, and the costs quickly add up. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-drinking-water-cost
Six years after a panel of experts concluded that the state’s public works were in “a state of disrepair,” the quality of Michigan’s water infrastructure and the consequences of failure are no longer being ignored. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-water
Last month’s first full month of seasonal shipping totals in the Twin Ports in western Lake Superior dipped considerably compared to the same month a season ago. Industry leaders blamed a difficult ice-out in March and April and used dip to advocate for another U.S. icebreaker. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-shipping-ice
The tugboat named “Lake Superior” that partially sunk in the Duluth Harbor, Minnesota back in March is now floating once again. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-tugboat
More than a century after they arrived, invasive sea lampreys still threaten the Great Lakes’ $7 billion fishing economy. Read the full story by Vox.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-sea-lamprey
Oceanographers from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration have released their first algal bloom forecast for Lake Erie for the upcoming season and predict a smaller bloom compared to previous years. Read the full story by WCPO-TV – Cincinnati, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-algal-bloom-season
New research on water levels projects an unprecedented drop of water levels on Lakes Michigan-Huron and Georgian Bay to 1.1 meters below the record low by 2030. By 2040, levels may rise to 0.3 meters higher than the 1986 record high. Read the full story by The Manitoulin Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-lake-level
With toxic algae blooms becoming more prevalent in Lake Erie in recent summers, protecting the irreplaceable resource that Lake Erie represents, will prove to be our legacy for generations to follow suit. Read the full story by the Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220525-algal-bloom
In the Marcell Experimental Forest in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, there are no trails for hiking, grounds for camping nor lakes for boating. Instead, there are temperature-manipulating chambers and field laboratories. Marcell was chosen to study because of its peatlands, a unique landscape that occupies just 3% of the earth’s surface, yet stores 30% of soil carbon.
The post From sinks to sources: peatland carbon is poised to be part of the climate crisis first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/05/25/from-sinks-to-sources-peatland-carbon-is-poised-to-be-part-of-the-climate-crisis/
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Invasive Mussel Collaborative (IMC) today announced the release of a coordination tool to help protect the Great Lakes basin from the impacts of invasive mussels. The new “Dreissena Project Coordination Mapper” allows researchers and managers to share their work and collaborate with others for the advancement and protection of waterways from invasive mussels in the Great Lakes and beyond. The mapper features 120 past and current projects from across North America and new project information is being accepted on an ongoing basis.
“Since first appearing in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s, invasive zebra and quagga mussels have caused significant ecological and economic damage across the basin,” said Todd L. Ambs, chair of the Great Lakes Commission, which leads the IMC with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. “This new tool will help equip jurisdictions to better respond to current invasions and prevent them in the future by allowing researchers to identify potential collaborators who are using similar or complementary approaches.”
A frequently updated project database is helpful to capture the current state of science for dynamic areas of research such as dreissenid mussel control. The mapper will improve coordination of invasive mussel research and control by facilitating sharing projects during the early stages, opening up the opportunity to develop new collaborations without having to wait until results are published.
The IMC was established to provide a framework for communication and coordination between a broad membership base of states, provinces, tribal and other entities to determine management objectives for invasive mussels and identify and guide research needed to achieve those objectives. The Dreissena Project Coordination Mapper was debuted by research scientists out of USGS and NOAA which led tool development at a symposium on invasive species collaboratives at the 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting on May 20.
The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (retired), is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/news/imc-researchtool
Invasive zebra and quagga mussels are firmly established in the Great Lakes, and efforts to control them have proved mostly fruitless. But environmental managers still want to know where they are, how many there are and what they are up to, so they can predict how the ecosystem will be affected and protect vital infrastructure.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ai-technology-invaders-great-lakes/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/humans-ncei-monica-youngman
Researchers found that increasing temperatures from climate change may slightly increase milk production, despite the heat stress on cows. The loss of milk production through heat stress is offset by the increase in feed production.
The post Climate change increases milk production first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/05/24/climate-change-increases-milk-production/
Spring has sprung in Wisconsin, bringing with it warmer days, longer evenings and the return of farmer’s markets. Our state’s plentiful markets offer not only a chance to buy local goodies—from colorful produce to cheeses, meat, honey and more—but also a way to get acquainted with the hard-working people who produce our food.
Farmers’ markets may also spur us to think about other food-related goals we might have, such as eating more healthfully or supporting local and regional economies.
