In passing an omnibus bill which included the Water Resources Development Act, Congress authorized a plan from the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the Chicago River’s South Fork, a 1.25-mile stretch more familiarly known as Bubbly Creek. Read the full story by WTTW-TV-Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210121-bubbly-creek
To address the issue of harmful algal blooms, Ohio Sea Grant, in conjunction with the University of Toledo, co-manage the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative. These funds are leveraged with NOAA Sea Grant support to study Like Erie stressors. Read the full story by Ohio’s Country Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210121-erie-research
Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle State Park will receive a total of $3 million for sand replenishment in 2021, according to park operations manager Matt Green. Read the full story by Erie News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210121-presque-isle
The Black River Area of Concern in Ohio removed another item of concern from its list, according to a news release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read the full story by The Chronicle Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210121-black-river
Three weeks into January the percentage of ice coverage on the Great Lakes is historically low with not even 2% of ice coverage on the lakes. Read the full story by WSYR-TV Syracuse, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210121-ice-cover
After being snubbed in 2020, the folks who make their living by fishing the Great Lakes – both commercially and for sport – have been included in the latest round of federal relief from the economic ravages of COVID-19.
With the second round, passed Dec. 27 and known as the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Act of 2021, Great Lakes tribal fisheries were included in the $30 million allotted for tribal fisheries nationwide.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/great-lakes-fisheries-federal-covid-19-relief-funds/
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A group of Native American tribes in a Minnesota congressman’s district is rebuking him for his attempts to derail President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Interior secretary.
If confirmed, Rep. Deb Haaland, a Democrat from New Mexico, would be the first Native American to lead the Department of the Interior.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/ap-tribal-leaders-congressman-opposed-haaland-nomination/
The fourth part of a 5-part series on trans-border U.S. and Canadian environmental research projects.
The post With all eyes on Great Lakes freshwater, concerned cross-border researchers work to conserve it first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/01/21/with-all-eyes-on-great-lakes-freshwater-concerned-cross-border-researchers-work-to-conserve-it/
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is nominating an Indiana University law professor to be the second-in-command at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Janet McCabe, a professor of practice at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, has been nominated to be deputy EPA administrator, Biden’s office announced Friday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/ap-biden-law-professor-janet-mccabe-epa/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126189094B04.SpecialWeatherStatement.126189159260WI.GRBSPSGRB.54e5ef070b45e49081402cfe9ce09122
By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter
Members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team said rebuilding the government’s ability to combat climate change will be more difficult than initially thought.
According to E&E News, Biden officials said agency review teams found deeper budget cuts, wider staff losses and more systematic elimination of climate programs and research than they realized.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/biden-climate-team-rebuild-efforts/
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States presents opportunities to accelerate progress to protect and restore the Great Lakes and our nation’s drinking water and reverse environmental injustices that have disproportionately impacted people of color, low-income communities, and indigenous tribes, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition said today.
“The Biden Administration has the opportunity to accelerate progress to restore the Great Lakes, protect our drinking water, and help the most vulnerable communities overcome the serious threats of pollution and unsafe water,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Clean water priorities in the region fit squarely with Biden Administration priorities to energize our economy, stand up for racial equity, and confront the climate crisis. We urge President Biden to take strong and decisive action to protect and restore the Great Lakes, ensure every person has access to safe and affordable drinking water, and invite hard-hit communities to the decision-making table. White House leadership, in collaboration with Congress, will be essential to boost federal investment in clean water programs that have been producing results for the environment and economy in communities across the region.
“We look forward to working with the Biden Administration to swiftly address these concerns by championing clean water priorities that achieve ecological outcomes, while addressing environmental injustices. Clean water is a basic need, yet too many cities and towns struggle with unsafe water. The Biden Administration has the opportunity to ensure that clean and affordable water is available to everyone in the region by addressing systemic inequities that have led to widespread water shutoffs in people’s homes, persistent toxic lead contamination, and a growing water affordability crisis that, if not addressed, by 2022 will leave 1-in-3 Americans at risk of water bills they cannot afford to pay.
“The good news is that we have solutions to these problems. We look forward to partnering with the Biden Administration and the U.S. Congress to confront these serious threats to our drinking water now, before the problems get worse and more expensive to solve.”
