News and Updates

USGS Publishes Updated Interactive Water Quality Dashboard for Great Lakes Tributaries

The updated Interactive Water Quality Dashboard includes data through 2023 and adds chloride to the existing database of water quality variables.

May 5, 2025

Identifying the Great Lakes top ten most impactful aquatic invaders

The Great Lakes are one of the most unique freshwater ecosystems in the world – but are also heavily threatened by biological invaders. Aquatic invasive and nuisance species are the plants and animals from other regions of the globe that accidentally get brought to the Great Lakes, potentially destroying the local ecosystem. Many species pose a significant threat to the Great Lakes environment and economy, from sea lamprey that devastate prized fisheries, zebra mussels that encrust underwater infrastructure, and aquatic weeds that entangle boat motors and swimmers alike.

April 21, 2025

New Dashboard for Collaborative Great Lakes Benthic Habitat Mapping Project

The release of a new tool depicting bathymetric data and benthic habitat mapping for the Great Lakes Basin is released by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.

April 21, 2025

Conservation Trailblazers: Amplifying Water Quality Benefits Through Stacking Practices

As a member of the Door-Kewaunee Demonstration Farms Network and Peninsula Pride Farms, Lee Kinnard of Kinnard Farms partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to be one of the first farmers in the nation to have a denitrifying bioreactor and a phosphorus removal system built in-line on the same tile system within a field.

April 3, 2025

Environmental DNA helps detect new Great Lakes invasive species

Using eDNA to detect new Great Lakes invasive species.

April 2, 2025

Invasive Species Control and Wetland Restoration at Four Mile Creek State Park, New York

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation lead a project funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to control invasive species and enhance wetland restoration at the mouth of the Four Mile Creek.

April 1, 2025

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Achieves its Action Plan III Target with Monumental Remediation Efforts

The recent removal of the 128th Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) marks the completion of a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan III target.

March 31, 2025

Port Clinton Coastal Restoration Project Restores Costal Wetland Along Ohio’s Lake Erie Shoreline

March 2025 - Federal, state, and local agencies celebrate significant progress in Lake Erie’s shoreline expansion through the implementation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration Program and support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

March 13, 2025

Great Lakes Sediment Nutrient Reduction Program Releases a Request for Proposal for Great Lakes Water Quality Projects

On Feb. 28, 2025, the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today issued a request for proposals (RFP) for projects that would help improve Great Lakes water quality by reducing nutrient loads from agricultural watersheds and eroding shorelines and streams.

March 7, 2025

National Park Service assists in improving the Waabizheshikana trail in the second largest Area of Concern in the U.S.

Utilizing funding from GLRI, the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) has supported the City of Duluth, Minnesota, to improve and expand park and trail spaces near historically disadvantaged neighborhoods located along the St. Louis River Estuary. The initial revitalization efforts to improve Waabizheshikana: The Marten Trail will enhance residents’ opportunities to connect back to a cultural and ecologically significant area of the waterfront. Partners are working together to preserve and enhance this trail while promoting awareness of the interconnectedness between Indigenous heritage and environmental stewardship.

January 17, 2025