Three online resources can help you embrace similar food goals when serving fish. Through these websites you can find fish caught by commercial fishers on the Great Lakes and fish raised sustainably by farmers in our region.
Here’s a quick roundup of the three:
Sharon Moen showed off her grilling skills during a live webinar hosted by Ohio Sea Grant in summer 2021. Moen prepared fish kabobs using Wisconsin fish.
You could call EatWisconsinFish.org the “OG” of fish-finding resources in the Great Lakes region. An initiative of Wisconsin Sea Grant, the project has been around for years, but new life was breathed into it with the 2020 hire of Outreach Specialist Sharon Moen.
Last summer, the site’s map got a makeover thanks to intern Hunter Goldman, an Ashland College student. The interactive map shows places in Wisconsin where food fish are grown, harvested, processed and more.
This summer, a new intern, Emma Kraco, will assist Moen. Kraco, a recent graduate of UW-Milwaukee, will help Moen improve the map and share the stories of food-fish producers in Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Fresh Fish Finder: In fall 2021, Great Lakes Fresh Fish Finder joined the mix. While it drew inspiration from Eat Wisconsin Fish, its geographic range is broader, as are the intended purposes of the fish.
Attendees can learn more about Great Lakes Fresh Fish Finder at a May 26 webinar.
While Eat Wisconsin Fish focuses on fish for your dinner plate, Great Lakes Fish Finder includes species for pond stocking, bait and ornamental purposes. And as it name suggests, its geographic swath covers all of the Great Lakes states.
Take a tour of Fresh Fish Finder through a webinar at 11:30 a.m. (central) on Thursday, May 26. Called “Finding Fish for Food or Fun: Exploring the Great Lakes Fresh Fish Finder,” the event is hosted by the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative and will spotlight several regional producers, including Wisconsin’s Red Cliff Fish Co., run by the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Bayfield, along Lake Superior. Register for the event here.
Eat Midwest Fish: This site’s map pinpoints farms raising food fish and shellfish in the Upper Midwest. It launched in early 2021 as a joint effort of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and other partners, including the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center. Like Eat Wisconsin Fish, the site includes tasty recipe ideas, such as bluegill chowder and oven-fried perch.
With these resources at your fingertips, it’s never been easier to find local fish (unless, perhaps, you catch your own—also a fine choice). Bon appetit!
The post Embrace local eating this season: Three resources for finding Wisconsin and Great Lakes fish first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/embrace-local-eating-this-season-three-resources-for-finding-wisconsin-and-great-lakes-fish/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=embrace-local-eating-this-season-three-resources-for-finding-wisconsin-and-great-lakes-fish
Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/mapping-the-great-lakes-power-up/
By J. Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/waters-true-cost/
The City of Manitowoc, WI is again reminding residents it is unlawful to place grass clippings in city streets and alleys. When mowing your lawn, the city asks that you direct the blower away from the street and clean up any grass clippings that make it there. Grass blown into the street can easily enter the storm sewer, which ends up in rivers and lakes. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-manitowoc-wi-grassclippings
The weather is getting warmer, attracting Chicagoans to the water. While people enjoy the lakefront, there is a darker side to the summer as it’s the highest water rescue season in Chicago. Read the full story by the DePaulia.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-increase-waterrescues-chicago
Ashtabula County’s neighbor to the north – Lake Erie – is expected to offer a good fishing experience in 2022, experts say. Read the full story by the Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-lakeerie-walleyecapital
The summer months are just around the corner and with all the runoff water from this recent rain, there’s a potential threat to those considering a swim in Lake Superior. Read the full story by CBS 3 – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-bluegreenalgae-threat-duluth
Details on how to finance the Village of Minooka’s $20 million stake in the Grand Prairie Water Commission that would bring Lake Michigan water to town were reviewed by trustees at a committee of the whole workshop held last week. Read the full story by WSPY – Plano, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-minooka-lakemiwater
Fishing seasons for muskellunge begin on June 1 in inland waters and June 15 in Great Lakes waters (Lake Erie, upper Niagara River, lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River), according to state Department of Environmental Conservation officials. Read the full story by the Lockport Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-muskiefishing
