Ontario may seem to be a water secure region, but new research out of the University of Waterloo challenges the myth of water abundance in the Great Lakes watershed. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
Steel production dipped by 5,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-steel
During September the Alliance for the Great Lakes is encouraging Great Lakes residents to go to the beach and help clean up the shoreline. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-shoreline-cleanup
New research from Bowling Green State University shows that some migratory birds use the islands in Lake Erie during potentially dangerous crossings of the Lake, a key finding for possible placement of wind turbines. Read the full story by The Fremont News-Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-bird-migration
A company seeking to restart a southwestern Michigan nuclear power plant said Tuesday it has taken a major step forward with the signing of a power purchase agreement. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-nuclear-power
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin to talk about the quality of the environment. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-aoc-conference
A new study analyzing toxins produced by Microcystis, the main type of cyanobacteria that compose the annual harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, suggests that the toxicity of the bloom may be overestimated in earlier warm months and underestimated later in the summer. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-algae
According to a news release, Lake Michigan ranks second on the list of most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-lake-michigan
Waterspouts were observed Wednesday morning in the southern portion of Lake Michigan, according to Special Marine Warnings issued by the National Weather Service Office in Milwaukee. Read the full story by WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, Mi.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-waterspouts
States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230915-biden-protection
Points North is a biweekly podcast hosted by Daniel Wanschura and Morgan Springer about the land, water and inhabitants of the Upper Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
In 1933, a high schooler fishing along the Huron River in Ann Arbor, Michigan looked into the water and saw something weird.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/points-north-we-got-jellyfish/
Upper Midwest Water Science Center employees attended the Great Lakes Area of Concern Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin September 13-14, 2023.
Hayley Olds, Grace Armstrong, Sarah Janssen, Leon Katona, Lisa Fogarty, Jeannette Cruz, Kayla Lockmiller, Tori Byers, Alexei Rose, and Isaac Mevis attended.
Kayla Lockmiller and Tori Byers presented a poster.
Sarah Janssen gave a talk.
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/upper-midwest-water-science-center/news/upper-midwest-water-science-center-employees?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Great Lakes Echo
What’s on the menu today?
If you’re an eastern massasauga rattlesnake in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the main course on your menu is likely to be small mammals like meadow voles and masked shrews, with an occasional side order of bird and snake.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/what-do-michigan-rattlers-chow-down/
More than 300 scientists, conservationists, and other stakeholders are gathering in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to discuss the 43 Areas of Concern around the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-improvement-mission
More than 50 turtle hatchlings were released into wetland habitats in Michigan after being removed as eggs along the path of the Mid-Michigan Pipeline Project. Watch the full story by Local 4 News – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-turtle-release
The Great Lakes are facing an era of challenges and opportunities that will require new stewardship principles, and leaders who are able to work across disciplines including science, policy, economics and social science. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-future-challenges
The deep blue waters, the rocky cliffs of the North Shore, the wondrous foliage, it’s all there and ready for its closeup as Lake Superior is named one of the top 10 most picturesque landscapes in America. Read the full story by WCCO-TV – Twin Cities, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-instagrammable-superior
Since 1953, the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline has been transporting oil and natural gas through Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada. The Line 5 pipeline crosses under the Straits of Mackinac, which has led to controversy surrounding Indigenous rights and environmental concerns, as well as a slew of legal battles working to shut down the pipeline. Read the full story by The Michigan Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-line5-pipline
Indigenous tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have asked federal officials to deny a utility’s request for a loan to help build a natural gas-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Superior, calling the project unthinkable in the face of climate change. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-gas-plant
The town of Essex, Ontario, admitted it doesn’t have the resources to deal with back-to-back storms and severe flooding, leading to the town’s first-ever discharge of a sewage treatment plant into Lake Erie. Read the full story by CTV News Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-sewage-release
A strong, regional economy helped fuel a “remarkable” 47% increase in the economic impact of the Port of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in a five-year span. Read the full story by Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230913-economic-impact
