Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has lent her support to the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians’ efforts to shut down part of Enbridge Energy Company’s Line 5. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231023-line-5
People in the water during potential rip current conditions at public beaches in New Buffalo, Michigan, will now be subject to fines starting at $500. Boaters also face the same penalty if heading to Lake Michigan in the city’s public channel during lake conditions viewed as too dangerous for their watercraft. Read the full story by the South Bend Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231023-swimming-fines
Trebuchets and soaring gourds continue to be a popular combination every fall in Clayton, New York, drawing in thousands who watch as machines send pumpkins flying into the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231023-punkin-chunkin
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/when-expect-first-fall-freeze
A new book by a Michigan and U.S food policy advocate emphasizes that everyone is needed to create a sustainable and prosperous food economy.
“I hope people who read the book can see themselves in it,” Conners said. “Anybody can be a part of helping to bring locally grown food to people.”
The post Food policy advocate shares 20 years of food and farm lessons first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/23/food-policy-advocate-shares-20-years-of-food-and-farm-lessons/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126666E190F4.FrostAdvisory.126666E35A60WI.GRBNPWGRB.5c1960614b9101127ad4d69c4cc31d5f
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126666D4ECA0.FrostAdvisory.126666E35A60WI.GRBNPWGRB.5c1960614b9101127ad4d69c4cc31d5f
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.noaa.gov/news-release/us-winter-outlook-wetter-south-warmer-north
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/2023/10/nibi-chronicles-grand-portage-water-warriors/
Federal attempts to clean up pollution in the Great Lakes region are increasing property values, according to a study from the University of Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-pollution-remediation
The Detroit News spent four months exploring the ways climate change will send ripple effects through the Great Lakes and their ecosystems. For this series, the article highlights an issue on each Great Lake, interviewing those on the front lines of climate-related research. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-climate-change
Republicans in the Michigan Senate are sending a letter to federal and state officials urging the start of a pipeline tunnel project under the Straits of Mackinac. The Great Lakes Tunnel project would house the Line 5 pipeline that currently runs exposed along the lakebed. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-line-5
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is revisiting proposed regulations for ballast water standards on ships to reduce the spread of invasive species. That could mean newer vessels on the Great Lakes would have to install treatment systems. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-ballast-water
Three commercial fishing companies in Door County, Wisconsin are signing on to an innovative new project on the Great Lakes called 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge. This initiative has a goal of using 100% of each fish by the year 2025. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-100-great-lakes-fish
In the quest to defend Michigan’s rivers against climate change, government officials and fish advocates are increasingly zeroing in on a simple strategy that can lower water temperatures by several degrees and open up miles of new habitat: removing dams. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-dam-removal
The Great Lakes Museum has announced the S.S. Keewatin, the oldest remaining Edwardian-era steamliner in the world, will move from the shipyard where it is currently being refurbished to its new home in Kingston, Ontario on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. Read the full story by the Kingstonist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-s.s.-keewatin
Five decades ago, the Cuyahoga River was a symbol of all that was wrong with the environment. Now it’s believed to be clean enough for the ancient lake sturgeon to make its home. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-lake-sturgeon
As the days grow shorter and the temperatures tumble, it won’t be much longer before Lake Michigan’s buoys will get pulled in for the season. This winter, however, a new type of buoy is hoping to make sure scientists have access to the vital weather data these buoys provide all year. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-weather-alert-bouy
For decades, Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula was home to more than 100 copper mines and the mining waste has impacted the shores of Lake Superior. The U.S. Forest Service is hoping that a specialized poplar tree will remove the heavy metals from the soil and stabilize the area, with the goal of preventing the stamp sands from shifting further. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231020-mining-waste
The creators of a new television series about climate change describe it as a cross between Stranger Things and a nature documentary narrated by David Attenborough – and they say they hope it’ll help ease anxiety about the existential threat.no
The post New TV show bridges pop culture, climate change education first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/20/new-tv-show-bridges-pop-culture-climate-change-education/
By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
The upcoming United States winter looks likely to be a bit low on snow and extreme cold outbreaks, with federal forecasters predicting the North to get warmer than normal and the South wetter and stormier.
