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Joliet, Illinois, Plans to Source Its Future Drinking Water From Lake Michigan. Will Other Cities Follow?
September 30th, 2024
Via Inside Climate News, a report that – as aquifers dry up – some Midwest communities are looking to the region’s greatest natural resources for a solution. A 2008 law governs access to it—with an exemption for Illinois. The aquifer from which Joliet, Illinois, sources its drinking water is likely going to run too dry […]
Read more »Sault Tribe Challenges Michigan Fishing Deal, Chides ‘Preposterous’ Rules
April 17th, 2024
Via Circle of Blue, a report on a First Nation’s legal appeal on fishing in the Great Lakes: Four Michigan tribes and the state and federal government renegotiated fishing rights in the Great Lakes last year, without the Sault tribe’s consent Now, the tribe is suing, arguing it can’t be held to an agreement it […]
Read more »50 Years of Protecting and Restoring the Great Lakes
May 19th, 2022
Via The Conversation, a look at 50 years of US-Canada joint efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes: The Great Lakes cover nearly 95,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) and hold over 20% of Earth’s surface fresh water. More than 30 million people in the U.S. and Canada rely on them for drinking water. The lakes support a multibillion-dollar maritime economy, […]
Read more »The Great Siphoning: Drought-Stricken Areas Eye The Great Lakes
June 6th, 2018
Via the StarTribune, commentary on the Great Lakes: Outside Two Harbors, Minn., on a cliff overlooking the broad expanse of Lake Superior, you are overwhelmed by grandeur — shimmering water, crashing waves, a down-bound ore boat on the horizon, miniaturized by distance. As you fill your senses, you may be unaware of the invisible others […]
Read more »The Great Lakes: An International Water Bank With Very Low Interest Rates
February 14th, 2009
Courtesy of The Vancouver Sun, an interesting article on a report that indicates even the Great Lakes aren’t great enough to sustain North Americans’ reckless water use in the event of a continentwide water shortage. As the piece notes: “…I think we have to stop considering the Great Lakes as the thing that’s going to […]
Read more »Great Lakes Compact: Another Step Forward
September 27th, 2008
Via Circle of Blue, news that the U.S. House of Representatives has blocked diverting any new water from the Great Lakes and forces bordering states to adhere to new conservation standards. This will prohibit any new diversions of the water to other places. As the article notes: “…As of Tuesday, grandiose visions of Lake Michigan […]
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