By Eric Freedman
Scientists now have evidence that yet another invasive aquatic species — the bloody red shrimp — is established in all five Great Lakes.
Waste
Trash on ice sparks movement to keep waterways clean
|
By Lily Cole
No matter the season, organizations across the Great Lakes region are fighting to keep waterways garbage-free.
Solutions
Water is Life, Six Nations lead international approach to long-standing water insecurity
|
By Mia Litzenberg
The Six Nations of the Grand River face ongoing water insecurity from pollution, climate change and corporate extraction. Many years of Indigenous water advocacy have led to the development of a new Haudenosaunee Environmental Research Institute as the next step to overcome these challenges.
Water
Research centers in the Great Lakes region change the scope of global freshwater ecology
|
A new study examines the uniqueness of work that research centers conduct in the Great Lakes region, highlighting their importance amid dramatic changes in federal funding.
Water
Michigan’s water infrastructure sees improvements, work still needs to be done
|
By Clara Lincolnhol
The U.S. would need to invest nearly $3.4 trillion over the next 20 years to fix and update drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, says researchers from The Value of Water Campaign. Much of that infrastructure was built 40 to 50 years ago and shows its age. Michigan’s is no exception. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state a D+ for its drinking water infrastructure, a D in storm water management and a C for its wastewater infrastructure. Funding is a major problem. Proposed data centers would put more stress on the infrastructure.
Water
Michigan soliciting fisheries habitat projects
|
By Finn Mills
Pre-proposal submissions for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ yearly fisheries habitat grants are now being accepted. Each year, the DNR allocates $1.5 million in fisheries habitat grants to governments and nonprofit organizations around the state.
Solutions
Detroit River-based program aims to foster stewardship through community connection
|
By Anna Barnes
The Detroit River serves as an important geographic feature, connecting lakes St. Clair and Erie and creating a natural border between the U.S. and Canada. Despite its physical prominence in Detroit, its rich cultural significance is lost among many community residents. Programs are underway to address that disconnect.
Water
Trump’s budget would devastate sea lamprey control in Great Lakes
|
By Maya Moore
If Congress approves President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the operations and science budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, the scale and intensity of Great Lakes environmental restoration will be significantly diminished, experts say. Among the programs that could be dismantled entirely is the 70-year-old program to control sea lampreys, an exotic parasitic fish that attacks game fish and has caused billions of dollars in damage to Great Lakes fisheries.
Water
Century-old shipwreck discovered in Lake Michigan by a 25-year-old angler
|
By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira
It was another foggy day of fishing on the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. As 25-year-old Christopher Thuss was scanning the waters for bass, something unexpected appeared on his sonar: an unknown object beneath the surface. What he had discovered was no ordinary catch, but a 102-year-old shipwreck, the J.C. Ames.
Water
Michigan’s fight against Lake Erie pollution didn’t work. What happens next?
|
Since the 1990s, algae blooms have become increasingly common each summer in western Lake Erie. The blooms are caused by an overabundance of nutrients, namely phosphorus, that spills into the lake off farms. Credit: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Michigan and its neighbors have missed a 2025 deadline to curb the farm pollution that feeds toxic algal blooms in western Lake Erie, despite 10 years of work and millions of dollars spent on the effort.
Now, state officials are revamping their strategy. But they’re not setting a new deadline for now. “Seeing how we’re implementing these newer approaches is an important step before updating some of the timelines,” said Tim Boring, the director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
He added that any future deadline should be “realistic and achievable.”
The state’s strategy irks environmentalists who have long criticized Great Lakes governments for refusing to regulate farm pollution while instead leaning on voluntary programs that aren’t working. “These were commitments made by the state of Ohio, by the state of Michigan, by the United States.
Water
Great Lakes slightly colder than usual ahead of summer
|
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Now that Memorial Day is behind us, thoughts naturally turn to summer and the return of watersports on the Great Lakes, but Michiganders tempted to take a dip in those inviting waters now might be in for a chilly surprise. Slowed by a cold May, the Great Lakes are slightly cooler than usual for this time of year.