A strong El Nino heavily moderates and changes the storm tracks of what America is likely to face from December to February, with an added warming boost from climate change and record hot oceans, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday in releasing their winter outlook.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/ap-electrical-grids-keeping-up-green-energy-could-risk-climate-goals/
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Anne Moser presents the Plastic Panic Kit to Great Lakes educators at a conference in Chicago. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
When Anne Moser began her librarian career in Seattle in the early 1990s, one of her first experiences was a tour of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
“It made a big impression on me, watching their operations and what great, amazing miracles can happen there. Wastewater enters the plant, is treated and is clean enough to discharge into Puget Sound. Creating this kit feels like I’ve come full circle in my career,” Moser said.
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s senior special librarian and education coordinator has now learned enough about wastewater treatment to create “Plastic Panic,” a grab-and-go teaching kit that formal and nonformal educators can use to teach about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, specifically, microplastics.
Unlike larger plastic containers and pieces, microplastics (particles 5 millimeters and smaller) are too small for wastewater treatment plants to filter. What goes into the plant comes right back out into the environment. Fish and other animals can mistake microplastics for food. A belly full of plastic can make them feel full without providing any nutrients. In addition, heavy metals and other pollutants tend to stick to plastics. These can harm animals that eat the plastic, and the pollutants can work their way up the food chain this way.
The kit got its start after a plastic awareness-raising exhibition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art in 2019 called, “Plastic Entanglements.” That led to a prototype learning kit, which has been updated this year. Information in “Plastic Panic” is based on research by Derek Ho, biological systems engineering Ph.D. student under Troy Runge, UW–Madison. Artwork is by Chelsea Mamott, Wisconsin Energy Institute digital media specialist.
Although the curriculum is designed for fourth- to fifth-graders, Moser said the kit has wide appeal.
“When we presented it at the Chazen, we saw it caught visitors’ attention — from the littlest learners, maybe four or five years old, all the way up to the parents and grandparents. The tabletop’s eye-catching, so many people came over to look at it. We also learned that many people don’t know much about what happens to the wastewater leaving their house. The activity demystifies this weird building that treats wastewater,” Moser said.
Colorful microplastics filtered out in one of the Plastic Panic Kit activities. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Colorful artwork and colorful plastics enthrall and teach.
“We have included a sample jar that has different types and sizes of plastics,” Moser said. “You get different densities, different weights, so they can experience the way plastic behaves in water. Some of it sinks, some of it floats, some stays in the middle. You get to filter and sanitize the sample, then look at what is ultimately discharged into our water bodies. So, it’s kind of high-level thinking that kids get to enjoy without even realizing it.”
Moser said the kit is “grab-and-go” for educators. “It comes with a guide that has clear instructions so they will be able to present the activity right out of the box.” It also provides questions to ask students, background information for educators and worksheets for classroom use. “So, hopefully, they can just grab it and do it.”
Content is aligned with Sea Grant’s Great Lakes Literacy Principles but not yet aligned to specific state educational standards.
With the help of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding, 23 kits were produced by Sea Grant’s Center for Great Lakes Literacy and distributed to Sea Grant programs around the Great Lakes Basin. Five are available free of charge in Wisconsin, and the kit is shipped via UPS.
To order “Plastic Panic,” fill out this form.
The post Plastics learning kit educates and enthralls first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/plastics-learning-kit-educates-and-enthralls/
The world of collegiate sports is ever-growing as new sports come into the spotlight, but one is emerging that might be a surprise – bass fishing.
“We just have all kinds of sports that are maybe off the beaten path, but have a strong following,” he said.
The post Small college uses niche sport to boost enrollment first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/19/small-college-uses-niche-sport-to-boost-enrollment/
Original Story: WDNR
Invasive species are nonnative plants, animals and diseases that cause great ecological, environmental or economic harm. Some have already been found in Wisconsin, while others pose a large risk of surviving and causing problems if they are introduced and become established here.
Just a few minutes of preventative action can help preserve and protect hunting lands for generations to come.
