May 31st, 2012 by Irene Miles
With the Lake Michigan lakefront now open to swimmers for the season, the Chicago Park District will be using a new system to monitor bacteria level and ensure a safe swimming environment for visitors.
From The Chicago Tribune:
“Chicago’s new elaborate system of buoys and statistical models will monitor 16 of the city’s 24 beaches, and Park District officials are seeking grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expand the system to cover all beaches by next summer.
The model will predict the levels of harmful bacteria at each beach using data on the location of sources of contamination, like colonies of sea gulls or sewer outlets; the motion of waves that can disturb bacteria growing in the sand; lake-current speeds; water temperature; and sunlight.”
May 29th, 2012 by Irene Miles
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is working to remove Asian Carp from several Illinois waterways, even those not connected to the Great Lakes.
From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
“The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee plans to spend $12 million this year on efforts to stop the voracious eaters from reaching Lake Michigan, where scientists fear they could out-compete native fish for food and wreak havoc on the Great Lakes fishing industry. Plans include sampling urban fishing ponds, surveying fish markets for live fish and random electrofishing and netting along a network of canals that connect Lake Michigan to the Illinois River.
McCloud said the DNR will visit bait shops and fish markets to make sure there are no live carp, and will sample around 20 lagoons. He said anyone who nets an Asian carp should get it out of the water and make sure it’s dead. He also asks that they take a photo of the fish and call the DNR.”
These efforts are all part of the larger goal of protecting Illinois waterways, and Lake Michigan in particular, from the threat posed by Asian Carp.
Read the complete article
here.
May 22nd, 2012 by Irene Miles
A proposed water trail along Lake Michigan’s shoreline would improve access to 450 miles of the lakeshore, making it easier for recreationists to enjoy the water.
“The trail will eventually run from the Wisconsin-Illinois border north to the tip of the Door County Peninsula and south along the Green Bay shoreline to the city of Green Bay.
The Lake Michigan Water Trail was selected as one of the top 100 state projects as part of President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors program that encourages increasing outdoor recreation opportunities close to home.”
The project involves several agencies and could provide expanded opportunities for businesses near the lakeshore.
May 21st, 2012 by Irene Miles
A data collection project is currently underway that would help communities prepare for and prevent flooding in the Great Lakes basin. There are also six technical workshops for coastal management and associated professionals to be held next month at several locations around the Great Lakes.
“Federal officials are studying how to help Great Lakes communities better prepare for hazardous floods.
‘It will be the most comprehensive study ever conducted of shoreline flooding,’ said Ken Hinterlong, a senior engineer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. So far, only ‘…the first phase of the project is done, which is a basin-wide data collection for Lake Michigan and Lake St. Clair.’”
Visit the link above for the full article including a link to the full workshop schedule.
May 16th, 2012 by Irene Miles
Loyola University in Chicago is committed to the environment in a number of ways, and one of their approaches holds benefits for Lake Michigan as well.
<span”>The University recently installed their seventh green roof system, this one on Cuneo Hall. Green roof systems provide a number of benefits, but one of them is the reduction of rainwater runoff. By providing natural materials to absorb, filter, and utilize the water, it reduces pollution and runoff volume that can wind up negatively impacting the Lake.</span”>
From the article on Earth Techling:
“A green roof acts like a natural sponge that absorbs stormwater and curtails runoff,” Aaron Durnbaugh, the university’s director of sustainability, explained in a statement. He went on to note that the university’s Chicago campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, which makes reduced runoff a real priority for protecting local water quality.”
May 9th, 2012 by Irene Miles
Much like a gardener hopes that the seeds they plant will eventually bloom into a lush garden, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant awards Discovery Grants, or “seed” grants, to a number of projects in the hopes that the initiatives will grow into something larger. In recent years, IISG has funded 35 projects focused on key concerns the program is committed to address; here are six new projects for 2012:
– Charles Werth, a civil engineer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will study the potential benefits and cost-effectiveness of installing green roofs in urban areas, considering effects on runoff, water quality, and other factors.
– Nandakishore Rajagopalan of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center will explore the feasibility of establishing saline aquaculture in Illinois – in other words, a saltwater fish farm. This initial study will focus on the economics of establishing such an industry and explore the possibilities for a few key species.
– Daniel Larkin, a conservation scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, will establish a network of researchers and professionals who manage phragmites, an invasive reed grass, to discuss recent advances in control and collaboratively develop management plans to reflect the newest science and best techniques available.
– Maria Sepulveda, an ecotoxicologist at Purdue University, will build on previous IISG studies that looked at the distribution of pharmaceuticals or personal care products in Lake Michigan by examining the effects that these chemicals have on species throughout the food chain, both individually and in potentially toxic combinations.
– Marcelo Garcia of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will use results from an Asian Carp egg survival model to develop a tool that identifies where and how to implement targeted control methods. The tool would help decision makers prevent the spread of the invasive species.
– Brian Murphy of the University of Illinois Chicago will examine Lake Michigan as a potential source of bacteria that might be used in new medicines.
These Discovery Grants provide funding for initial research that has the potential to grow into larger future projects, or for projects that bring research results to a broader audience and could be expanded on by fellow researchers and agencies.
April 11th, 2012 by Irene Miles
The term “food web” is used to describe the intricate relationships between the many different plants, animals, and organisms that can exist in small or large areas. Understanding food webs in specific environmental locations, such as in one or more of the Great Lakes, can help researchers and communities better respond to changes in those delicate systems. Invasive species are just one example of a potential influence that can drastically alter a food web and have substantial impacts on native environments.
On April 3 and 4, 2012, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and GLRRIN Lake Michigan
partners from Wisconsin Sea Grant(WISG), Michigan Sea Grant, the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, the US EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, and the USGS Great Lakes Science Center hosted a research meeting in Ann Arbor, MI. Approximately 60 researchers from federal, state, university, tribal, and non-profit organizations gathered to discuss their current understanding of food webs in Lake Michigan. Food web structure and function can be affected by many variables, including changes in water temperature, water quality, and/or habitat loss. Recent aquatic invaders, including zebra and quagga mussels, have drastically altered the Lake Michigan ecosystem, leaving researchers with new questions about what variables most affect commercial and recreational fishing, bird populations, non-toxic algal blooms, and overall quality of life for humans and animals.
GLRRIN Lake Michigan hosted a similar meeting in 2008, which helped launch the 2010 Lake Michigan Intensive Monitoring Field Year. Findings presented during the 2012 meeting highlight the inherent variability of Lake Michigan, especially in areas that are less than 20 m deep. Researchers also stressed the need to further understand how the lowest levels of the food chain, such as microbes and nutrient cycling, operate. Understanding these basic levels will help create better tools for decision makers like fishery managers or watershed planning committees. A full report on the meeting presentations and discussions will be made available through the GLRRIN Lake Michigan and IISG websites.
