Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/echo/page/87/)
Is it a political risk for an administration to spend nearly $6 million during an election year on a near-shore issue that was practically non-existent that same summer?
Not when that issue is Great Lakes algae.
Terrifying events will conspire on the Chicago River this week, and it’s not just the launching of the latest search for Asian carp. Starting today, the company Living Social is taking customers on haunted kayaking tours. During the night, paddlers will make their way along the Chicago River, pausing to hear tales of “ghost, haunting, and other river — borne horrors,” according to the event brief. Living Social’s website warns, “there may be some actual scream-inducing moments along the way.”
While kayakers listen to frightening river tales, scientists will search for a potentially alarming truth. They’re looking for Asian carp, also starting today and continuing through Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
One proposal allows local laws to avoid detours connecting off-road vehicle routes
An interactive map shows users where different communities draw their drinking water. It works by zooming in on selected areas whereby clicking on a city shows descriptions of its water sources. For example, Lansing, Mich. draws much of its water from 124 wells tapping an underground aquifer. Fort Wayne, Ind.
The Bete Grise Preserve in Keweenaw County, Mich., will more than double by adding approximately 1,475 acres, according to the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition, an association of environmental groups. A $1.7 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the expansion possible, according to the coalition’s press release. “The grant protects one of the highest quality dune and wetland complexes in the upper Great Lakes…”
The preserve is spectacular, said Evan McDonald, executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust, a conservation non-profit and a partner on the project. “Places like Bete Grise, with these really healthy, extensive coastal wetland systems are really important ecologically,” McDonald said. “They’re a breeding and nursery ground for young fish, which attracts birds that feed on young fish.
A National Wildlife Federation study due out this week raises concerns over a proposal to pump more oil through a pipeline that crosses Great Lakes water near Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge.
The pipeline is owned by the same company that operates the pipeline that ruptured two years ago, polluting Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.
Ballast water has become a battleground for environmentalists and shippers throughout the Great Lakes.
A proposed bill could loosen Michigan’s rigorous treatment standards for ballast water to international requirements.
Have the Great Lakes seemed a little less chilly in the past few years? It’s probably because the Great Lakes, like 95 percent of the world’s lakes, are warming. According to National Geographic, researchers from all over are trying to understand the repercussions of increasing lake temperatures. The Global Lake Temperature Collaboration is a network of researchers, including Great Lakes scientists, collecting data about lakes worldwide. The groups first meeting this summer allowed participants to share, analyze and compile findings.
Federal wildlife refuges across Michigan are celebrating the outdoors during National Wildlife Refuge Week.
The National Wildlife Refuge System maintains about 150 million acres in 558 refuges across the country. There are three main ones in Michigan.
Enbridge needs to dredge accumulating oil from 100 acres of the river’s bottom, EPA says.
The work could take up to a year and cost tens of millions of dollars.