Echo

International Joint Commission examines Great Lakes water quality

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A binational group of Great Lakes scientists and policy experts advising the U.S. and Canadian governments about the Great Lakes met in Windsor in early October. This special report encompasses some of the issues they discussed

Oct. 8, 2009
The U.S. Coast Guard considers new rules to regulate ballast to slow the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes. Oct. 7, 2009
Global warming could spur algae growth in Lake Superior.

Echo

Water Wars: Advocating for ‘public trust’

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(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling “The Water Wars.” Traverse City environmental attorney Jim Olson, west Michigan citizens groups and various organizations are in the thick of it, working to plug holes they see in laws and agreements designed to protect the lakes from water withdrawals, sale, privatization and export outside the basin. More

Echo

What should be the International Joint Commission’s top priority?

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Vote

The U.S./Canadian International Joint Commission meets Wednesday and Thursday in Windsor to discuss advice on Great Lakes environmental issues that it will give to those governments. That happens only once every two years. Six reports are on the commission’s agenda. Details are here. Which of these issues should be the top priority for Great Lakes policymakers and scientists?

Water

Study projects steep Great Lakes water level drop if greenhouse gases remain unchecked

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By Haley Walker
Walkerh4@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 30, 2009

Great Lakes water levels could drop by up to two feet by the turn of the century as temperatures rise, according to a recent series of reports released by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The water decline is a response to global climate change, according to the report by the group of scientists and citizens that advocates for science-based solutions to environmental problems. Warming temperatures reduce ice cover and increase evaporation. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are projected to have the greatest changes. “Less winter ice and warmer temperatures in the summer could mean a decrease of one to two feet in Great Lake levels by the end of the century,” said Melanie Fitzpatrick a climate scientist with the organization.

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Lake Superior islands purchased for protection

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(WI) Duluth News Tribune – An eight-island archipelago on Lake Superior will be protected from development and mining and preserved for wildlife and rare plants under a $7 million international conservation deal to be unveiled today. The Wilson Islands, just off Rossport in Ontario waters near Nipigon Bay, have been purchased from private owners and will become a Canadian federal natural area under the joint deal backed by the Nature Conservancy, government of Canada and government of Ontario. More

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Senate passes $400M Great Lakes bill

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(MI) The Detroit News – The Senate easily passed legislation tonight containing $400 million for Great Lakes restoration by deterring invasive species, cleaning up highly polluted sites and expanding wetlands. The funding level for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative falls short of the $475 million passed by the House in June and supported by President Barack Obama. Michigan Sens. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, voted for the full bill. More

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UM begins mapping to forecast future of Great Lakes

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(MI) WWJ –  A University of Michigan-led research team is creating a comprehensive analysis and mapping of threats to the Great Lakes that will guide decision-making in the United States and Canada for years to come. The mapping and analysis project will produce the first regional synthesis of human impacts on the Great Lakes, thereby helping regional planners and conservation groups to prioritize their activities. The Erb Family Foundation is funding the $500,000, two-year project. More

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Unmanned research sub launched in Lake Superior

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – An unmanned research submarine — painted yellow — was launched in Lake Superior this week. The vessel is on a two-week test drive that scientists hope will prove the feasibility of using a submarine to monitor the lake more cheaply and reliably than is possible with manned boats. “It fills a sampling niche by swimming the lake without us having to be out there,” said Jay Austin, a physicist at the University of Minnesota Duluth who is overseeing the sub’s operation. “Being on a boat for two weeks would be terribly expensive.” More

Echo

Report on St. Clair River erosion delayed

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(MI) The Associated Press – A team studying upper Great Lakes levels has postponed a report on whether they have lost excessive amounts of water through an enlarged river channel so the group can have more time for research, officials said Wednesday. The International Upper Great Lakes Study said the document would be released Dec. 1, instead of Oct. 1 as previously scheduled. The delay will give the group more time to evaluate its research and await peer reviews of a preliminary report issued in May, spokesman John Nevin said.

Water

Algae warning system tried out in Lake Erie

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – Staying one step ahead of algae. That’s the goal of a $269,500 initiative the federal government launched this summer for Lake Erie’s western basin, the warmest and shallowest part of the Great Lakes.  

Stretching approximately from Monroe to Sandusky, Lake Erie’s western basin also is the area hit hardest by farm and street runoff. More