The latest Great Lakes Fishing Decree has taken effect, and its guidelines for certain Great Lakes fisheries in Michigan will be in place soon. The new decree includes many updates, including which areas tribal commercial fishers can use, as well as the reporting requirements for the fishing industry. Read the full story by WLNS-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-gl-fishing-decree
To keep our Great Lakes great, congressional members are pushing to extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The fund helps projects target the biggest threats to our Great Lakes, like invasive species, contamination and protecting native habitats. Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-glri-extension
A congressional lawmaker and Coast Guard officials were in Green Bay Friday to advocate for the expansion of icebreaking to keep the Great Lakes region’s economy afloat. Read the full story for WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-icebreaking-expansion
In Wisconsin, Madison’s lakes officially thawed out this week, and it happened faster than almost any other time in the last 170 years. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-madison-lakes
Starting March 1, 2024, the sport fishing guide license is required in Michigan for anyone guiding on any water except the Great Lakes, Great Lakes connecting waters and bodies of water with a surface area of less than 5 acres. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-guide-fishing-license
A busy trail inside Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has been shut down through the summer season due to invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-sleeping-bear-dunes
A study, published Monday in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters, examined 194 lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to assess changes in walleye spawning. The study has found climate change is affecting walleye’s ability to thrive by disrupting when frozen lakes thaw each year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-walleye
A map of the underwater substrate near the Superior Harbor Entry with Wisconsin Point in the middle, western Lake Superior. Image by Brandon Krumwiede, NOAA.
The next River Talk will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, with “What Lies Below? Underwater Mapping Near and in the St. Louis River Estuary,” an in-person and virtual presentation by Brandon Krumwiede with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His talk will be held at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Dr., Superior, Wis.). Refreshments will be provided.
Brandon Krumwiede. Image credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Krumwiede’s work as a Great Lakes geospatial coordinator is varied and interesting. One day, he might analyze satellite data, the next, he might give a public presentation like River Talks. Krumwiede enjoys finding the connections between people, the land and the water. In his talk, Krumwiede will describe current efforts and technologies used to improve understanding of the underwater world near and in the estuary and its importance in coastal natural resources management.
To join by Zoom, please pre-register at this link:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvcumrrj8vGNer4dHKwdZpxEoIVief60nR
For accessibility accommodations related to sound, language and translation, mobility or anything else to make engagement possible, please contact Luciana at 715-399-4085 or Luciana.Ranelli@wisc.edu, as soon as possible.
The final River Talk of the season will be held April 10. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.
The River Talks are sponsored by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.
The post What Lies Below? Underwater Mapping first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/what-lies-below-underwater-mapping/
By Michael Livingston, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Sometime in the mid-1900s, Henry J.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/points-north-the-legend-of-heikes-tombs/
Driving through the Ottawa National Forest north of Land O’Lakes towards Dinner Lake you’ll see snow-covered piles stacked up every few feet in the woods along the road.
Many of the piles are wood debris and branches left over from logging operations on the Ottawa.
Some of the piles have been waiting there for two years as the Forest Service let them dry out.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/ottawa-national-forest-creates-shaded-fuel-brakes-to-help-protect-communities-from-wildfires/
This week, a group of 30 tribal nations sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking the administration to fulfill its commitment to support tribal sovereignty. In December, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requested federal input in a legal battle regarding Enbridge Line 5, but the Biden administration has yet to respond. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-sovereignty-letter
Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota, received a designation from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration which will provide more opportunities for students who want to work in the maritime industry. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-maritime-college
The Canadian federal government is earmarking $50 million for predevelopment work at the Bruce Power site on Lake Huron in Tiverton, Ontario, for what would be the first new nuclear construction project in Canada in 30 years, if approved. Read the full story by The Sun Times (Owen Sound).
