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A new book traces the history of Lake Superior and some of the indignities it’s suffered at the hands of humans. Read the full story by Michigan Radio. View the full article

In western New York, near the shore of Lake Erie, a brewery uses a byproduct of brewing to feed fishes in a land-based aquaculture system. Read the full story by WBFO – Buffalo, NY. View the full article

In recent decades, commercial traffic has waned on the Erie Canal, and while the recreational use and tourism have seen growth, running the canal system remains expensive. So much a part of New York’s past success, it can still be a vital part of that infrastructure but the challenge will be a vision for the future as bold as the one that shaped its past. Read the full story ve the Times Union. View the full article

In January, Ontario’s ministry of natural resources and the Michipicoten First Nation teamed up to capture nine caribous on Michipicoten and transfer them to the Slate Islands. But the Slate Islands are close to the mainland, within the reach of wolves so last week, the First Nation called for another mission to bring extra caribou to the more remote, and properly named Caribou Island as a backup. Read the full story by the National Post. View the full article

News Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today released a framework for helping Western Lake Erie basin states collaborate to reduce phosphorus entering the lake, where it can contribute to the formation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and dead zones. The Erie P Market Framework was completed as part of a Great Lakes Commission-led project to test market-based approaches to incentivize agricultural practices that control phosphorus runoff. In December 2017, representatives from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana agreed to use the framework to guide the generation and sale of phosphorus credits. The credits are created when credit sellers in agriculture reduce phosphorus losses from their fields. Ontario also participated, sharing lessons learned from similar efforts in the province. “There is no silver bullet that can resolve the HABs issue on its own, but the sale of phosphorus credits is a promising strategy. This option should be available for the agriculture community to consider in their collective nutrient management efforts in Western Lake Erie,” said Karl Gebhardt, Deputy Director for Water Resources at the Ohio EPA and GLC Alternate Commissioner. “I am pleased to have this framework to help guide a market-based approach to improving water-quality for Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.” “This project sets the stage for private investments to support the region’s efforts to improve Lake Erie and maintain its agricultural heritage,” said Brian Brandt, Director of Agriculture Conservation Innovations at the American Farmland Trust. The Erie P Market project started out focusing on traditional water quality trading where facilities with phosphorus limits in their permit, like wastewater treatment facilities, could help meet their permit limits by paying for phosphorus reductions upstream. The upstream facilities would buy credits from farmers that do extra conservation work to reduce phosphorus. However, research by the project team concluded that a strong traditional market for trading did not yet exist in the Western Lake Erie Basin. As a result, the team expanded the framework to also allow for “stewardship crediting,” which opens the market to a more diverse set of potential buyers interested in buying credits for the environmental benefit rather than meeting a permit requirement. Water quality trading and stewardship crediting both offer more sustainable conservation efforts than traditional agricultural conservation programs, which often have a time limit. The GLC is working with farmers from Western Lake Erie watersheds interested in improving water quality by doing more conservation work to generate phosphorus credits. The GLC would then use the framework to determine the actual credits available for sale, negotiate an appropriate price, and recruit buyers interested in investing agricultural conservation and water quality improvements Organizations interested in purchasing phosphorus credits should contact the GLC at 734-971-9135 or by emailing Water Quality Program Manager Nicole Zacharda. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chairman 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 offices are 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 releases new framework to improve Western Lake Erie through investments in water quality credits Position available: Adaptive Management Program Specialist Request for Proposals: Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program Coalition of states, agriculture, water utility, and conservation groups urge Congress to include Great Lakes priorities in new Farm Bill Upcoming GLC Events 2018 Great Lakes Commission Semiannual Meeting and Great Lakes Day March 6 - March 8 2018 Great Lakes Commission Annual Meeting October 2 - October 3 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

The Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling that the state’s Lake Michigan beaches belong to the people — and not just those people with enough money to purchase property abutting those beaches — is a much-needed win for community. Read the full story by Nuvo. View the full article

While testing according to most official reports indicate lead in the city’s water has dropped below federal action levels, many activists insist the crisis is not yet over and warn that pipeline replacement activity and reported difficulties with filter use and lead testing in the community mark the need for continued watchfulness and ongoing state services. Read the full story by East Village Magazine. View the full article

Two bills currently in Michigan state legislature would create two oversight boards for the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which would give industry a say in administrative rules or permits if passed. Read the full story by the Bridge. View the full article

The settlement requires the Army Corps to bear the cost of placing material dredged from the bottom of the river into containment dikes in 2016 and 2017. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer. View the full article

For the past three years, swimmer Hastings Withers hardly missed his once-a-week dip in Lake Ontario—no matter what the thermometer reads. Read the full story by the Beach Metro Community News. View the full article

Steel shipments grew 38 percent last year to the deepwater port on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Portage and Burns Harbor, while large dimensional cargoes increased by 27 percent. Read the full story by the NWI Times. View the full article

The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation based in Goderich, Ontario will hold a conference in May that will see experts from the Great Lakes region present coastal research, local actions and answers to environmental challenges. Read the full story by the Observer. View the full article

Low levels of toxic flourochemicals have been verified in a seven-county Lake Huron bulk drinking water supply system that serves more than 260,000 people in Midland, Saginaw, Bay City and dozens of other Michigan communities. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

High water levels continue to work their way into rivers as they flow out to Lake Michigan. The Kalamazoo, Grand and St. Joseph Rivers have yet to crest downstream so the worst maybe yet to come for some property owners. Read the full story by WTVB – Coldwater, MI. View the full article

The biomass of prey fish in Lake Michigan – including alewife, the key forage for chinook salmon – continues to sag to near record lows, prompting questions about trout and salmon stocking strategies by state agencies around the lake. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. View the full article

An Allegan County, Michigan, judge has ruled against an environmentalist group’s appeal over a proposed private marina and housing development in the Saugatuck dunes on Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

If hundreds of homes will rise in an 80-some acre wilderness area near Michigan’s Pere Marquette beach, then the best neighbors can do is make sure it’s done right. Read the full story by MLive. View the full article

In January, Detroit got the bad news that it no longer was in contention for the second headquarters of Amazon. Changing the perception of Detroit from a rust belt city to highlighting its proximity to the Great Lakes may help attract more business. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now. View the full article

Tens of millions of gallons of partially and untreated sewage is now making its way to Lake Erie. Read the full story by WIVB-TV-Buffalo, NY. View the full article

In the ongoing debate over a proposed waste to energy facility at the Seneca Army Depot, a group of residents and business owners who are opposed to the project traveled to Albany, New York, to call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to reject it. Read the full story by WRVO-Oswego, NY. View the full article

The Soo Locks will open March 25, giving this year’s domestic Great Lakes shipping season an on-time start. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune. View the full article

The Trump administration still doesn’t get that the Great Lakes are a national treasure, an environmental boon, source of drinking water for tens of millions and a generator of billions in annual wages. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer. View the full article

Last summer, a new invasive species turned up in Lake Superior: the bloody red shrimp. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press. View the full article

Could something like the crisis in Cape Town happen here? Is it alarmist to even think about that possibility? After all, the Great Lakes, Holland, Michigan’s own source of drinking water, contain 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater. Michigan is a water-rich state. Could we ever run out? Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel. View the full article

Municipal and provincial staff gathered at a Brampton conference center to hear Gord Miller, Ontario’s former environmental commissioner, talk about climate change, and what he had to say challenged many of the established practices and assumptions that had guided their careers. Read the full story by TVO. View the full article