Canada’s plan to store spent nuclear fuel 1,600 feet below ground in the Great Lakes basin, some 30 miles from Lake Huron, is continuing to ruffle feathers throughout the Great Lake states.
Great Lakes News Collaborative
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, The Narwhal and Michigan Public work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Water’s True Cost
As the nation prepares to pour hundreds of billions of federal dollars into rescuing water systems, the Great Lakes News Collaborative investigates the true cost of water in Michigan. Read the series.
Ready or Not
The Great Lakes region is frequently touted as one of the most climate-resilient places in the U.S., in part because of its enviable water resources. But climate change also threatens our water. The Great Lakes News Collaborative explores what it will take to prepare. Read the series.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As Michigan lawmakers ponder septic repair funds, Ohio offers a model
Unlike Michigan, the buckeye state regulates septic systems and provides money to fix the ones leaking sewage into waterways. Could such a program in Michigan address the pollution that fouls our lakes and streams?
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As drought grips American West, irrigation becomes a Michigan selling point
Michigan farmers irrigate with 187 billion gallons of groundwater a year, double what was used a decade earlier. Is the state prepared for more?
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Lake Superior summer: Blue-green algae comes to a lake once believed immune
Once thought too cold for cyanobacteria to grow, Lake Superior in recent years has joined the other Great Lakes as a breeding ground for potentially-toxic algae as a changing climate warms its waters.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Should Michigan, other states let nature clean up oil spills?
Natural populations of oil-degrading bacteria could help to clean up freshwater rivers and lakes after spills from pipelines and trains, but it’s not clear whether using bacteria could pose problems for the surrounding environment.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
In echo of Flint, some Chicagoans wary of lead water pipe replacement
It seemed like a good deal: The city offered free replacement of lead water lines to residents. But mistrust of the government, particularly in immigrant communities, and unclear messaging has made the operation a hard sell.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Can Michigan become a climate haven? Duluth is already planning.
The Minnesota city on Lake Superior is earning a reputation as a future destination for climate migrants. Experts say the entire Great Lakes region is primed for an influx, prompting questions on how to prepare for coming change.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Offshore wind could provide double the electricity Michiganders used in 2019
Michigan’s more than 3,000 miles of coast could provide double the electricity residents used from all sources in 2019, according to a recent report.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan’s climate-ready future: wetland parks, less cement, roomy shores
What does Michigan’s future look like if we adequately prepare the state’s water resources for climate change? Goodbye to septics and shore-hugging homes. Hello to more diversified crops on Michigan farms.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Water wars: Should Michigan worry about water diverted from Great Lakes?
Only a few small communities in the Great Lakes Basin have sought water diversions. But with climate change, some fear that increasingly parched swaths of the U.S. will seek access to the fresh water that surrounds us.