Top priorities for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition include boosting federal investments in drinking water and sewage treatment infrastructure, Great Lakes restoration and protection, lead-line replacement, and assistance to vulnerable communities—priorities that the Biden Administration can show leadership on with the release of its first annual budget in the coming months. The Coalition also strives to uphold clean water protections, secure drinking water protections for toxic PFAS and other contaminants, and to reverse roll-backs to drinking water and environmental safeguards undertaken by the previous presidential administration.
The post Coalition: Biden Administration Can Accelerate Progress to Restore Great Lakes, Protect Drinking Water, Help Vulnerable Communities appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/coalition-biden-administration-can-accelerate-progress-to-restore-great-lakes-protect-drinking-water-help-vulnerable-communities/
The Army Corps included $3.8 million for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam gauntlet project in its fiscal year 2021 work plan. The project would reconfigure the Brandon Road lock in Illinois with an electric barrier, bubble barrier, acoustic deterrents and flushing lock, to prevent invasive silver and bighead carp from moving upstream. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-asian-carp-invasive
Plans to restore Lake Michigan’s Waugoshance lighthouse have now been abandoned due to the extensive damage. Read the full story by Harbor Light News,
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-lighthouse-restoration
Does Flint finally have clean water? Almost. Nearly four years after a court order required the replacement of lead pipes in the water system of Flint, Michigan, the work is only just now approaching completion. Read the full story by New York Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-michigan-flint-water-quality
In Ohio, Cuyahoga County’s Lakefront Public Access Plan aims to provide access to Lake Erie and improve transportation along the shoreline while enhancing erosion control and shoreline stability. Read the full story by Spectrum News Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-shoreline-access-ohio
The effort to keep the invasive grass carp from running rampant in Lake Erie has been culminated in “The Lake Erie Grass Carp Response Strategy: 2019–2023,” which outlines Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ strategy for preventing grass carp from expanding beyond western Lake Erie and the Maumee and Sandusky rivers. Read the full story by Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-grass-carp-invasive
About half a century after local leaders first proposed building a breakwall in Lake Ontario to prevent flooding in New York’s Olcott Harbor, the project finally has reached the brink of state and federal approval, with state agency and Army Corps of Engineers permits remaining. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-new-york-harbor
In Michigan, Lake Superior State University was awarded a grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to help create green infrastructure through the St. Marys River Green Stormwater Demonstration Project at a former industrial brownfield site later this year. Read the full story by WLUC – TV – Negaunee, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-green-infrastructure-restoration
After a year of overwhelmed sewer systems, compromised roadways, lost beachfront property, and rampant erosion along the shoreline, Traverse City, Michigan is finally getting some relief: Water levels in the Great Lakes are dropping. Read the full story by The Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-water-levels-erosion-michigan
As part of the Pike River Restoration Plan completed in 2013, the Petrifying Springs Park section of the Pike River in Wisconsin was identified for rehabilitation. Now with more than 525 tons of sediment and 368 pounds of phosphorous removed, short-term data is showing 55% reduction in phosphorus and 44% reduction in nitrogen. Read the full story by The Journal Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210120-wisconsin-river-restoration
Chicago, IL (January 20, 2021) – The Alliance for the Great Lakes congratulates and welcomes President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as they begin their historic term in office. We look forward to working with the new administration on the issues that matter to the Great Lakes and the region’s residents.
Ensuring all communities have access to clean drinking water, more important than ever in the midst of a global pandemic; rebuilding the region’s crumbling water infrastructure; and making sure that climate decisions are made through the lens of environmental justice should all be at the top of the federal agenda.
While this is certainly a moment that deserves celebration, Great Lakes residents and advocates have high expectations for this administration to deliver on their promises to voters. Let’s get to work.
###
Media contact: Jennifer Caddick, jcaddick@greatlakes.org
The post “Let’s Get to Work”: Statement from Alliance for the Great Lakes on the Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/01/statement-from-alliance-for-the-great-lakes-on-the-inauguration-of-president-biden-and-vice-president-harris/
In a Great Lakes world dominated by policy proclamations, fights for funding and the never-ending conflict between the triad of politicians, business and environmental interests, Michigan poet Alison Swan operates on a different level.