Before launching into and leaving a waterbody, waterfowl hunters should:
– Inspect waders, boats, trailers, motors and hunting equipment, including boots, blinds and dogs
– Remove all plants, animals and mud to the best of their ability
– Drain all water from decoys, boats, motors, livewells and other hunting equipment
– Remove all seed heads and roots when using vegetation for duck blinds
– Never move plants or live animals, such as snails, away from a water body
Lots of hunting spots have boot brush stations to help you clean off your gear (see picture). Want to have one installed at your favorite hunting spot? Contact Chris using the info below!
Learn more at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Invasives and thank you for helping keep invasives out of our waterways!
Photo Credit: WDNR
Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on X! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
Winnebago Waterways and Keepers of the Fox are Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance programs. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization working to protect and restore water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
The post Waterfowl Hunting? Protect Those Places appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/10/18/waterfowl-hunting-protect-those-places/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=waterfowl-hunting-protect-those-places
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is excited to host a Field Day event with Outagamie County at VandeWettering Farms in Greenleaf. Farmers are invited to come learn about virtual grazing, grazing on marginal land, and ravine restoration. Please direct any questions to Katie Woodrow, Lower Fox River Program Director: katie@fwwa.org, 920-915-5767.
The post Virtual Grazing Field Day appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/10/18/virtual-grazing-field-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=virtual-grazing-field-day
Original story: Melinda Myers
As we start see leaves drop, lots of folks are starting to prepare their homes and gardens for winter. If you’ve got a water garden, you’ll be starting to do the same thing! Water gardens make a great addition to any landscape masking unwanted noise, inviting songbirds to take a drink, and providing a beautiful oasis in any landscape. Fall is the time to prepare your water garden for winter. Tropical plants need to be moved indoors and aggressive or invasive plants should be removed and disposed of properly. Contact your local municipality for tips on disposing these and your local Department of Natural Resources for a list of invasive plants in your area that need to be removed. Eliminating invasive plants from our landscapes helps keep them out of our lakes and waterways!
With a history of popular water garden plants being released in our region, following these steps is an easy way to be a steward for your local waterways and your water garden!
Photo Credit: Chris Acy (Fox-Wolf), Melinda Myers
Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook page or @WinnWaterways on X! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
Check out the Keepers of the Fox Program at https://fwwa.org/watershed-recovery/lower-fox-recovery/
Winnebago Waterways and Keepers of the Fox are Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance programs. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization working to protect and restore water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
The post Preparing Water Gardens for Winter appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/10/18/preparing-water-gardens-for-winter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=preparing-water-gardens-for-winter
An author and researcher of the paranormal and cryptozoology fields will talk on folklore, sightings, and evidence surrounding some of the most legendary and mysterious creatures believed to inhabit our Great Lakes. Read the full story by Morning Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-cryptozoology
An autonomous quiet vessel that has been traveling across the Great Lakes gathering valuable fish population data is back on dry land in Charlevoix, Michigan. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-saildrone-return
The radar technology developed to find water on Mars is cheaper and more effective in detecting leaks in public water systems compared to traditional ones, and now it has arrived in five Michigan cities. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-water-leak-detection-technologies
All water customers in Waukesha, Wisconsin now have water from Lake Michigan. A coffee shop owner said he is happy with the new H20. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-waukesha-water-swtich
The sea lamprey is a parasitic fish that ranks among the most destructive invasive species lurking in the Great Lakes, and natural resource agencies are working to limit their spread and impacts. Read the full story by Manistee News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-sea-lamprey
The Great Lakes are in their seasonal water level decline and over the next few months, all may come close to being near normal water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-water-level-drop
Federal, state and local officials have agreed to spend about $450 million to dredge contaminated sediment from Milwaukee’s Lake Michigan harbor and area rivers. The project calls for removing almost 2 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from Milwaukee’s Lake Michigan harbor and 12 miles of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers in Wisconsin. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-milwaukee-clean-up
Two filmmakers making a documentary about invasive quagga mussels in Lake Huron found something much larger than the fingertip-sized mollusk. Read the full story by FOX Weather.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231018-found-shipwreck
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/2023/10/the-spawn-from-lake-sturgeon-in-michigan-to-be-introduced-to-cuyahoga-river/
The radar technology developed to find water on Mars is cheaper and more effective in detecting leaks in public water systems compared to traditional ones. And now it has arrived in Michigan.