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/2023/09/state-michigan-sues-gerald-r-ford-airport-authority-pfas-pollution/
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:
Illinois
Farmer Claiming PFAS Pollution From Mine Sent to Arbitration — Bloomberg Law News
An Illinois appellate court on Friday ordered a dispute between a farmer and a mining company over alleged water pollution from firefighting foam used to extinguish a fire at a mining operation be settled in arbitration, reversing a lower court decision.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/pfas-news-roundup-impact-pfas-farming-proposed-cuts-epa/
For seven years, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has partnered with Oshkosh North High School Communities for their 9/11 Day of Service event. This is an event where students take on a variety of hands-on projects to make a difference in their community. NBC-26 news coverage interviewed one of the high school teachers that participated and led student volunteers, Brad Weber. “Although he says it pales in comparison with what they faced that day, Weber says he thinks giving back through service is a good way to honor those who risked their lives on 9/11 and helps bring something good, out of a great tragedy.” (Seth Humeniuk, NBC-26)
(Photo credit: NBC-26)
For this year’s event, Fox-Wolf’s Trash Free Waters and shoreline restoration programs each hosted student groups for watershed projects. Fox-Wolf’s Katie Reed had students fully engaged in Menominee Park’s largest shoreline restoration projects, having students trim plants, remove invasive species, and collect seeds from native flowers. Additionally, students learned about the benefits of shoreline restoration projects including erosion prevention, water infiltration, and ideal pollinator habitat.
At the same time, students were nearby cleaning up trash and debris from Miller’s Bay–on Lake Winnebago’s west shore. Fox-Wolf’s Kelly
Reyer paddled alongside Oshkosh North High School students and staff cleaning up a total of 23 pounds of trash. Included in this total was one large cooking pot, a slimy yellow bucket, a fishing pole, and lots of plastic bags and wrappers.
All of us at Fox-Wolf appreciate the continued partnership with the Oshkosh North High School Communities team, and the hard work of all the dedicated students. To learn more about ONHS Communities, visit www.communitiesonhs.org
For more information, please contact:
Kelly Reyer
Trash Free Waters Program Coordinator
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
kelly@fwwa.org
920-915-1502
Support Trash Free Waters
Join the Trash Free Waters Email List
The post Oshkosh Students Tackle Watershed Projects for 9/11 Day of Service appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
https://fwwa.org/2023/09/12/onhs-students-improve-water-quality/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=onhs-students-improve-water-quality
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/uss-jeannette-peril-journey
The Great Lakes are facing an era of challenges and opportunities that will require new stewardship principles, and leaders who are able to work across disciplines including science, policy, economics and social science.
That is the message from an ad hoc collaborative of University of Michigan researchers in a recent paper titled Leadership for the next generation of Great Lakes stewardship.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/09/researchers-current-great-lakes-stewardship-ill-equipped-handle-future-challenges/
Water levels in the Great Lakes can vary dramatically, meaning communities building close to shore can face increased flooding and erosion in the wake of climate change. Read the full story Yale Climate Connections.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-lake-levels
The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin is on the verge of delivering Lake Michigan water to residents who have been drinking water from radium-tainted wells for years. In a test of the Great Lakes Compact, the city will have to remain in treatment and conservation compliance. Read the full story by WUWM- Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-waukesha-drinking
A new course at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, is offering students an opportunity to immerse themselves in Lake Ontario, both figuratively as they explore its history and modern conservation issues, and literally with an optional swim in the lake on the first day of class. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-lake-ontario-course
A program to monitor coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes is helping support efforts to clean up one of the most polluted hotspots and an area of concern near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Wausau Pilot & Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-wetland-monitoring
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently announced that the Western Lake Superior watershed has entered the drought warning response phase in order to protect Lake Superior as the source of the area’s drinking water. Read the full story by Northern News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-duluth-drought
Young sturgeon which had been collected and reared at a facility for months were released during the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Natural Resources Department’s sturgeon release event in Manistee, Michigan. This is part of an effort to help the lake sturgeon stave off extinction. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-sturgeon-release
In Pennsylvania’s Thompson’s Bay, along the shoreline of Lake Erie in Presque Isle State Park, a team of researchers has spent four summers surveying invasive mystery snails. Read the full story by WESA- Pittsburgh, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-invasive-snails
A Michigan man had intended to complete his “Silver Sequel” swim across Lake Michigan this summer to mark 25 years since his first swim across the Great Lake, but twice lake conditions were a bit too brutal. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-marathon-swimmer
