Top Great Lakes Water Stories Monday, June 20, 2011

To help you stay up-to-date on Great Lakes water quality issues, Blue Water Satellite offers this free service providing weekly updates on the top

Great Lakes water quality stories and related stories of the past week.

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From the Great Lakes... Farmers asked to change farming practices

Heavy rains, fertilizer runoff contribute to Lake Erie algae Fremont News Messenger

Thanks to repeated downpours throughout the spring, the pea-green slimy algae bloom on Lake Erie likely will be worse this year than in the past, a research official said. Heavy rains have caused plenty of runoff, sending fertilizer and phosphorus -- an ingredient in fertilizer that is largely blamed for the toxic blue-green algae so prolific on the lake in recent years -- into rivers and streams that dump into Lake Erie, said Jeff Reutter, director of Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory on Gibraltar Island

leakage and oil, using data from USGS Landsat satellites.

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near Put-in-Bay. "It's basically getting a little bit worse every year. We used to say it was just a Western Basin problem, but now it's moving and expanding into the western part of the Central Basin." Millions of Great Lakes fish killed in power plant intakes Chicago Tribune Despite decades of efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes, dozens of old power plants still are allowed to kill hundreds of millions of fish each year by sucking in massive amounts of water to cool their equipment. Despite decades of efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes, dozens of old power plants still are allowed to kill hundreds of millions of fish each year by sucking in massive amounts of water to cool their equipment. Records obtained by the Tribune show that staggering numbers of fish die when pulled into the screens of water intake systems so powerful that most could fill an Olympic swimming pool in less than a minute.

Drilling in Lake Erie? Ohio Senate passes bill allowing oil, gas drilling in state-owned lands Toledo Blade A bill allowing drilling for oil and natural gas in parks, forests, and other state-owned lands passed the Ohio Senate Wednesday after the chamber again rejected an attempt to place Lake Erie off limits. Three Republicans, however, joined all 10 Democrats in support of an amendment that would have exempted Lake Erie from the bill. That amendment failed 19-13. The majority argued that the amendment was unnecessary because Lake Erie is already protected by a federal ban. "However, those federal regulations can be removed at any time.'' said Rep. Mike Skindell (D., Lakewood). "... It would be an incredible ecological disaster should there be a leakage similar to what we saw in the Gulf of Mexico in Lake Erie.''

Editorial Halt lake sabotage bills Cleveland Plain Dealer

Not all the invasive species that threaten the well-being of Lake Erie are aquatic. Some walk on two legs. State Sen. Tim Grendell, Republican of Chesterland, and

GOP Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, of Napoleon in northwest Ohio, are fast-tracking legislation that would let businesses turn Lake Erie water into a revenue stream -- and jeopardize the hard-won Great Lakes Compact.

Three conservation groups will hold 'mega-event' in Oct. Detroit to host Great Lakes Week The Detroit News Detroit will host a first-of-its-kind environmental gathering in October, when three major conservation groups bring their annual or biennial meetings to the city to discuss the health of the Great Lakes. For three days beginning Oct. 12, hundreds of the conservation-minded are expected to converge on Wayne State University for meetings of the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes Commission and the Healing Our Waters Coalition. Hunt is on for Great Lakes Shipwrecks from War of 1812 Our Amazing Planet Two centuries after a naval arms race introduced more and more warships to the Great Lakes, the search is on for the sunken remains of two of the ships that fought in the War of 1812. Researchers are digging the depths of Lake Ontario for the remains of a frigate called the Mohawk and an unnamed U.S. gunboat designed for amphibious attacks and harassing British shipping. "Quite a few ships have

been excavated around the Great Lakes in the U.S. and Canada from the War of 1812, but there are many that haven't been found," underwater archaeologist Ben Ford said.

And Elsewhere...

Oregon adopts strictest standard for toxic water pollution in the nation The Oregonian

Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission Thursday adopted the strictest standard for toxic water pollution in the United States. The changes, which drew thousands of public comments, dramatically tighten human health criteria for a more than 100 pollutants, including mercury, flame retardants, PCBs, dioxins, plasticizers and pesticides. But improvements in water quality are expected to take years, if not decades, and it's not clear yet how much the rules will actually knock down pollution.

Elsewhere in Oregon... Lost Creek Lake's toxic, scummy annual visitor may be back Mail Tribune A green scum forming this week on Lost Creek Lake was suspected to be the first outbreak of blue-green algae at Jackson County's largest reservoir plagued by these potentially toxic blooms annually. "I would expect it to (trigger an advisory)," said Chad Stuart, the natural resources manager at the Corps' facilities in the Rogue River Basin. If so, it will mark the first such advisory in Jackson County in 2011 and only the second so far this year statewide. On Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Human Services issued the first such advisory at Cougar Reservoir in Lane County.

Florida hopes to block new federal water-pollution rules by rewriting its own Orlando Sentinel The uproar over a federal effort to force Florida to clean up its rivers and lakes kicks up a notch this week as state officials air their strategy to avoid the controversial pollution regulations by writing a new set of their own. In a groundbreaking dispute between federal and state officials, Florida officials want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to abandon its pollution-prevention rules and give the state back legal responsibility for cleaning up its waters, even though the state hasn't rewritten its rules yet.

Historic drought West Palm Beach water options drying up The Palm Beach Post As what's left of the West Palm Beach water supply dries up, officials have two options: use water from the city's wellfield, a possible violation of the wellfield's permit; or get an emergency permit to use water from a reservoir with potentially harmful salt levels. "We're entering into the unknown right now," said Patrick Painter, the city's watershed resource manager. "We've never been in this situation before." Caloosahatchee algae causing turtle, fish kills WZVN

(Watch Video Report) The toxic algae in the Caloosahatchee is killing more wildlife. We found fish and turtles choked out due to a lack of oxygen. People who live near the water are praying for the only thing that can help - rain.

Global Summit on Coastal Seas coming to Baltimore

EMECS Baltimore is preparing to host many of the world's leaders in costal seas management and restoration at this

year's EMECS 9 meeting. The conference will focus on scientifically sound, sustainable restoration approaches, ensuring accountability and effective communication for successful integrated management of coastal seas. Experts on the Japanese Tsunami, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and numerous restoration projects from the Chesapeake Bay to the Seto Umi Sea will be featured at this conference. Swift Beef fined $1.3M for water pollution UPI Swift Beef Co. will pay $1.3 million to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act and state law at its processing plant in Nebraska. "Swift will pay a significant penalty for its illegal discharges of wastewater that caused interference with the local water treatment system and damage to the aquatic ecosystem of the Wood and Platte rivers," said Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "The same industry that puts food on American dinner tables must also comply with the Clean Water Act that keeps our country's waterways healthy, safe and clean." World's third-largest salt-water lake at risk of drying up Lake Scientist

Iran's Oroumieh Lake is in crisis.

Dams and upstream diversions have lowered water levels of the world's third-largest salt-water lake by a staggering 60 percent. To save this vanishing lake, officials are moving forward with a three-part strategy to bring life back to it. But the plan has been accused of sidestepping the real source of the problem.