Nearshore

New Ohio water coalition to poll public

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 A coalition of Ohio farm, industry, government and environmental groups is rolling out a poll next week to assess which water issues are most important to the public. The new group is called Healthy Water Ohio or HwO. Its mission is to improve water supply, quality and treatment. The group’s steering committee will use the poll and focus groups to plan how to resolve Ohio water problems within the next 20-30 years, said John Stark, freshwater director for The Nature Conservancy. Because the eight counties along Lake Erie generates $38 billion in tourism for Ohio each year, HwO is concerned about water shortages, said Larry Fletcher,the executive director of Lake Erie Shores & Islands, a travel agency that belongs to the coalition.

Water

Mr. Great Lakes: Climate action and Great Lakes debris

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Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM. Climate Action For Michigan, A Response To Great Lakes Debris Mr Great Lakes by Great Lakes Echo

This week, Kart discusses the Climate Action Plan and debris in the Great Lakes. Text at Mr. Great Lakes

Water

Fish derby sees dramatic DDT drop after cleanup

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Anglers in a recent fishing derby on Michigan’s Pine River got news far better than pulling in the largest fish. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that the fish they sought are much cleaner of DDT than when the competition began 15 years ago. The concentration of the now banned pesticide in fish near the site of the Velsicol chemical manufacturing plant dropped by as much as 98 percent after a multi-million dollar cleanup of polluted river sediment from 2000 to 2006, the EPA said. Tempering the good news is that the fish were so contaminated then that even after the dramatic drop the Michigan Department of Community Health still advises not to eat fish downriver of the site. The contest is strictly catch and release.

Water

Photo Friday: Kitch-iti-kipi spring

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Lake, brown and brook trout are found in the 45 degree Kitch-iti-kipi spring at Palms Book State Park in Manistique, Mich. The water moves through porous sandstone and is discharged into a pond at 10,000 gallons a minute. Visitors can watch the roiling of the clean sands some 40 feet below from a viewing raft. “It’s a fascinating ever-changing floor,” said Peggy Riemer, who captured these images last October. She recently posted similar images and information on NASA’s Earth Science Picture of the Day.