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In: Uncategorized
...WATCH OUT FOR PATCHY DENSE FOG THIS MORNING... Patchy dense fog was reported across parts of central and east central Wisconsin early this morning. Watch out for rapidly changing visibilities if driving this morning. The fog is most likely near lakes and river valleys. It should dissipate shortly after 8am.

Original Article

Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service

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

w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov

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In: Wildlife

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.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/17/happy-cows-are-healthy-cows-why-michigans-cows-produce-the-most-milk/

Guest Contributor

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In: Feature Homepage, Latest News, News
I Speak for the Fish: Bloomin’ jellies in Lake Huron

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. 

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/i-speak-for-the-fish-bloomin-jellies-in-lake-huron/

Kathy Johnson

On:
In: Agriculture, Eric Kastelic, flooding, groundwater, land use, loheide, monitoring, steve, well, wri

 

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.

Aerial photo of a flooded lake.
Crystal, Fish and Mud lakes are located in the upper Yahara watershed in South Central Wisconsin.

“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.

Watch the new video here.

The post Could trees prevent groundwater flooding? [New video] first appeared on WRI.

Original Article

News Release | WRI

News Release | WRI

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/groundwater-flooding/

Bonnie Willison

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In: Daily News

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. 

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-us-expandmichiganlocks

Hannah Reynolds

On:
In: Daily News

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. 

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-manmadewetland-michigan-fixroads

Hannah Reynolds

On:
In: Daily News

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.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-rain-climate-metrodetroit-unprepared

Hannah Reynolds

On:
In: Daily News

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.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-lakeerie-southwesternontario

Hannah Reynolds

On:
In: Daily News

Thousands of water utilities across the Great Lakes region and nationwide will decide in the next three months whether to join two multibillion-dollar, class-action settlements against the largest producers of toxic PFAS chemicals that have tainted drinking water supplies. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-pfas-nationalsettlement-waterutilities

Hannah Reynolds

On:
In: Daily News
Quagga mussels are destroying shipwrecks deep in the depths of the lakes, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can before the region touching eight U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario loses any physical trace of its centuries-long maritime history. Read the full story by Milwaukee Independent.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/2023-1016-maritime-shipwrecks-quaggamussels

Hannah Reynolds

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In: Uncategorized

Director Dave Applegate visited the Upper Midwest Water Science Center October 10-12, 2023.

Original Article

Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Upper Midwest Water Science Center

https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/usgs-director-david-applegate-visits-upper-midwest?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news

jvelkoverh@usgs.gov

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In: Echo

Michigan’s population is less healthy than the national average, ranking below most other states, including its Midwestern neighbors, in premature death rates, infant mortality rates and access to health care. 

The post State’s public health ranks low, study finds first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/16/states-public-health-ranks-low-study-finds/

Guest Contributor

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In: Feature Homepage, Latest News, News
Michigan water rights advocate questions effectiveness of proposed affordability legislation

Details matter for water rights advocate Monica Lewis-Patrick when it comes to terminology in Michigan’s long-awaited drinking water legislation. Critical issues have to be addressed in a manner that improves people’s lives.

The recently introduced legislation is designed to remedy the need for water shutoffs in limited cases, It’s also meant to address the cost of water for residents across the state who don’t have the means to pay seemingly ever increasing water bills.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/michigan-water-rights-advocate-questions-effectiveness-proposed-legislation/

Gary Wilson

On:
In: Land

Historical redlining of neighborhoods still poses health threats to present-day residents, such as increased risk of diabetes, hypertension and early death from heart disease, according to a recent study by the National Library of Medicine. 

While redlining practices are not legal anymore, the effects still linger in historically redlined areas that typically have a high concentration of minority residents.

The post Historical redlining impacts still felt nearly a century later first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/15/historical-redlining-impacts-still-felt-nearly-a-century-later/

Guest Contributor

On:
In: Daily News
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a roughly $450 million effort to remove almost 2 million cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the Milwaukee Harbor and three rivers in the area surrounding Milwaukee, Wisconsin. EPA leaders called the project a “once in a generation” opportunity to address pollution that’s existed for more than 150 years including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum compounds, and heavy metals like mercury and lead. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-milwaukee-restoration

Taaja Tucker-Silva

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In: Daily News
The Huronton, a steel freighter that sank to the bottom of Lake Superior 100 years ago, was discovered this summer by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. The recently announced discovery tells the tale of misfortune and bravery of the crews of two freighters that collided in 1923 amid heavy fog and forest fire smoke. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-huronton-shipwreck

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
A water affordability crisis looms over Benton Harbor, Michigan, according to a new report from the Benton Harbor Community Water Council. The report criticized the state and federal government’s response to the lead crisis that started in 2018 and called for a slate of reforms to prevent and respond to future drinking water issues and to ensure water will be affordable for city residents. Read the full story by the Detroit News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-water-affordability

