Water

New book explores efforts to restore West Michigan’s ‘water of the walleye’

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By Isabella Figueroa

Hundreds of years ago, the Ottawa people called it Ken-O-Sha, or “water of the walleye”—a 26-mile tributary of Michigan’s Grand River where the fish were abundant. Today it is known as Plaster Creek, a name that refers to the gypsum mines that polluted the waterway near Grand Rapids beginning in the mid-19th century and drove away the walleye. A new book by two Calvin University professors explores an ongoing effort to restore Plaster Creek to a healthy stream worthy of its original name. A creek that “was known for the living creatures in the water got changed to a resource that was used to promote great wealth for certain people, not all people,” said co-author Gail Heffner, emerita professor of urban studies. “So our hope would be to be able to rename the creek someday.”

Four years in the making, “Reconciliation in a Michigan Watershed: Restoring Ken-O-Sha” highlights the Plaster Creek Stewards, an initiative launched in 2009 by the book’s authors and led by Calvin faculty, staff and students to improve the watershed with help from local schools, churches and other partners.

Water

NOAA to study Great Lakes climate change with underwater robots

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By Georgia Hill

As climate change increasingly shapes the Great Lakes region’s ecology and economy, scientists plan to use underwater robots to gather previously inaccessible data they say will help communities adapt. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in September that its Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory received $1.9 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s one of three NOAA labs that received $6.7 million in total for ocean and Great Lakes observing systems, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which includes the agency. In a press release, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the funding “will help NOAA improve and expand climate and weather services so that communities are better prepared to tackle the impacts of climate change.”

A portion of the funding will allow GLERL and partners to deploy autonomous underwater vessels to monitor more of the Great Lakes ecosystem during a greater portion of the year than earlier technology allowed. The funding will also augment long-term tracking of water temperatures by increasing the number of moored heat sensors in the lakes.

E. Coli
Water

E. coli outbreaks can hurt real estate values, study finds

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By Eric Freedman

Capital News Service

Outbreaks of the waterborne bacteria E. coli can lower local real estate values, at least temporarily, a new study says. Those outbreaks, which have become increasingly common, are a growing concern in coastal and inland communities, particularly in rural counties, according to the study by researchers from Saginaw Valley State University, Cornell University and the University of Rhode Island. “In Michigan, the presence of E. coli has become problematic for many areas where agricultural run-off and ineffective policies have made these outbreaks endemic,” the study said. As for the negative economic impact on homes within one mile of an outbreak, the study found that “proximity to E. coli outbreaks leads to an 8.9% price drop for houses sold during the outbreaks, which is over $13,000 for the average home.”

coli can cause serious illness and death, and is increasingly common due to climate change, especially in the Great Lakes region, it said. Symptoms included diarrhea, fever and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearshore

New marine sanctuary spotlights a ‘submerged museum’ on Lake Ontario 

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By Anna Barnes

After seven years of planning, a new marine sanctuary now protects a portion of Lake Ontario rich with history and shipwrecks. The community-driven designation aims to benefit the area through preservation, economic development and conservation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designates marine sanctuaries to preserve sites with national significance, such as important archeology, culture or marine life. The new sanctuary, established in June, covers a large swath of eastern Lake Ontario bordering New York’s Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga and Wayne counties, according to NOAA. NOAA selected the area for its historic, cultural and archaeological significance, referring to it as the gateway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

Water

How a famous Great Lakes shipwreck became trendy on TikTok

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By Clara Lincolnhol

As the gales of November approach, social media users are channeling a famous Great Lakes shipwreck as tongue-in-cheek inspiration for a new fall aesthetic. It began with a video comedian Django Gold posted to TikTok in September. “Brat Summer is over. It’s time for Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Fall,” Gold says in the short video, which has nearly 23,000 likes. Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” plays in the background.

Water

Study reveals the Great Lakes’ top 10 most harmful invasive species

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By Shealyn Paulis

Researchers have revealed the Great Lakes’ 10 worst aquatic invasive species, spotlighting the plants and animals that pose the greatest threat to the region’s delicate ecosystems, fisheries and recreational waters. The recent study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, is the first to compare all 188 nonnative species in the lakes with the same methods and pinpoint which are causing the most harm to the region, its authors said. At the top of the list is the zebra mussel. These small but mighty mollusks are believed to have made their way into the Great Lakes in the 1980’s through ballast water in ships from Europe. They can now be found in all five Great Lakes.

Water

Great Lakes recreational fishing is worth more than anglers spend, study finds

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By Clara Lincolnhol

After a day out on the water, the total amount of money spent on fishing gear, transportation and food doesn’t truly reflect the worth of a fishing trip to Great Lakes anglers. Some people are willing to pay $100 more for a fishing trip than what it costs, according to a recent Appalachian State University study funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. “This study raises awareness of the importance of managing the Great Lakes fishery,” said Rob Southwick, co-author of the study and president of Southwick Associates, an economics and market research company that specializes in outdoor recreation. The study is the first of its kind to find the surplus value — the measure of what a person is willing to pay for a good or service beyond its market cost — of recreational fishing trips in the Great Lakes region, Southwick said. The researchers asked more than 8,000 licensed anglers questions about their spending on fishing.

Water

NOAA taps invasive mussels to track Great Lakes pollution

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By Daniel Schoenherr

Zebra and quagga mussels have threatened Great Lakes ecosystems since they arrived in the 1980s. Now the invasive species are acting as unlikely allies in identifying pollution hotspots. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mussel Watch program is collecting the mollusks at sites across the Great Lakes to measure the concentration of harmful pollutants in their tissue. A report with the results, expected this fall, will serve as an indicator to communities that they may be in need of cleanup, said one of the program’s leaders. Mussel Watch started along the Atlantic coast in 1986 and is the “longest running continuous contaminant-monitoring program of its kind in the United States,” according to NOAA.

Mussels native to Michigan’s fresh water. Image: Daelyn Woolnough
Water

Harnessing mussels to filter fresh water: A biological cure for contaminants is being studied

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By Amalia Medina

Water tanks line a room in Philadelphia’s Water Works on the bank of the Schuylkill River. Inside are small fish that are hosts to tiny organisms that researchers say can help solve polluted waterways. Tucked under the fish gills are microscopic mussels that will mature and become capable of filtering 10 to 15 gallons of water per day. Those data points make Lance Butler, who leads the research, hopeful. In essence, mussels are “our canaries in the coal mine for our water,” he said.

Water

From pet to ‘monster.’ The battle to rid Michigan’s Glen Lake of giant koi

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By Gabrielle Nelson

Robert Karner and the Glen Lake Association are on a mission to preserve the crystal-clear waters of Glen Lake next to Sleeping Bear Dunes and protect its ecosystem from invasive species. That includes Eurasian watermilfoil and one that’s gaining attention, Japanese koi. In May, bowfishers partnered with the association, a preservation and protection organization for the 46 square miles of the Glen Lake/Crystal River watershed, caught and removed four invasive koi from Little Glen Lake on the Leelanau Peninsula. “Not all invasive species are actionable,” or able to be removed, once they are introduced to a lake or river, said Karner, a biologist at the Glen Lake Association. “But a big fish like Japanese koi, at least that’s something we think is manageable.”

The removal is part of a three-year effort to remove invasive koi from the lake to protect native plants and animals.