Environment

More Blue Flags will be flying in Canada this summer

glbm — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:51:21 +0000

Environmental Defence

June 4 2013

TORONTO, ON – For the 2013 sun, surf, and sand season, 18 beaches and four marinas in Canada have been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag eco-certification. This internationally recognized and respected eco-label is awarded to beaches and marinas that have achieved international standards in water quality, environmental management, environmental education, and safety and services.

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International Joint Commission issues Great Lakes report card

glbm — Fri, 31 May 2013 20:40:50 +0000

Emanuele Berry, Great Lakes Echo

May 31 2013

Over the past 25 years, environmental protection measures have greatly improved the health of the Great Lakes. However, the region’s waterways are facing new issues.

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Study: Rising Lake Superior temperatures affecting fish species

glbm — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:20:27 +0000

Dan Kraker

May 22 2013

DULUTH, Minn. — A new study shows that climate change could mean better conditions for some Lake Superior fish species, but worse for others.

Surface water temperatures on Lake Superior increased by about 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit between 1979 and 2006. That's one of the fastest rates of any lake on earth. The study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin shows that warming has created more suitable habitat in the lake for some fish, like Chinook salmon, walleye, and lean lake trout, but less favorable conditions for siscowet lake trout, a fatty fish that thrives in cold water.

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DNR research vessels take to Great Lakes to learn more about Michigan’s fisheries

glbm — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:06:35 +0000

May 21 2013

The Department of Natural Resources has announced all four of its research vessels are back on the water, conducting annual surveys of Great Lakes fish populations. The DNR’s vessels are critical in the department’s mission to conserve, protect and manage the Great Lakes for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations. The surveys are designed to estimate relative abundance, biomass, age and growth, health, diet, survival rates, natural reproduction and movements of fish in the Great Lakes.

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Rain may increase algae in Lake Erie

glbm — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:06:38 +0000

Spencer Hunt

May 19 2013

Another wetter-than-average Ohio spring has experts worried that severe toxic-algae problems will return to Lake Erie this summer.

Storms that drenched northwestern Ohio have so far this year nearly doubled the average amount of phosphorus that washes off farm fields each spring and flows down the Maumee River to Lake Erie. Phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers, helps blue-green algae grow.

Jeffrey Reutter, director of the Ohio Sea Grant Program, shared the data during an Ohio Senate Finance Subcommittee hearing yesterday. He said it doesn’t guarantee that a record algae bloom will spread across the lake as it did during the summer of 2011.

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IJC Releases 16th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality: Notes Significant Achievement but Sustained Investment and Action Needed

glbm — Mon, 20 May 2013 01:41:56 +0000

International Joint Commission (IJC)

May 19 2013

The International Joint Commission (IJC) today released a report on how the health of the Great Lakes has changed over the past 25 years.

While sustained governmental and public efforts have measurably improved Great Lakes water quality, rapid reduction in ice cover and the resurgence of some pollutants like excess nutrients are among the indicators currently raising concerns. Based on contributions from a wide range of U.S. and Canadian experts, the report reveals a mix of achievements and challenges.

"With the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement just revised in 2012, both Canada and the U.S. have renewed and strengthened their commitment to protect and restore the Great Lakes," said Joe Comuzzi, Canadian Chair of the IJC. "Tight budgets on both sides of the border mean that cooperation and coordination of clean-up efforts are even more important, and the recommendations in this report can help."

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What’s draining the Great Lakes?

glbm — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:14:58 +0000

Brody O'Connell

May 13 2013

PORT HURON, MI -- The Saint Clair River is a major trunk line for commercial navigation. But, is it also possible that it's draining the Great Lakes?

The river partially connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to Lake Erie.

International Joint Commission Public Affairs Advisor John Nevin said Erie’s lower elevation makes the Saint Clair River act as a drain.

“If the Saint Clair River erodes or is dredged, that makes that drain bigger…more water runs out of the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron bathtub into the Lake Erie bathtub,” Nevin said.

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Asian carp fish found in Grand River sparks alarm for conservation officials

glbm — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:09:40 +0000

Greg Mercer

May 13 2013

WATERLOO REGION — They have no natural predators, eat nearly everything in sight and can take over lakes and rivers like an invading army.

Conservationists are sounding the alarm after a 40-pound Asian grass carp, an invasive species of monster fish that has wreaked havoc in U.S. waterways, was caught by an angler last week in the mouth of the Grand River near Dunnville.

“They have the power to remake an aquatic ecosystem to meet their needs and they just push out the native species,” said Dave Schultz, spokesperson for the Grand River Conservation Authority.

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Great Lakes water levels: How did April's rain raise Lake Michigan and Huron, and what is the forecast?

glbm — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:56:31 +0000

Mark Torregrossa

May 8 2013

The heavy rainfall in April did have a dramatic effect on the water level of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports that the average level of Lake Michigan-Huron rose 5.16 inches from March to April.

That five inch rise is greater than the entire seasonal rise last year. Last year Lake Michigan-Huron only rose four inches from March to July.

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Lake Huron sinkholes harbor unexpected life forms

glbm — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:38:32 +0000

Jennifer Yauck

April 29 2013

Compared to the dark depths of the ocean or the frigid ends of the earth, Lake Huron hardly seems like an extreme environment. But sinkholes discovered at the lake’s bottom have conditions just as harsh-and harbor life forms just as unusual-as those of deep-sea hydrothermal vents or Antarctica’s permanently frozen lakes.

And like their marine and polar cousins, the sinkholes’ peculiar occupants-mostly microbes-are providing scientists a glimpse of what early life on Earth might have looked like.

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Weighing environmental, economic impacts of dredging

glbm — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:50:03 +0000

Emanuele Berry

April 25 2013

This year record low water levels have spurred the Michigan government to spend over $20 million on dredging. Many hope dredging will enable recreational and commercial boating to continue, preventing revenue loss.

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Spreading the invasive spiny water flea upsets lake ecosystems

glbm — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:53:07 +0000

Megan Hopps

April 23 2013

Researchers believe that anchors and fishing lines can help spread the invasive spiny water flea, and Great Lakes fishermen may need to follow stricter equipment cleaning regulations.

While spiny water fleas are not harmful to humans, they shift the biodiversity of the Great Lakes ecosystem, said Donn Branstrator, an ecology professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

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Environmentalists urge Gov. Cuomo to support IJC’s Bv7 water management proposal

glbm — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:27:02 +0000

JAEGUN LEE

April 19 2013

Conservationists urged Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday to join thousands of citizens who have shown their support for a new Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River management plan over the past several months.
In a joint letter to Gov. Cuomo, four conservation groups — Save the River, Clayton; the Nature Conservancy; Audubon New York, and Citizens Campaign for the Environment — asked the governor to support Plan Bv7, a water regulation proposal by the International Joint Commission that could replace the existing half-century-old management plan

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Illinois sets coastal priorities with online community

glbm — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:12:27 +0000

Carlee Schepeler

April 18 2013

Want to protect your Great Lakes coast? Now you can direct resource protection with a click of a mouse.

The Illinois Coastal Management Program has a new tool to listen to how the public wants to restore and protect coastal resources.

When a community or organization has an idea for something that needs improvement or expansion, leaders used to attend a town hall meeting to voice their opinions.

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