GLIN

Water temperatures are reaching prime bath-water feel at beaches along Lake Michigan, and the near-shore temps aren’t the only ones hitting some high notes. Read the full story by Mlive.com. View the full article

In the city’s water quality reports, microcystin has been labeled as non-detect for the last four years. In the recent report released in August, the report showed 0.131 parts per billion, but city leaders are confident that this isn’t something people should be worried about. Read the full story by WTOL11, Toledo. View the full article

At the request of the developer, discussion about a 200-plus home development featuring mixed use has been removed from the Muskegon City Planning Commission agenda for Thursday, Aug. 16. Read the full story by mlive.com View the full article

Tourism is a big part of the Great Lakes Bay Region economy. Congressman Dan Kildee met with area representatives to discuss the importance of state and federal governments working with local tourism leaders. Read the full story by WSGW News Radio. View the full article

News Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) announced that nearly $900,000 in grants has been awarded to seven local organizations to reduce the runoff of sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants into the Great Lakes. This runoff has economic and environmental impacts and contributes to the formation of harmful algal blooms and dead zones in the lakes. Grant recipients will use the funding to install long-term structural practices to limit sediment or nutrient runoff and implement programs to ensure nutrients are applied to agricultural land from the right source, in the right place, at the right rate and time (often referred to as the 4Rs of nutrient management). “Working with local partners to implement these conservation practices is critical to protecting water quality in the Great Lakes region,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the GLC and commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “This program enables communities to take specific, measured steps toward reducing the sediment and nutrient runoff affecting their local watersheds.” Funding for the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The GLRI is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)-led initiative designed to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world — the Great Lakes. Grants totaling $894,392 have been awarded to the following recipients: Allegan Conservation District, Michigan Blanchard River Watershed Partnership, Ohio Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District, New York Fulton Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio Village of Glencoe, Illinois LaGrange County Soil and Water Conservation District, Indiana Mequon Nature Preserve, Inc., Wisconsin More information about the projects is available here. Please visit www.keepingitontheland.net or email Nicole Zacharda at the GLC for more information on the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, is an interstate compact agency established under 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 region and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states. 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 located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org. Contact For questions or media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected]. Recent GLC News Great Lakes Commission awards nearly $900,000 under Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program The Advisor e-newsletter: July 2018 Great Lakes Commission, partners celebrate completion of Buffalo River habitat restoration projects Great Lakes Commission releases ErieStat to support Lake Erie phosphorus reduction efforts Upcoming GLC Events 2018 Great Lakes Commission Annual Meeting October 2 - October 3 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

The 500-member Lake Erie Foundation is the latest group trying to become co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit calling upon Senior U.S. District Judge James G. Carr to order the most comprehensive cleanup strategy for western Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade. View the full article

The water of Lake Superior along the rocky shoreline of northwestern Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands is normally cold, clear and pristine. But late last week, kayakers and other visitors to the popular lakeshore found a scummy algae on Superior’s surface. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio. View the full article

A professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia gave a 2018 State of the Great Lakes speech on Tuesday highlighting the issue of microplastics. Together, the United States and Canada discard 22 million pounds of plastic into Great Lakes waters. Read the full story by Cleveland Plain Dealer. View the full article

The increasingly popular Superior Hiking Trail spans over 310 miles from the Minnesota-Wisconsin border outside Jay Cooke State Park to the Canadian border, usually within a few miles of Lake Superior. Read the full story by The Lake County News Chronicle. View the full article

A northern Michigan diver has been able to get new video of shipwrecks located near the North and South Manitou Islands on Lake Michigan. Read the full story by UpNorthLive. View the full article

Increased water quality problems tied to global climate change are affecting the way people fish, boat, and swim on Lake Erie, according to a paper published last month. Read the full story by WSKG – Vestal, New York. View the full article

There is a third U.S. coast, a “freshwater coast” along the more than 10,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline—more than one-third of which is Michigan– that is an increasingly important fulcrum for economic renewal in formerly industrial communities. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine. View the full article

Lethal control of double-crested cormorants to protect wild fish was authorized by the U.S. government for many years and reduced cormorants in the region by about two-thirds. Michigan anglers and congressmen are now renewing calls for lethal force to control cormorant populations. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio. View the full article

The $12.5 million National Museum of the Great Lakes is about more than just shipwrecks. The museum was established four years ago on the banks of the Maumee River just across from downtown Toledo in Ohio. Read the full story by USA Today. View the full article

Deb DeLuca was officially appointed to the position, starting this Thursday, Aug 16th. She’s not new to the Port Authority; DeLuca previously held the title of Government and Environmental Affairs Director since 2014. Read and view the full story by Fox 21 News-Duluth. View the full article

When a massive, flash-flood rainfall hit Toronto last week, bacteria levels “were off the charts” along that city’s waterfront as the heavy rainfall overwhelmed the city’s sewer system and overflowed into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by the North Bay Nugget. View the full article

Presque Isle State Park officials issued a swimming advisory due to elevated E. coli levels and posted that a swimming restriction on Beach 11 remains in effect until further notice. Read the full story by Go Erie. View the full article

The waves of Lake Erie are consuming Sturgeon Point Marina boulder by boulder. Without as much as $2 million in repair work, experts say the 31-year-old town-owned marina in Evans, NY could be unnavigable within two years. Read the full story by The Buffalo News. View the full article

Top-level federal officials will gather in northern Michigan next week to testify how prepared they are for a Line 5 oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

A public-private partnership that supports wildlife habitat restoration in the Great Lakes region has awarded $6.6 million to 25 projects. Read the full story by the Associated Press. View the full article

Muskegon men attempt cross-lake adventure on paddleboards to support the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership’s green stormwater Infrastructure project. Read the full story by WZZM-TV-Grand Rapids, MI. View the full article

An independent risk analysis says a Line 5 spill could cost $2 billion to clean up. Monday night, researchers behind that study presented their findings to the public and answered their questions at a public feedback session in Harbor Springs, MI. Read the full story by WWTV-TV-Cadillac, MI. View the full article

At the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission’s last meeting in July, members voted to establish a task force on how to best execute the order to require farmers to keep plans on how fields are fertilized. Read the full story by the Columbus Dispatch. View the full article

The U.S. Coast Guard is warning boaters and people using paddle craft on the Cuyahoga River to stay out of the way of large cargo ships. As more people explore the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie, the Coast Guard said there has been an increase in smaller vessels getting in the way of freighters. Read and view the full story by WJW-TV-Cleveland, OH. View the full article

Wildfires in the Western U.S. and Canada are sending up thick clouds of smoke that are wafting across the Great Lakes region which is causing vivid sunsets across the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article