Fully cognizant of these struggles, Swan engages them on a human and experiential level through her poetry by calling “the reader to witness, appreciate and sustain this world before it becomes too late,” as described on the cover of her new book, “A Fine Canopy.”
“A Fine Canopy” is a collection of poems based on Swan’s life-long personal experiences, diverse locales where she has lived and material collected over decades.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/michigan-alison-swan-environmental-experiential-poetry-book/
The first (second, third etc.) part of a 5-part series on trans-border U.S. and Canadian environmental research projects.
The post U.S., Canadian researchers conduct binational birds conservation research first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/01/20/u-s-canadian-researchers-conduct-binational-birds-conservation-research/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/pfas-news-lake-superior-smelt-wisconsin-settlement-mcdonalds-epa/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — One of the world’s longest-running wildlife field studies has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since 1959, a research team has spent most of the winter observing the interplay between wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/ap-pandemic-interrupts-longtime-isle-royale-wolf-moose-study/
The U.S. Coast Guard says the submerged tugboat near Marquette’s Lower Harbor was removed and successfully salvaged Monday, with no fuel spilled between Friday’s submersion and Monday’s removal. Read the full story by WLUC – TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-ship-tug-recovery
In Traverse City, MI the FishPass project was designed to replace the Union Street Dam and protect native fish, while keeping out any invasive species. The project was put on hold by a judge citing concern over misrepresentations about the project effort. Read the full story by 9&10 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-fish-michigan
A water reservoir in Scanlon, MN was recently deemed an area of concern as a result of sediment contamination and has been selected for a collaborative environmental cleanup project beginning this fall by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office. Read the full story by Pine Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-pollution-minnesota
Work on the new stretch of Lakewalk in Duluth, MN will be completed this spring, but more construction is planned over the next several years to build a more climate-resilient Lakewalk all along Lake Superior. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-duluth-lakewalk-climate
Protesters set up camp Monday next to the Line 3 replacement pipeline construction project in Cloquet, MN. About two dozen protesters said they hope to slow down the project by trespassing during construction where the line runs through the Fond du Lac Reservation. Read the full story by KBJR – TV – Cloquet, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-minnesota-protests-line-3
Nearly 38 million tons of cargo were shipped last year along the route stretching from the lower St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes, with record shipments of grain offsetting a decline in liquid bulk, dry bulk and iron ore, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. said. View the full story by Canadian Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-st-lawrence-shipping-grain
Members of the Kawartha Nishnawbe are holding their ground at Lock 28 in Burleigh Falls, ON, located about 200 km northeast of Toronto. Six days ago they put a halt to repair work at a dam, owned by Parks Canada, because there was no consultation. Read the full story by APTN News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-indigenous-dam-protest-ontario
Wildlife researchers and scientists use aquatic birds as environmental change indicators in freshwater and marine environments. For about 50 years, herring gulls have been used to get a better idea of how the Great Lakes are changing through time, and have found in that time period a decline in volume and density. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-ecological-monitoring-gull
The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority based in Exeter, ON will be joining a group that includes the University of Michigan, the National Atmospheric Oceanic Administration, and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to study water quality in the lower Great Lakes starting this summer. Read the full story by BlackburnNews.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-sediment-water-quality
Canadian and U.S. officials are at odds over the fate of a pipeline underneath the Great Lakes, exacerbating disagreements over energy policy between the two nations as the Biden administration prepares to take office. Read the full story by The Wall Street Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-line-5-energy
The Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, OH went virtual this year for its Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, putting the spotlight on diversity in the science, engineering, technology and mathematics fields. Read the full story by Spectrum News Ohio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210119-mlk-day-ohio
Water in a fluid state does not take a fixed shape. Water in a fluid state can, however, shape what is around it. A case in point is the academic path and eventual career trajectory of Celeste Gunderson.
Celeste Gunderson, submitted photo.
In 2008 when she was an elementary-school student, Gunderson’s family home near the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan suffered damage during a large rainstorm that overwhelmed the city’s stormwater management system. She recalled the day: “My sisters and I put on our rain boots and raincoats to observe large, raging streams of stormwater flow past our house in the direction of the Milwaukee River. Instead of drawing the water down in, we watched as the sewers in our neighborhood bubbled up with sewage and contributed to the mess.”
