Echo

Pipeline for Genesee County appears to have little initial opposition

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(MI) The Flint Journal – The much-touted water pipeline from Genesee County to Lake Huron finally seems to be on its way, and there doesn’t appear to be environmental issues stopping it from being built.

Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman with the Michigan Environmental Council, said the pipeline “should be allowed.” “I can’t imagine a municipal water supply would have an adverse impact on a water resource as big as (Lake Huron),” McDiarmid said. Genesee County currently gets its water from Lake Huron via the Detroit water authority, so there would be zero or minimal difference in the amount of water drawn from the lake. More

Echo

Public meeting about Great Lakes levels

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(ON) SooToday.com – The International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS) has announced that, using web-conferencing technology, seven public meetings will be held on June 9 and 11 in communities around the Great Lakes Basin to solicit comments and answer questions on the draft report Impacts on Upper Great Lakes Water Levels: St. Clair River.For the past two years, more than 100 Canadian and U.S. scientists and engineers have worked together to address important questions, posed by the International Joint Commission, regarding the St. Clair River system that connects Lake Michigan-Huron to Lake Erie. More

Echo

Genesee County wants to tap into Lake Huron

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(MI) The Detroit News – A request from Genesee County to tap into Lake Huron for future water needs could provide a litmus test for the Great Lakes Compact and its protections for the region’s greatest natural resource. Officials with the Genesee County Drain Commission have filed a request for permission to withdraw 85 million gallons of water a day from Lake Huron. Factoring in the amount of water returned to the lake through runoff into local tributaries and via treatment plants, that’s a net withdrawal of roughly 8.5 million gallons each day. Genesee County purchases its water from the city of Flint and sells that water to other municipalities. Flint gets its supply from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

Echo

Great Lakes water experts want to hear from Bay City

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(MI) Bay City Times – Bay City will be part of an international meeting on Great Lakes water levels on June 11.  The public meeting is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. at the Delta College Planetarium and Learning Center, 100 Center Ave. in downtown Bay City. The International Upper Great Lakes Study meeting will be linked via a live video feed to other meetings in Traverse City; Superior, Wis.; and Midland, Ontario. More

Echo

Great Lakes research, laws are shifting focus

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – Though the Great Lakes have been the driving force behind many environmental laws since the early 1970s, they soon may undergo a moderate shift in how they’re researched and regulated for future generations.  Some scientists who attended last week’s International Association of Great Lakes Research conference at the University of Toledo said they’re eager to move on to a new suite of chemicals and a broader array of studies about how the lakes can affect human health, both physically and psychologically. More

Wildlife

Pheromones in river traps attract sea lampreys

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Scientists have found another promising weapon in the battle against sea lampreys, strong evidence that they may win the war against one of the Great Lakes’ most infamous invaders.

Researchers at Michigan State University have begun field tests on a chemical compound that tricks the lampreys and lures them into traps.