The post Mars technologies comes to Michigan to find water leaks first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/18/mars-technologies-comes-to-michigan-to-find-water-leaks/
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Federal, state and local officials have agreed to spend about $450 million to dredge contaminated sediment from Milwaukee’s Lake Michigan harbor and area rivers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will devote $275 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to the project.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/ap-federal-local-officials-agree-on-450-million-deal-to-clean-up-milwaukee-waterways/
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
This story was adapted from Points North, a podcast about the land, water, and inhabitants of the Great Lakes, from Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/where-do-solar-panels-go-to-die/
Joint statement from the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the National Wildlife Federation regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act
Chicago, IL (October 17, 2023) – In 2018, Congress enacted the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act of 2018 (VIDA) and directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national standards for vessel discharges, such as ballast water. The purpose of the statute is to protect the natural environment and the surrounding communities and economies from the introduction of aquatic invasive species or harmful pathogens that might be released or transported from vessels. In October 2020, EPA released its proposed draft VIDA rules, which we, and many others, found to be severely deficient in that they did not protect the environment and arbitrarily excluded “Lakers” (vessels that do not leave the Great Lakes) from regulation.
Today, in response to public comments and concerns expressed about the draft rule, EPA released a supplemental notice of proposed VIDA rulemaking with additional regulatory options that EPA is now considering to regulate the discharge of ballast water in the Great Lakes.
EPA proposes to create a new regulatory subcategory for “New Lakers” and is considering imposing a regulatory requirement for “New Lakers” to install, operate, and maintain ballast water management systems to reduce the level of discharges of harmful aquatic organisms into the Great Lakes. New Lakers are rarely built. The Mark W. Barker Laker was launched in 2022, and it was the first Laker built and launched in more than 35 years. EPA proposes to continue to exempt existing Lakers that can spread invasive species throughout the Great Lakes.
In response to EPA’s supplemental proposed rulemaking, for which EPA is seeking public comment by December 18, 2023, Alliance for the Great Lakes Chief Operating Officer Molly Flanagan said, “The Alliance appreciates that EPA is considering regulating ballast water discharges from New Lakers. However, the proposed rule would continue the ballast water treatment exemption for existing Lakers, leaving the Great Lakes at risk. The proposal falls far short of the level of environmental protection that is needed to protect the Great Lakes.”
“The EPA proposed standard will not adequately protect the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters from ballast water invaders,” said Marc Smith, policy director for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office. “The EPA’s failure to protect water quality and wildlife by exempting Lakers (ships that do not leave the Great Lakes) leaves the door open for future harm to outdoor recreation, our economy and quality of life.”
Howard Learner, the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s (ELPC) Executive Director, said: “Protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species and plants requires effective EPA standards for ballast water discharges from “Lakers”. The EPA’s long-awaited proposed standards repeat the historic failure to apply fair regulatory standards to old highly-polluting coal plants, which then kept running for years harming our environment and public health. The EPA now, again, largely exempts existing Lakers ships that are harming the Great Lakes in hopes that new Lakers sometimes will be cleaner. That failed approach will predictably lock in more old Lakers ships running longer, polluting, and causing damage to the Great Lakes for many years instead of phasing them out quickly and encouraging new Lakers ships with cleaner technology sooner. ELPC will join our Great Lakes protection partners in submitting comments to the EPA, which hopefully will correct this fundamental flaw in its final standards. The public and the Great Lakes deserve better.”
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Media contact: Please connect with our media team at TeamGreatLakes@mrss.com.
The post EPA Rule Fails to Protect Great Lakes from Invasive Species appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2023/10/epa-rule-fails-to-protect-great-lakes-from-invasive-species/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126666971498.SpecialWeatherStatement.1266669741E8WI.GRBSPSGRB.6038fbc85edf67f6dedf6fd2692f43ea
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126666968410.SpecialWeatherStatement.12666696EDECWI.GRBSPSGRB.6038fbc85edf67f6dedf6fd2692f43ea
Michigan ranks No. 1 in the country for producing the most milk per cow — and has been for the past few years.
Although not the nation’s biggest overall milk producer, the state’s specialty in dairy has led farmers to find the most efficient way to get more milk from their herds.
