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Michigan’s Environmental Rules Review Committee last week endorsed drinking water standards designed to limit exposure to a group of household and industrial chemicals linked to a variety of health problems. Read the full story by The Associated Press. View the full article

Rising lake levels flooded much of the Toronto Islands and damaged parts of Toronto’s shoreline last year, following a similar deluge in 2017 that closed the islands for three months. Read the full story by Now Toronto. View the full article

It is estimated there are about 230,000 double-crested cormorants around the Great Lakes, each eating an estimated 1.3 to 1.6 pounds of fish per day and contributing to declining fish populations in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune. View the full article

News Regional organizations release shared 2020 priorities for the Great Lakes Ann Arbor, Mich. – In advance of this week’s annual Great Lakes Day in Washington, D.C., a broad coalition , including business, maritime, labor and environmental groups, regional agencies, state legislators, cities and tribes released a set of shared priorities for restoring the Great Lakes, supporting a thriving economy, and sustaining a healthy environment in the eight-state, two-province region. The coalition presents shared priorities for the Great Lakes Basin, which provides drinking water for more than 48 million people in the U.S. and Canada, hosts the world’s third largest regional economy at $6 trillion USD, and directly generates more than 1.5 million jobs. “Restoring and protecting the Great Lakes is an enduring, bipartisan priority for the nation and for Great Lakes Basin communities,” the statement reads. “Our organizations support these priorities to sustain progress, build resilience and maintain the Great Lakes as an environmental treasure, innovation hub and economic engine.” The agenda urges Congress and the Trump administration to appropriate at least $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; invest in drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure; strengthen Great Lakes ports and the maritime transportation system; support conservation programs to reduce nutrient pollution that causes harmful algal blooms; protect the Great Lakes Basin from Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species; and incorporate resilience into federal programs and policies. These 2020 Great Lakes priorities are endorsed by the Great Lakes Commission, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition, American Great Lakes Ports Association, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus and BlueGreen Alliance. The priorities are being released in advance of Great Lakes Day, an annual event that brings hundreds of people and organizations to Washington, D.C. to educate elected officials about the importance of the Great Lakes Basin. To learn more or register for the Great Lakes Day Congressional Breakfast on Thursday, March 5, contact Beth Wanamaker at the Great Lakes Commission at [email protected]. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Sharon M. Jackson, Deputy General Counsel for Governor Eric J. Holcomb of Indiana, is an interstate compact agency established under the Great Lakes Basin Compact of 1955. The Commission is authorized by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, industry and nonprofit leaders and agency officials from eight states and two provinces. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org. Contact For media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected]. Recent GLC News Regional organizations release shared 2020 priorities for the Great Lakes Great Lakes Commission releases 2020 Great Lakes federal priorities, reaffirms its leadership role in tackling issues of regional concern Request for Proposals: Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program Legal Assessment of the Great Lakes Compact and the Great Lakes Commission Upcoming GLC Events 2020 Great Lakes Day and Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast March 5 2020 Great Lakes Commission Semiannual Meeting May 19 - May 21 2020 Great Lakes Commission Annual Meeting September 15 - September 17 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

A U.S. District Judge invalidated the recent law passed by the City of Toledo granting Lake Erie legal rights. In his decision, the judge declared the law was unconstitutionally vague and exceeding the power of a municipal government in Ohio. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer. View the full article

Indiana lawmakers decided against proposing controversial changes to public access to Lake Michigan shorelines and instead opted to only create legislation allowing shoreline property owners to repair or replace damaged residential structures. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana. View the full article

The zebra mussel invasion into the Great Lakes ecosystem has changed virtually every aspect of the Great Lakes, including coating pipes, fouling boating equipment, reducing fish populations, and harming beaches. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now. View the full article

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released draft permits for the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline for public comment. The pipeline crosses into the Lake Superior watershed and was previously held up over concerns about potential impacts of an oil spill. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram. View the full article

The annual start of navigation through the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes is being delayed by high water velocities in the St. Lawrence River that are caused by attempts to alleviate high water levels on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

Enbridge Energy has begun operations to install a new pipeline under the St. Clair river between Marysville, Michigan, and Froomfield, Ontario. The construction has been met with less scrutiny than the Line 5 segment running under the Mackinaw Straits. Read the full story by The Voice News. View the full article

While the more famous Apostle Islands ice caves on Lake Superior are closed this year due to unsafe conditions, visitors can explore ice caves at the nearby Red Cliff Reservation. Read the full story by the Star Tribune. View the full article

Residents in Toledo, Ohio, voiced their opposition to a proposed wetland project along Lake Erie, claiming the plan will not achieve its desired outcomes for nutrient reductions and habitat creation. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade. View the full article

Emergency managers urged homeowners to take erosion-control actions to avoid property loss along Lake Michigan at a recent meeting in Holland, Michigan. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

Fisheries managers in Pennsylvania are working to increase the population and survivability of musky in the Lake Erie watershed. Read the full story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. View the full article

Large waves were seen over southern Lake Michigan after a mass of cold air pushed a north wind over the region. Waves will grow larger in Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario throughout the day and peak on their southeast shores with waves up to 10 feet, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. Lake Ontario could even get waves up to 20 feet near the center of the lake. Read the full story by CNN. View the full article

Frustrated with progress in their attempts to get the Detroit field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to treat Michigan ports the same as other Great Lakes and ocean ports, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and Rep. Tim Walberg have called on the federal Government Accounting Office to study inconsistencies in cargo screening standards. Read the full story by Crain’s Detroit Business. View the full article

Lake Huron is now the clearest Great Lake, dethroning Superior from the top spot while shedding new light on shipwrecks in Thunder Bay. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now. View the full article

Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren joined calls to shut down a controversial oil pipeline running across Michigan through the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

Officials in Allegan County, Michigan are pleading for help from Lansing because they say without funding it’s impossible to fix the erosion problems affecting the county. Read the full story by WWMT – TV – Kalamazoo, MI. View the full article

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to his concerns about declining staff levels at the regional office. Read the full story by The Herald News. View the full article

While there are federal limits on PFAS contaminants in drinking water, leaders in Michigan are trying to make those limits stricter. A committee with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will talk about doing just that. Read the full story by WOOD – TV – Grand Rapids, MI. View the full article

Recently the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration reported that this January was the warmest on record for the globe. This information is part of a growing body of evidence that climate change can be seen and felt. Read and listen to the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI. View the full article

Looking to resume a program that conserves water drawn from Lake Michigan, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is enlisting Chicagoans to help determine if a new type of meter can be installed without causing high concentrations of brain-damaging lead to flow out of household faucets. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune. View the full article

Green Bay, Wisconsin’s utility manager, Matthew Heckenlaible, said he can easily recall weather conditions last March as it led to massive flooding. That is why officials are monitoring Lake Michigan water levels and clearing water sewer inlets of snow and debris this week. Read the full story by WBAY -TV – Green Bay, WI. View the full article

The spent nuclear fuel is partly from 15 current or former U.S. nuclear power plants, including four in Michigan, that have generated it over the past 50 years or more. But most of the volume stored along the Great Lakes, more than 50,000 tons, comes from Canadian nuclear facilities, where nuclear power is far more prevalent. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press. View the full article