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
On one day last week, over 100 birds migrating south over Lake Erie crashed into buildings in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Lights Out, a volunteer group from the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, has recovered 927 birds from August 15 to October 4: 286 that have survived and have been rehabilitated, 558 found dead on the sidewalks, and the rest either died in captivity or are currently in care. Most of those have been warblers and sparrows. Read the full story by Cleveland Scene.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-bird-collisions

Taaja Tucker-Silva

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In: Daily News
Following three spills of drilling fluids onto the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has halted wastewater pipeline drilling for the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) in Genesee County, New York. The 9-mile pipeline would deposit wastewater into Oak Orchard Creek, a tributary of Lake Ontario in Orleans County, New York. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-stamp-pipeline

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
The number of boaters utilizing harbors and marinas in Northeast Michigan continues to climb, while the number of transient boaters from out of the area who use local marinas appears to have dipped. Not long ago, marinas struggled to fill their slips, but now some marinas have waiting lists for people who want a slip for the season. Read the full story by The Alpena News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-michigan-harbors

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, began drawing in lake water on Monday, October 9, marking the start of a controversial lake diversion that required approval from eight states. Waukesha plans to pull up to 8.2 million gallons from the lake daily to serve as its public water supply. It will return treated wastewater to the lake, resulting in what the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says will be a minimal net water loss. Read the full story by MLive.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-waukesha-water

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
The Great Armistice Day Storm of 1940 is one of many shipwreck stories in a new book, “Too Much Sea for Their Decks.” The book covers prominent shipwrecks in Minnesota’s north shore region of Lake Superior and expands to cover shipwreck stories in Michigan’s Isle Royale. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-shipwreck-novel

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has officially certified a new state record holder for catching the largest coho salmon. Weighing in at 10 pounds, 14 ounces, the coho broke the previous record of 10 pounds, 6.5 ounces, which has been in the books since 1970. Read the full story by KARE-TV – Minneapolis, MN.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231013-record-salmon

Taaja Tucker-Silva

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In: Other topics

At the Alliance for the Great Lakes Board of Directors meeting on October 6, 2023, in Chicago, the Board welcomed Timothy Alston for a three-year term.

New Board Member: Timothy Alston

Timothy is a process controls engineer at the Gary Sanitary District, one of the largest wastewater utilities in the State of Indiana and one of the few majority-black employees utilities in the region. He provides direct technical and advisory support to the Plant Superintendent on wastewater treatment plant improvements and optimizing plant processes. He also helps manage the Operations and Maintenance Department, which is the heartbeat of the utility. Timothy was an environmental consultant for CDM Smith Inc. in the Chicago Office from 2018-2020.

As a young professional living in Chicago, Timothy has demonstrated a passion for mentorship to underserved communities through his work as an undergraduate mentor and the Director of Programs for the Chicago Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), as well as spearheading the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Outreach Mentorship Program from 2019-2021. 

Timothy is a Co-Founder of the Black Water Professionals Alliance Inc. (BWPA), which has grown to over 200 members across the country. The mission of BWPA is to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion by fostering a community focused on networking, professional development, and leadership opportunities for Black people in the water industry. He has personally mentored over 100 students in developing their STEM academic and professional skills over the past several years through a nonprofit called SMASH Academy.

Originally from Maryland, Timothy received his B.S. in Environmental Science from Claflin University, a historic HBCU in South Carolina, and his M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

He and his wife currently live in South Loop, Chicago, and just tied the knot this past July 23, 2023.

New & Returning Officers

Laura Payne was elected to a second two-year term as Vice Chair of Development. Bill Henry was elected to a second two-year term as Board Secretary.

Leaving Office
The board also said farewell to term-limited board director Quentin James and expressed special gratitude for his six years of service.

“I extend a heartfelt thank you to our board members—past and present—for their unwavering dedication and exceptional leadership,” said Joel Brammeier, President & CEO of the Alliance. “Their invaluable time and expertise are fundamental to the achievements of the Alliance in safeguarding and revitalizing the Great Lakes. We eagerly anticipate the valuable contributions of our newest board member and extend our deepest appreciation to those transitioning on.”

For a complete listing of Alliance for the Great Lakes directors and officers, visit our Board of Directors page.

The post Alliance for the Great Lakes Board of Directors Welcomes Newly Elected Board Member & Returning Officers appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Original Article

News - Alliance for the Great Lakes

News - Alliance for the Great Lakes

https://greatlakes.org/2023/10/alliance-for-the-great-lakes-board-of-directors-welcomes-newly-elected-board-member-returning-officers/

Michelle Farley

On:
In: Wildlife

As if climate change-related rising lake levels, extreme weather and threats to biodiversity weren’t enough to worry about, now we can also worry about the public health threat of invading mosquitoes.

North America has about 250 species of mosquitoes, of which about 70 are found in Michigan.

The post Disease-carrying mosquitoes moving north first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/13/disease-carrying-mosquitoes-moving-north/

Eric Freedman

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In: Uncategorized

RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey will invest more than $3.5 million to map critical mineral resources in partnership with the geological surveys of Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee.