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-bruce-power
The nascent cruise industry in Cleveland, Ohio will take a hit this summer as one of the major players in Great Lakes cruising, American Queen Voyages, is going out of business. Last year, its two ships made as many as 30 stops in Cleveland – far more than any other cruise line. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-erie-cruising
Lake sturgeon have been listed as threatened in Michigan for decades, but now the federal government is considering a petition to list sturgeon as endangered throughout the region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether the petition moves forward to public comment by the end of June. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-sturgeon-petition
Starting July 1, service charges for water and wastewater services are going up 3-3.25% in southeast Michigan under a new budget approved by the region’s water authority to make up for cost hikes absorbed in the past. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-water-charges
A new documentary, “Bad River,” details the fight of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewas to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline that traverses their ancestral land. An interview with the filmmaker dives into the details of the film. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-bad-river
The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill requiring life rings at Lake Michigan entry points. The Indiana Senate unanimously passed the bill earlier this month, meaning it will soon go to the Indiana governor. Read the full story by WBBM-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-indiana-life-rings
Ferries to Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island, Ohio, will start on March 2, nearly a month early, due to lack of ice on Lake Erie. The early start allows construction workers to get a head start on work and allows residents and businesses to re-stock supplies ahead of schedule. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-erie-ferries
Ice clearing on the St. Lawrence River is scheduled to begin on Monday as part of preparations to open the Seaway for the season on March 22. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240301-seaway-ice
Groundwater is an important source of drinking water in Wisconsin. Image credit: David Nevala
When you turn on a faucet and a stream of cool, clear water pours out, that convenience can mask where the water comes from—underground. It’s there, and in great quantities. In fact, Wisconsin has so much groundwater – 1.2 quadrillion gallons – that if it were on the surface, it would submerge Packer fans in 100 feet of the wet stuff.
Just because groundwater is out of sight, doesn’t mean it’s out of mind – or use. Where does your drinking water come from? For 70 percent of us in the state, it’s thanks to the vast stores of groundwater in aquifers that not only quench our thirst but also fuel the operations of our power plants, breweries, factories and farms. The remaining 30 percent of Wisconsinites get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.
Wisconsin has more than 800,000 private wells and in excess of 11,000 public water systems. In all, Wisconsin’s annual average water withdrawal is 1.91 trillion gallons (some of that comes from surface water, such as lakes Michigan and Superior).
With so much demand and use, groundwater is clearly valuable. And, just as in the case of surface water, we need to be responsible stewards of it. That’s worth noting as the 2024 Groundwater Awareness Week (March 4 – 10) rolls around.
One manifestation of that stewardship is the work done by our sister organization, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI). WRI runs a statewide research competition through the Groundwater Research Advisory Council (GRAC). As its basic function, the GRAC ensures that Wisconsin citizens have an adequate supply of high-quality groundwater and it funds university scientists to look into current topics such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) in numerous Wisconsin communities and pathogens in drinking water in the Driftless Area.
An example of past impactful GRAC research looked into naturally occurring radium in drinking water serving residents of Waukesha, which led to a binational decision a few years ago to allow that city to secure water from Lake Michigan, even though it lies outside of the Great Lakes Basin.
WRI also offers a robust information transfer program highlighting the work of water scientists through news stories, podcasts and videos. Finally, the WRI supports the Wisconsin Water Library, a resource with more than 30,000 holdings of all types of water-related material free for circulation to any state resident. The library further curates and distributes water-themed learning kits for children in the K-12 educational system.
To access these resources about the veritable tide below your feet—groundwater—and other water information, visit wri.wisc.edu.
The post During Groundwater Awareness Week (March 4-10), consider the tide under your feet first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/during-groundwater-awareness-week-march-4-10-consider-the-tide-under-your-feet/
Meet our new winter hires at the Upper Midwest Water Science Center!
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/meet-our-new-winter-hires?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
Congratulations to Biologist Joel Stokdyk who is a coauthor on a recent paper about antibiotic resistance in well water.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/quantitative-microbial-risk-assessment-ingestion?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
The Mercury Research Lab has published several papers in recent months.
Midcontinent Region
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/recent-publications-mercury-research-laboratory?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Kayla Nelsen, Great Lakes Echo
About 250 acres of Indiana wetlands have been lost in the two years since wetland protections were eased, according to the Hoosier Environmental Council.
