Scientists have identified a unique strain of walleye that lives in the Ohio River. The discovery has wildlife officials thinking about the way things were and how they could be once again. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Fred Kight explains:
Fishing for walleye is a big sport on Lake Erie, but many people do not know that the fish also live in the Ohio River. Matthew White is a Biological Sciences professor at Ohio University. He helped determine that the Ohio River walleye have a different genetic make-up from those in Lake Erie and other northern lakes.
White says the original walleye species was severed from the other tens of thousands of years ago when the river that is now the Ohio was blocked and stopped flowing into Lake Erie.
"These walleye evolved in the river, so they're well adapted to the river environment. And these walleye have also survived the 100 years of abuse that we heaped on the river."
Armed with this new information, wildlife officials are taking steps to alter their practice of importing Lake Erie Walleye. Instead, they'll use the native species for their stocking program.
Michigan Congressman Wants Probe of Lake Levels
A Michigan congressman said last week she will seek $2.5 million for federal officials to investigate the theory behind a potentially underrated source of Great Lakes water level declines.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R., Mich.) wants the Army Corps of Engineers and U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission to probe the degree to which erosion at the bottom of the St. Clair River may be to blame for fluctuating water levels.
The outcome of such research ultimately could benefit western Lake Erie, the shallowest part of the Great Lakes and one that gets about 90 percent of its water from northern water bodies.
A Canadian citizens group called the Georgian Bay Association, citing information in a private consulting study it paid $200,000 to have done, has theorized that the levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron have been significantly affected by the erosion of the St. Clair River bottom.
Other groups, including the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor, claim the erosion may have progressively worsened over the years because of dredging that the Corps does to maintain the Great Lakes shipping channel.
Tim Eder, the wildlife federation's water resources director, called the St. Clair River erosion the "great leak in the Great Lakes." He said it may be the most serious threat to Lake Michigan-Huron water levels. Lakes Michigan and Huron are normally studied as one because they are connected more directly than the other lakes.
Scott Thieme, chief of the Corps' Great Lakes hydraulics and hydrology office, said St. Clair River erosion may have some effect on lake levels. He said the Canadian group's theory is worth probing.
But Mr. Thieme and a large contingent of Great Lakes scientists have cited numerous other factors, from natural hydrological cycles to climate change.
A study commissioned by the White House at the end of former President Bill Clinton's administration concluded the effects of global warming are just now starting to materialize.
Frank Quinn, retired senior hydrologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes laboratory in Ann Arbor, has said on numerous occasions the levels of lakes Michigan and Huron have been affected for about a century by the massive diversion created near Chicago in the early 1900s.
That diversion, the largest in the Great Lakes, was built to reverse the flow of the Chicago River and other waterways because of numerous deaths attributed to typhoid, cholera, and other waterborne diseases before the era of modern sewage treatment.
The corps previously issued a statement rebutting the claims made by the Georgian Bay Association and the association's consulting group, W.F. Baird & Associates Coastal Engineers.
Lake Levels Still on Rise
That's the forecast in a nutshell for Great Lakes water levels this summer, experts say.
Lake Huron is up 10 inches from this time last year, according to the latest forecast from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The lake, measured together with Lake Michigan for forecasting purposes, is expected to be up by 8 to 10 inches this July, compared to the summer of 2004, said Phil C. Ross, acting chief for the Corps' hydrology branch in Detroit.
In recent years, water level forecasters have been careful about saying that lake levels are on the upswing, signaling an end to near-record low water levels that have plagued the Great Lakes, causing barges to lighten their loads and marinas to dredge.
But Ross said he thinks the levels are edging back up, even though there's still a degree of uncertainty about the natural cycles of the lakes.
"If the meltoff is good and spring rains are semi-heavy and at least above-average, then you're definitely going to see higher levels (this summer), but it's definitely going to be driven by the storm patterns this spring."
The latest forecast shows Michigan-Huron at 3 inches above the depth markings on navigational charts and 10 inches up from this time last year.
Lake Huron is still 10 inches below its long-term monthly average level for March, and 40 inches below the highest recorded monthly mean in 1986, but 20 inches above the lowest recorded monthly mean from 1964.
The lake is projected to rise another 3 inches by April 4, the Corps says.