The post Happy cows are healthy cows: Why Michigan’s cows produce the most milk first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/17/happy-cows-are-healthy-cows-why-michigans-cows-produce-the-most-milk/
I Speak for the Fish is a 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/2023/10/i-speak-for-the-fish-bloomin-jellies-in-lake-huron/
Researcher Steve Loheide spent much of his childhood on the banks of Crystal, Fish and Mud lakes in northern Dane County, Wisconsin. “I used to ride my bike between Fish Lake and Mud Lake. And they’re now one lake – they’re combined,” says Loheide.
Water levels in Crystal, Fish and Mud lakes have fluctuated drastically for at least a century. In his office, Loheide keeps a copy of a 1914 newspaper clipping titled “Crystal Lake, dried up, again filling with water.” According to the article, Crystal Lake dried up in the early 1900s and farmers started growing crops on the former lake bottom. But by 1914, water was starting to return.
Today, the lake is overflowing its banks, causing destruction of homes, businesses and crop land. During Loheide’s lifetime, he has witnessed a 17 foot increase in the water level in Fish Lake. This experience inspired Loheide, now an ecohydrology professor at UW-Madison’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to embark on a research project to understand why groundwater flooding is plaguing these lakes and what we can do about it.
“Groundwater flooding is perhaps a little bit more insidious” than surface water flooding, Loheide said. The groundwater flooding at these internally drained basin lakes is caused by a slowly rising water table. What is causing the water table to rise? Loheide and his collaborators professor emeritus Ken Potter and Ph.D. student Eric Kastelic ask that question in their project Biomanipulation of Groundwater Flooding, funded by the Wisconsin Water Resources Institute.
According to Kastelic, groundwater flooding in the area is likely due to multiple factors, like changes in both precipitation and land use over the last 100 years. “This part of Wisconsin used to predominately be tallgrass prairie and oak savanna,” said Kastelic. A century ago, settlers transitioned the landscape to shallow-rooted row crop agriculture.
Loheide and Kastelic hypothesize that this transition from deep-rooted to shallow-rooted plants, paired with climate change, has affected the water table. As part of the project, the team will be documenting the changing water table and creating a model to study the feedbacks between land use change and climate change in hydrologic systems. “We want to model this system and determine if we had more trees on the landscape, would we see less groundwater flooding?” says Loheide.
The research team hopes the data can help communities, like those surrounding Crystal, Fish and Mud lakes, build resilient landscapes. If the research shows that large-scale tree plantings could be a viable solution to groundwater flooding in internally drained basins, Loheide could see this being explored as a strategy to help vulnerable communities.
The post Could trees prevent groundwater flooding? [New video] first appeared on WRI.News Release | WRI
https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/groundwater-flooding/
Along with running the state, Gov. Whitmer was named the next Chair of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers on Friday. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-govwhitmer-greatlakes-stlawrence-governorsandpremiers-chair
Construction crews are working to complete a modernization of the Soo Locks, a task given greater urgency by revelations about the economic impact of disrupted supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic. The question is whether the upgrades can get the funds they need in time despite a huge influx of cash from Washington. Read the full story by The Wall Street Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-us-expandmichiganlocks
More than 130 road and bridge projects have bought credits to Michigan’s Perry Wetland Mitigation Bank bank since it opened. It was the first wetland bank built using state gas taxes — and a second one just opened. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-manmadewetland-michigan-fixroads
Like most older urban communities in Metro Detroit, the Red Run has combined sewers – pipes carrying raw sewage and stormwater runoff. These aging systems are ill-equipped to handle the massive volumes of stormwater runoff that we’re now seeing – and will continue to see more of – due to climate change. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-rain-climate-metrodetroit-unprepared
This week, TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson takes you along on a journey through the Great Lakes aboard the Lee A. Tregurtha, a vessel with the Interlake Steamship Company. Read the full story by TV6 – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-tregurtha-greatlakes
Experts say nutrient-rich water from greenhouse farms could be harming Lake Erie, but Ontario’s Environment Ministry has issued very few fines for potential algae-causing infractions since 2019. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-lakeerie-southwesternontario