The immediate aftermath was scattered, mucky debris and a buckled neighborhood bike path. Not long after the event, the toll the storm took on the house became evident—extensive cracks in the walls and ceiling were appearing because the structure was sinking. The floodwater had eroded the foundational fill.
That was a defining time for Gunderson and, years later, as she considered where to attend college and what studies to pursue, the flooding driven by a changing climate came to mind—providing a shape to her intentions. She enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a double major in geography and environmental studies.
Gunderson is now in her junior year and is the recipient of the 2020 Carl J. Weston Scholarship from Wisconsin Sea Grant.
“I am really enjoying my experience with Wisconsin Sea Grant. I’ve been progressing through a lot of opportunities,” Gunderson said. “It’s been amazing to be a part of a community that I didn’t even realize existed before this. The scholarship was a great thing on top of all of that.”
Her mentor, Sea Grant’s Associate Director for Extension David Hart, called out Gunderson’s “outstanding scholarship and work ethic.” He directed her projects when she was an Undergraduate Research Scholar and as a Sea Grant Community Engaged Intern last summer. Now, Hart is overseeing her efforts to complete resilience story maps as part of a Southeast Wisconsin Coastal Resilience project, refining the previous internship project that used the GeoPlanner tool to look at the components and costs of a theoretical green infrastructure project in Madison and enhancements to the green infrastructure section of the Sea Grant website.
Like that fluid water, Gunderson’s future following her 2022 graduation is not fully defined but she is confident it will include a continued dedication to climate change and Great Lakes issues through graduate studies. After that, she said, “I’m not sure at this point. However, working through these internships and now the student hourly position has let me see jobs that everyone else has. That’s been really helpful, to see the different career paths.”
The post Water Shapes Weston Scholarship Winner’s Choices first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/water-shapes-weston-scholarship-winners-choices/
Along the shores of Lake Erie live a wide range of people whose lives might seem very familiar to or wildly distinctive from your own.
In the documentary photo series North of Long Tail, photographer Colin Boyd Shafer tells the stories of more than 20 residents of Lake Erie’s north shore.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/01/lifeblood-photographer-lake-erie-shoreline-residents/
The second part of a 5-part series on trans-border U.S. and Canadian environmental research projects.
The post Herring gull eggs help monitor Great Lakes ecosystems first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/01/19/herring-gull-eggs-help-monitor-great-lakes-ecosystems/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
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/2021/01/qa-how-to-protect-against-lead-as-michigan-waits-for-new-water-pipes/
Environmental challenges in the Great Lakes region pay no mind to international borders, making binational research critical to investigating and tackling those challenges. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-binational-research
At a lock and dam site in the suburbs of Chicago, there’s a plan to build a set of traps to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes that would involve a barrier of bubbles, an electric field, underwater speakers, and a price tag of over $800 million dollars. Read the full story by WIAA – Interlochen, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-invasive-carp
The Port of Duluth-Superior reported a record-setting year when it comes to wind turbine cargo. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-wind-cargo
A new Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative Regional Dredging project has begun at Little Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario to help build resiliency in waterside communities in New York. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Albany, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-dredging
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued its first fish consumption advisory related to PFAS in Lake Superior fish, recommending people not consume more than one meal of smelt per month. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-limit-smelt
A wolf and moose study on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, one of the world’s longest-running wildlife field studies that began in 1959, has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic and no winter observations will be allowed to take place. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-isle-royale-study
A federal judge has penalized a Western Pennsylvania copper-processing company with a $550,000 fine for its years-long criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, including illegal discharging of oil into the Ohio River. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-illegal-discharge
Minnesota lawmakers are ramping up efforts to prevent mining companies from gaining a foothold in Minnesota with legislation that aims to slow or ban copper-nickel mining on the Iron Range. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-anti-copper-mining
Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts that Lakes Michigan-Huron will stay below record water levels but will remain well above average for the next six months and could approach record levels in early 2021 if wet conditions prevail. Higher lake levels are thought to be a direct result of climate change. Read the full story by Elliot Lake Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210118-climate-change-high-water