Since the 2021 law passed, mitigation requirements have decreased.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/indiana-conservation-groups-defend-states-wetlands-that-lost-protection/
Wisconsin Water Library
https://waterlibrary.aqua.wisc.edu/indigenous-women-in-stem-part-2-organizations/
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:
Indiana
Critics: Bill cutting protections from PFAS toxic chemicals a step backward for Indiana — IndyStar
Hoosier lawmakers are advancing a bill to change the definition of PFAS — but only in Indiana.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/pfas-news-roundup-uw-stevens-point-researchers-look-to-plants-solve-pfas-contamination/
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the 2024 Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program (GLSNRP) grant program.
For more than 30 years, grants provided by GLSNRP have enabled local partners to reduce nutrients and sediments entering the Great Lakes. This year’s program will continue to help grantees take action to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural watersheds and eroding shorelines and streambanks in the Great Lakes basin.
Through the program, nonfederal units of government, Indigenous Nations, and incorporated nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive grants for up to $300,000, supporting work over a period of up to four years. Applicants are invited to submit proposals for activities associated with one of the following project types: agricultural nonpoint, or shoreline and streambanks.
A webinar for potential applicants will be held on March 13, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Applications are due at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on April 29, 2024 and will be reviewed by representatives from the eight Great Lakes states, as well as partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Final decisions on funded projects are anticipated in summer 2024, with work to begin no later than October 1, 2024.
The GLC has managed GLSNRP with funding support through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative since 2010. Funded projects support progress toward the achievement of GLRI Action Plan objectives and goals. This program is a partnership between NRCS, U.S. EPA, and the Great Lakes states. Please visit www.nutrientreduction.org for more information or contact Connor Roessler at croessler@glc.org.
The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 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/rfp-glsnrp-022824
For documentary filmmaker Mary Mazzio, the trek from her first film to making her new release, “Bad River,” took 20 years and included a near-epiphany when the Bostonian first viewed a Lake Superior sunrise. Mazzio, an Olympic rower and attorney, has directed 12 significant films, including the Gracie Award winning “A Most Beautiful Thing.”
“Bad River” will run from March 15-21 in select AMC theaters.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/bad-river-documentary-combines-historical-treatment-of-indigenous-people-with-the-fight-to-protect-lake-superior/
A coalition between the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved nearly $1.7 million in grants to fund six different studies along the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-michigan-sea-grant
New York’s Thousand Islands Land Trust said the lack of ice cover has had major impacts on the local environment, including drastic water temperature fluctuations, changes in animal behavior and shifts in migratory bird patterns. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-low-ice
During the Anishinabek Nation Councils Panel at the Anishinabek Nation’s 8th Land and Resources Forum, Eshki-niigijig Advisory Council member Lance Copegog of Beausoleil First Nation discussed what is being done to protect the Great Lakes, including work on a program where bodies of water have the recognition of personhood. Read the full story by Anishinabek News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-great-lakes-personhood
Removal of the Lake Erie and Niagara River ice boom was set to begin Tuesday but was delayed due to weather conditions. It would have been the earliest date for the removal of the ice boom. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-lake-erie-ice-boom
It may feel like ice fishing season just started, but Ontario Fish and Wildlife is reminding residents that ice fishing huts need to be taken down by specific dates in March. Anglers are also advised to closely monitor ice conditions. Read the full story by York Region News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-ice-huts-removal
A much-delayed and controversial plan to build a gas-fired power plant in Superior, Wisconsin, now faces opposition from local leaders who previously supported it. The $700 million project is contentious for its location — bordering a Lake Superior estuary and an Anishinaabe mass grave — and for its potential harm to the environment, property values and health of area residents. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-power-plant
Ice coverage on Lake Superior is at about 3%, making it the lowest recorded coverage since the federal government began measuring it in 1973. The Superior Watershed Partnership says the lack of ice has possible impacts on fish populations come spring, specifically for hatchlings that will not be protected from powerful waves that can wash eggs away. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-fish-populations
A popular Lake Michigan dog beach in Ottawa County, Michigan, is fully reopening this spring after nearly four years of reduced hours. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-dog-beach
Earlier this month, Wisconsin Legislature’s budget-writing committee shot down about $1 million in grants under the state’s stewardship program for a boat launch project in the city of Ashland. That’s despite the committee previously signing off on a similar amount of grant funding for another northern Wisconsin project. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-wi-boating-grants
The escalating threat of invasive grass carp in Canada’s Great Lakes has prompted the Invasive Species Centre to initiate a comprehensive public awareness campaign. Read the full story by BNN Breaking.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240228-carp
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/hang-on-whats-not-normal-about-February-29
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.5e3450cf3adf8de4a94ccb7d08a8cdf27b19fcdf.001.1.cap
Carrie Givens was awarded the 2023 Journal of Environmental Quality Outstanding Associate Editor for excellent work in the performance of duties as an Associate Editor.