Lake Erie Geomorphology
A new peer-reviewed research paper on the geomorphology of Lake Ere has been published electronically as part of the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center’s Research Publication (RP) series. This publication is a product of the NOAA Great Lakes Bathymetry Project, a joint effort involving the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, the National Geophysical Data Center, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service.
The complete publication, including plates, figures and tables, in pdf format is available at:
Great Lakes Commission Announces Staff Leadership Change
Dr. Michael J. Donahue, long-standing president/CEO of the Great Lakes Commission, is stepping down from that post to accept a senior executive position in the private sector. Donahue, the longest-serving staff director in Commission history, has moved on to become vice president of URS Corporation, a global consulting firm.
Tom Crane, manager of the Commission's Resource Management Program, has been appointed interim director by the Commission's Board of Directors.
During his tenure with the Commission, Donahue presided over a period in which the Commission grew dramatically in size and capabilities, and assumed a central role in policy research, development and regional coordination; advocacy; and resource management. He is credited with greatly expanding the Commission's research, policy analysis and technical capabilities; securing associate membership for the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec in recognition of the lakes' binational character; and shaping a strong and influential regional voice on federal legislative, appropriations and policy initiatives.
Complementing Donahue's service to the Commission have been appointments to more than a dozen regional, national and international boards, including the International Joint Commission's Science Advisory Board and the Chief of Engineer's (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Environmental Advisory Board. A published author specializing in water resources planning, management and institutional design, Donahue has also been engaged in teaching and research through adjunct professorships at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
Interim Director Tom Crane is a 19-year veteran of the Commission. Among many other contributions, Crane has led the Commission's decision support initiatives for water resources management, and has designed and implemented programs addressing point and nonpoint source pollution. He will assume the interim director position effective March 1 and will continue in that position as the search process proceeds.
Ballast Water Workshop Report Released
The Northeast-Midwest Institute would like to announce the release of its report on the international Ballast Discharge Monitoring Device Workshop held August 12-16, 2002 at the Marrowstone Island Marine Field Station, Olympic Peninsula, Washington.
The report titled "Summary and Findings of the Ballast Discharge Monitoring Device Workshop" is available from the Institute's website at
The goal of the Workshop was to assess existing and emerging analytical tools (technologies and techniques) for their potential to support regulatory evaluations of ballast discharge associated with the range of standards under discussion. It is hoped that this information will assist policy-makers and regulators to understand the extent to which analytical tools may support the various types of standards and regulatory activities relevant to ballast water discharge regulation.
For more information please contact Nicole Mays at nmays@nemw.org or
202-544-5200.
Water Quality Grants Available
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Water Bureau (WB), is pleased to announce the availability of a grant application package (GAP) for three categories of water quality monitoring projects using Fiscal Year 2005 Clean Michigan Initiative-Clean Water Fund monies. Specifically, $100,000 is available for inland lake beach monitoring grants, $200,000 for local water quality monitoring grants, and $200,000 for emerging issues monitoring grants. Local government and nonprofit entities are eligible for funding and are encouraged to apply either individually or as part of a group. Applicants that receive funding will be required to share the resulting data with the DEQ.
The GAP contains detailed instructions on developing a proposal, the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated, and the items that should be included with your application.
Proposals are due by April 15, 2005. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kay Edly at 517-373-4633.
Great Lakes Reports Available
The Council of Great Lakes Governors is pleased to announce that a summary of the February 1, 2005 Water Management Working Group meeting with representatives of Great Lakes Tribes and First Nations is available at:
A one-day conference on the status of the chinook salmon fishery in Lake Michigan will take place on Saturday, April 9, on the campus of Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, along with its counterparts from the states of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin will participate, along with the Chippewa-Ottawa Treaty Fishery Management Authority and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
The public is welcome at the conference, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Blue Lecture Hall at the Napier Avenue Campus of Lake Michigan College located at 2755 E. Napier Avenue in Benton Harbor.
Selected topics will address stocking decisions, past and future; the health and status of chinook salmon; prey fish dynamics; a review of lake-wide creel survey results; non-management agency perceptions of the Lake Michigan stocking reduction and the immediate future of salmon management in the lake.
Conference registration is $5. Registration is being coordinated through Michigan Sea Grant and Ottawa County MSU Extension. Refreshments and a box lunch will be served. For more information, please contact Chuck Pistis at 616-846-8250.
For further information on the activities of the Office of the Great Lakes, contact:
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