Original Article

Midcontinent Region

Midcontinent Region

https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/usgs-partners-six-states-map-critical-mineral-potential-cutting-edge?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news

apdemas@usgs.gov

On:
In: Art

Plummeting temperatures, blinding snow and ferocious winds ripped through the air as three freighters struggled on Lake Michigan’s frigid surface.  

Unsuspecting and dangerously underprepared passengers braced for the worst, baffled at the stark contrast from the serene weather of the morning. 

The post Author preserves Great Lakes shipwrecks by writing novels about them first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2023/10/12/author-preserves-great-lakes-shipwrecks-by-writing-novels-about-them/

Mya Smith

On:
In: Daily News
Don’t let cooler fall temperatures fool you: Western Lake Erie’s 2023 algal bloom is still out there. The bloom continues to hug the western Lake Erie shoreline from Stony Point, Michigan, north of Monroe, to Maumee Bay water just east of Toledo. Read the full story by The Blade.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-algae

Beth Wanamaker

On:
In: Daily News

When a municipality builds a new road and damages wetlands in the process, Michigan state law says new wetlands have to be constructed somewhere else. That’s led to establishing “wetland banks” for city, township, and county road agencies. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-wetlands

Beth Wanamaker

On:
In: Daily News

Proposals are calling for the construction of a large housing complex on a former industrial site on Michigan’s Muskegon Lake, but old contamination concerns have surfaced. Per environmental data compiled by surveyors prior to the property’s ownership transfer, toxic materials, explosive gasses and industrial contaminants were still present in large concentrations. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-pfas-muskegon

Beth Wanamaker

On:
In: Daily News

For decades, the beaches adjacent to Lake Michigan were acclaimed as a special place and carried the designation of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. When the lakeshore became a national park in 2019, everything was altered in the public eye. Read the full story by The Tribune.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-indiana-dunes

Beth Wanamaker

On:
In: Daily News

The University of Wisconsin-Superior Lake Superior Research Institute’s Ballast Water Treatment Testing Facility is researching a filter technology that can be used to help keep invasive aquatic species out of the lake. Read the full story by Spectrum News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-lake-superior-state

Beth Wanamaker

On:
In: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Partnership, Collaboration, Latest News, Michigan, News, Politics, Policy, Environmental Justice, Water Quality and Restoration Efforts
Wetland banks save cities, townships, and counties money for building roads

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.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/10/wetland-banks-save-cities-townships-counties-money-building-roads/

Michigan Radio

On:
In: Dane County, Eric Kastelic, Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, groundwater flooding, Hydroecology Lab, Melina Dennis, Steve Loehide, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Melina Dennis (center) conducting field research this summer. Image credit: Submitted photo

By Melina Dennis, Freshwater Collaborative summer research student

This summer, 31 students from across the country were chosen for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Freshwater@UW Summer Research Opportunities Program, which is affiliated with Wisconsin Sea Grant, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School. Many of the students provided reflections on what they learned. We’ll share several over the coming months. Here’s the third, from Melina Dennis, an undergraduate senior in environmental engineering from the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin.

This summer I worked in UW-Madison’s Hydroecology Lab, which is in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department under Steve Loehide. I worked with my grad student mentor, Eric Kastelic, on studying groundwater flooding in Dane County.

Before this program, I had limited knowledge about graduate school. I was interested in furthering my education, but I didn’t know how graduate school worked or what it looked like for the fields I am interested in. I have since learned an enormous amount from working in a research lab, and from the professional development seminars the program hosted.

At the beginning of the program, we had a seminar on science communication. The seminar touched on the importance of making science accessible to nonscientists and gave me a point of resonance for why I am doing this in the first place: to help people. As I went through the program, I was pleasantly surprised to meet more and more people who felt the same way. At the forefront of a lot of people’s work was the hope of making the world a better place for others.

My mentor hosted a graduate student panel for one of the seminars. I gained insight into the life of graduate students, the process of finding a graduate program, differences between types of graduate degrees, how funding works, and so much more. Another seminar covered funding more in depth. I learned more about the many sources of it, differences in funding across degrees and programs, how to have conversations about funding your degree, and how to apply for common types of grants.

We also had seminars focused on career development. Staff from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) came in and gave us information about working in the federal government. I got a lot of useful and intriguing information about careers with USGS, paths to employment with them, and benefits of working for a federal agency. I can see myself working for USGS after graduate school, as what they do aligns with the goals and values I have for my career. By working in the research lab with my mentor, I developed technical skills that are directly applicable to my career goals, including computer programs and physical tools used in research and the public sector of my field. I had many fun field days where I got to see how data is collected and collect some of my own.

I now have a much better picture of graduate school and how it can help me achieve my career goals. I also feel more prepared in pursuing graduate school. I am grateful for this program and all the valuable information I received.

The post Making the world a better place first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/making-the-world-a-better-place/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

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In: Daily News

Enbridge Energy last week sought help from a state oversight panel due to the “inexplicably lethargic” permit review by federal regulators for the company’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project to replace Line 5 under the Straights of Mackinac. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20231011-line5

Beth Wanamaker