Midcontinent Region
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/carrie-givens-awarded-2023-journal-environmental?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI
https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.e796d05628432790b234898ad2ece179acd1b319.001.1.cap
Editor’s Note: “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/2024/02/not-just-pretty-pictures-bearing-witness-to-the-night-sky/
River Alliance of Wisconsin urges Governor Evers to veto Senate Bill 312.
“PFAS is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed in a serious way,” said River Alliance of Wisconsin Executive Director Allison Werner. “Instead we’ve watched the state legislature play partisan games to score political points with special interest groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Senate Bill 312 is not the progress we need on PFAS.”
To be clear, Senate Bill 312 does not include an appropriation of funds. Without an appropriation, the bill does not spend the $125 million dollars that the Joint Finance Committee added to the state budget. It would take additional action by the legislature to approve the costs of the programs in SB 312. In addition, PFAS are widespread and expensive to clean up. $125 million is nowhere near enough to meet the current needs of homeowners and municipalities with polluted drinking wells.
If approved, SB 312 would make it harder for the state to hold those responsible for pollution accountable, and severely limit the amount of cleanup that can be done. SB 312 would also limit grant programs only to PFAS substances for which there are standards. As we have seen with the Department of Natural Resources’ past attempts to create groundwater standards for PFAS, this legislature has little interest in such standards being created, thus also limiting any potential impact of SB 312.
For those reasons, the Governor should veto SB 312.
For real progress on PFAS, the Joint Finance Committee should approve the DNR’s request from last December that would allow them to do more testing, get clean drinking water to those who need it, and begin cleanups. The state legislature can and should also let the DNR move ahead with improving groundwater standards on PFAS in drinking water.
“When we play a partisan game with our water, all Wisconsinites lose in the protection of our health and our environment,” said Werner.
This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Support our work with your contribution today.
The post River Alliance urges Governor Evers to veto PFAS bill appeared first on River Alliance of WI.
Blog - River Alliance of WI
https://wisconsinrivers.org/veto-sb-312/
With parts of the Lake Erie coast eroding at a pace of four metres or more a year — some of the highest rates in the Great Lakes — one group is appealing for federal funding to fight it. Read the full story by the Norfolk and Tillsonburg News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240226-thegrandcanyon-lakeerie-shoreline-erosion
Scientists are discovering that as we expel traces of pharmaceuticals, they may not be so good for the health of our aquatic wildlife, and perhaps us. A new report by researchers at the University of Montreal evaluates the occurrence and risks of 27 pharmaceuticals and metabolites in the St. Lawrence River watershed. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240226-pharmaceuticalpollution-st-lawrence-region
Plenty of stories have been told about the mythical, mysterious Bermuda Triangle, but did you know that some claim Lake Michigan has one of its own? It is called the Lake Michigan Triangle. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240226-lakemichigantriangle-greatlakes
Started in 1976, more than 410,000 Fish Ohio pins have been handed to anglers who submit a catch matching or surpassing established length standards for individual species. Some anglers try to earn at least one every year. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240226-ohiodnr-anglers-fish-rewards-pins
Congressional lawmakers are coming to Wisconsin later this week to talk about an important resource that keeps the Great Lakes region’s economy afloat: icebreaking. Senator Tammy Baldwin is set to host a hearing with U.S. Coast Guard officials and business leaders to testify on the need to expand icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240226-greatlakes-economy-icebreakers-baldwin