That blissful beach getaway you’ve been yearning for is much closer than you realize. Historically a busy trading post, Southampton, just a three-hour drive northwest from Toronto, features a sandy beach along Lake Huron, a community full of beautiful homes, more good food than you’ll have time to enjoy and an award-winning craft beer. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-lakehuron-southhampton
While the city has found no evidence of rogue sewage spills, an overwhelmed sewer system in the lower city that combines storm water and sewage in the same pipes has overflowed 44 times this year. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-smellyalgae-hamilitonwestharbour
Corälee Allaert, a 22-year-old University of Guelph student, has decided to tackle a big challenge to make something positive in her life. She will be swimming across two of the Great Lakes to commemorate the youth who have lost their lives to suicide. Read the full story by Guelph Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-swimming-greatlakes
EDITORIAL – The rise in fuel prices has prompted renewed interest in expanding container shipping at America’s Great Lakes ports, like Duluth and Cleveland. There is potential for Port of Duluth to develop containerized dry bulk agricultural exports to Europe, where growing numbers of customers are willing to take delivery of containers of agricultural produce. Read the full story by The Maritime Executive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220523-greatlakes-containershipping
Ohioans across the state are struggling to afford their water and sewer bills. A first-of-its-kind case study finds that water bills are pushed even higher for communities that pull their drinking water from Lake Erie due to harmful algal blooms caused by upstream agricultural pollution. And the costs are not insignificant. An analysis by the Alliance for the Great Lakes found that a family of five in Toledo is paying roughly an additional $100/year in their water bill because of this pollution problem. The case study illuminates the fact that downstream water users are paying a real cost for managing a pollution problem they did not create, compounding water affordability issues faced by many Ohioans.
Each summer, western Lake Erie experiences massive algal blooms which can produce harmful toxins that threaten drinking water supplies. These blooms are fueled by excess nutrients flowing off upstream agricultural lands into the lake.
The harmful algal blooms (HABs) in western Lake Erie can produce harmful cyanotoxins, a common one being microcystin. These toxins are a serious threat to human and animal health. Microcystin is a potent liver toxin and a possible human carcinogen. Cyanotoxins can also kill livestock and pets that drink affected waters.
Almost eight years ago, toxins from an algal bloom got into the drinking water systems of Toledo, Ohio. On August 2nd, 2014, more than half a million Toledo-area residents were ordered not to drink or even touch their water. The order lasted for nearly three days. A few weeks later, residents of Pelee Island, Ontario faced a similar crisis lasting nearly two weeks.
To ensure drinking water safety, drinking water facilities that draw water from Lake Erie have put into place additional monitoring and treatment, which can cost millions of dollars. This is a very real financial burden for drinking water facilities, which gets passed on to ratepayers.
These additional costs – which are critical to ensure safe drinking water – add up. The Alliance’s analysis found the additional annual average per-capita cost for HAB-related monitoring and treatment for Ohio residents who get their drinking water from Lake Erie is $10.48. For Toledo-area residents, the additional cost jumps to $18.76 per year, which translates to almost $100 extra per year on a water bill for a family of five. The case study is based on data from a 2020 survey administered by the Ohio Department of Drinking and Groundwater.
Downstream ratepayers, many of whom are already struggling to pay their water bills, should not have to shoulder the financial burden of addressing this pollution problem. And the longer this pollution problem continues, the costs will only increase as the water quality in western Lake Erie continues to degrade.
The case study identified three lessons learned from the analysis. They are:
The post New Study: Downstream Water Users Bear Financial Burden of Upstream Pollution appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2022/05/new-study-downstream-water-users-bear-financial-burden-of-upstream-pollution/
“Glenn’s Island” in the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh was formed of sludge illegally discharged from the nearby Aspinwall Drinking Water Plant. And some plant employees nicknamed it for retired supervisor Glenn Lijewski, who is awaiting sentencing for conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act.
The post Alleghany River polluter cops plea in sludge ‘island’ case first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/05/23/alleghany-river-polluter-cops-plea-in-sludge-island-case/
By Matthew Brown and Matthew Daly, Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest forests against climate change, wildfires and other problems devastating vast woodlands is raising a simple yet vexing question: When does a forest grow old?