As the weather cools down, Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff are removing swim buoys, beach warning flags, and other visual markers that denote designated swim beaches at state parks along the Great Lakes, meaning swimming is not recommended there. Read the full story by the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-swim-designation
Paul Smith’s College announced it has received a $160,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bay Watershed Education and Training to increase student climate literacy and support place-based solutions to climate and water issues in the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes regions of New York state and its connection to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Sun Community News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230911-education-grant
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202308
Steel production rose by 6,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-steel-production
State officials say recent testing has discovered silver carp eDNA in Michigan’s St. Joseph River. Though it is likely the eDNA found in the sample was transported to the river from an out-of-state boat rather than a live fish, staff will search the area. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-silver-carp
Great Lakes drownings are down from last year. The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project said several factors could be contributing to the drop including the number of people going to the beach with cooler weather to start the season. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-lake-drownings-down
For a century Joliet, Illinois and its Will County neighbors mined their sandstone aquifer but now the water is running out. A group of six communities will soon receive Lake Michigan water from Chicago via pipeline. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-chicago-pipeline
Water levels on the Great Lakes rose sharply earlier this year due to a very wet spring, but they have remained unusually steady over the summer on Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron due to dry conditions. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-lake-levels
The third and final stage of the Randle Reef remediation project has started and is expected to finish by 2025. The $150-million project is cleaning up of the once-most contaminated site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-hamilton-harbour
Lake Erie anglers who rely on charter guides for fishing will soon have a richer experience out on the water thanks to a new certification program from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Sea Grant. The program, Erie PrOH, ensures fishing guides and crew members have detailed knowledge of fishery topics and can act as responsible stewards of the lake. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-erie-proh
Shipwreck hunters have discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew’s possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin’s coastline. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-schooner
State agencies in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa now are cleaning up the St. Louis River’s legacy contamination, restoring habitats for wild rice and recreation, and bringing back fish populations like lake sturgeon. Read the full story at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-sturgeon
The state of Michigan is offering free water quality tests to private well owners. About a million households rely on private wells in the state for drinking water. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230908-free-testing-for-wells
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/2023/09/government-watchdog-epa-slow-alarm-benton-harbor-water-crisis/
The Fox Locks pre-date the Civil War, so there is a large body of historical information on the system. We are lucky to have an amateur historian on staff, and these are excerpts from Scott Thompson’s greater research into the system.
A brief history of boats cruising the Fox
A boat built for combat was hauling logs from Canada on the lock system after WWII. According to an article in the Appleton Post Crescent from Sept 28, 1946, the PlusWood Company purchased such a craft. The LCT (Landing Craft -Tanks) was perhaps built for beach landings in Europe towards the end of WWII, but was never used in combat.
You can see the PlusWood working its way through the Kaukauna Locks in the photo below. We believe the view is downstream towards Lock #2 with a view of the lock tender house on the left side of the canal. Not many photos available of that house!
The history of the locks is intertwined with the boats that cruised the Fox River. In 1891, the tugboat christened as, “U.S. Lake Survey No. 1”, was soon renamed to honor Gouverneur Kemble Warren who was a civil engineer and Army general who fought at Gettysburg during the Civil War. The General G.K. Warren tug worked the lower Fox River and canals until 1920.
A few historical documents tell a story about the people working on these boats and what life on the river was like. A checklist of “Serviceable Engineer Property” was created when the General GK Warren tug was delivered to Kaukauna in 1892. The variety of items range from axes to blankets to sugar!
In 1904, Thomas Lee was classified as a “laborer” and this is his pay stub representing a day’s work on a canal boat working on the upper dam in Appleton. On additional forms his work description was, “Operation and care of canals and other Fox River Navigation” but look closely at his day rate of pay of $1.50.
Blog – Fox Locks
https://foxlocks.org/blog/history-shorts-working-on-the-river/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2023/09/07/former-noaa-glerl-scientist-recognized-for-career-achievements-in-reducing-great-lakes-aquatic-invasive-species-introductions/
