Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/category/water/page/4/)
Includes water quality, quantity and use.
Like clockwork, Michigan’s Ford Lake and its downstream neighbor, Belleville Lake, turn bright green every summer due to harmful algal blooms.
The lakes, located near Ypsilanti in the southeast part of the state, have struggled for decades with phosphorus pollution that spurs algae growth.
Fifty-five years after the Cuyahoga River last caught fire, its health continues to improve.
But determining what prevention and cleanup practices are most effective remains difficult.
The Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin supply freshwater and drain wastewater for millions of people.
Two of the largest watersheds in the U.S., they span state and political boundaries.
A worrisome environmental issue is bubbling up from deep below Michigan’s ground with little public awareness, experts say.
The salinity of the state’s groundwater is on the rise, raising concerns about killed crops and corroded pipes.
Global warming is fueling the spread of a jellyfish in the Great Lakes region and may foster harmful algae blooms and dead zones.
The peach blossom jellyfish is native to warm freshwater in Southeast China, but it is present everywhere around the world except for Antarctica.
Every fish studied recently in two southeast Michigan watersheds contained at least one of a family of toxic and persistent health-threatening chemicals.
The chemicals – collectively known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS – are found in some rivers, lakes, soils, drinking water, fish, cattle and crops.
Sitting at 26 miles long and 24 miles wide with nearly one-third of the sport fishing catch annually in the Great Lakes region, Lake St. Clair should be a household name.
Author Daniel Harrison would tell you it’s his hidden jewel.
Being a state with direct access to a lot of freshwater creates opportunities for housing, jobs and tourism.
However, the quality of Michigan’s water is threatened due to poorly maintained septic tanks, according to environmental advocates pushing for legislation to require periodic inspections of septic systems statewide.
It takes two to three hours for Kevin Villalta to filter and distill a gallon of tap water, and he says the process is as expensive as it is time-consuming.
But it’s worth it, said the Lansing environmental engineer, who works for the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
Lake Erie is the first of the Great Lakes getting connected to the internet with a series of offshore “smart” buoys.
And it’s not just for sending texts on the water.