Millions of acres are potentially on the line — federal land that could eventually get new protections or remain open to logging as the administration decides which trees to count under Biden’s order covering “old growth” and “mature” forests.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ap-biden-forest-plan-dispute/
The Great Lakes have been receding from record high water levels over the past few years. The amount of water that has left the Great Lakes is staggering. Each Great Lake peaked in a different year, and each of the Great Lakes’ water levels have fallen from there. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-lakemichigan-lakehuron-waterloss
Fishing reports from charter captains and walleye tournament anglers have spotlighted the outstanding early-season walleye fishing in the deeper waters of the Central Basin of Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-lakeerie-walleyefishing
The round goby, a prolific and destructive invasive fish, has spread from the Great Lakes all the way to the Hudson River. New York’s canal operators are trying to keep it from invading Lake Champlain too. Read the full story by The River.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-roundgoby-hudsonriver
The round goby, a prolific and destructive invasive fish, has spread from the Great Lakes all the way to the Hudson River. New York’s canal operators are trying to keep it from invading Lake Champlain too. Read the full story by The River.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-roundgoby-hudsonriver
Fishing seasons for muskellunge begin on June 1 in inland waters and June 15 in the Great Lakes waters of Lake Erie, Upper Niagara River, Lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by The Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-muskieseason-greatlakes
Fishing seasons for muskellunge begin on June 1 in inland waters and June 15 in the Great Lakes waters of Lake Erie, Upper Niagara River, Lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by The Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-muskieseason-greatlakes
Michigan Senator Gary Peters has introduced legislation to strengthen federal pipeline safety measures and mandate better oil spill cleanup methods. The new legislation is called Preventing Releases of Toxic Environment Contaminants Threatening Our Great Lakes Act – called PROTECT for short. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-legislation-preventoilspills-greatlakes
Fish caught in certain areas of Akwesasne should not be consumed. This is based on a warning from the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Environment Division. Read the full story by ABC50 NOW.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-contaminatedfish-ny
Just how big an underinvestment Ontario is facing when it comes to the state of its drinking and wastewater infrastructure is difficult to tabulate. Some estimate the province is investing billions of dollars less than what’s needed to keep the system running smoothly. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-ontario
Experts say Michigan needs deep changes to water policy and financing, such as reducing the number of water systems, collecting and cataloging performance data, and ensuring the poorest residents can afford their bills. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-drinking-water
The first U.S. Navy vessel to dock in the local port since 1993, when the Navy conducted regular Great Lakes tours, was outlined in festive bunting Thursday as it docked on Rice’s Point. The hulking, nearly 400-foot war ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is scheduled to be commissioned into the Navy during a ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday in Duluth, Minnesota. Read the full story by The Bemidji Pioneer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-warship-duluth
Algal blooms can become toxic under the right conditions. Researchers project an average bloom in 2022 based on current observations and rain forecasts. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-lakeerie-algaebloompredictions
Great Lakes ports are seeing a major jump in agriculture exports as the war in Ukraine’s ripple effects on global grain markets continue to play out. Read the full story by Michigan Farm News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-greatlakesshipments
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the boat will focus on cleaning up Lake Michigan, Green Bay, and the Fox River. They’ll specifically target areas around marinas, where they expect to find concentrations of litter. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220520-pollutionvessel-greatlakes
By Tara Lohan, The Revelator
This story originally appeared in The Revelator and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
This month regulators greenlighted a transmission line that would bring power generated from Canadian hydroelectric dams to New York City.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/stock-methane-emissions-reservoirs/
ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday activated the National Guard to help control record flooding in areas of northeastern Minnesota.
Emergency management officials in St. Louis and Koochiching counties requested the assistance to deal with high water caused by heavy spring rains and rapid snowmelt throughout the Rainy River Basin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ap-national-guard-minnesota-flooding/
Geo Rutherford is a self-described Great Lakes enthusiast that built a large following—the same number that the Washington Post has—by making educational TikTok videos about the Great Lakes and other lakes around the world.
The post Spooky lakes and beach trash: How a Wisconsin teacher and artist gained 1.3 million TikTok followers first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/05/20/spooky-lakes-and-beach-trash-how-a-wisconsin-teacher-and-artist-gained-1-3-million-tiktok-followers/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Illinois American Water is investing over $3 million to replace over 8,600 feet or 1.6 miles of water main throughout the Sterling Water System.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/drinking-water-news-roundup-illinois-water-system-coal-ash-indiana/
By Shawn McCarthy, Corporate Knights
This story originally appeared in Corporate Knights and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
Canada must make up for lost ground if it’s going to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45% from 2005 levels by 2030.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-ranks-last-climate-progress/
