Great news for Minnesota and the Great Lakes! The Great Lakes Compact has nearly passed its last hurdle. The eighth and final state legislature approved the Compact last Thursday. Signatures by Pennsylvania’s and Michigan’s Governors will complete the ratification process by all participating states and Canadian provinces. Now the next move is for Congress to enact the Compact into law. (more…)

With the news last week of the two final Great Lakes states passing the Compact (the governors of MI and PA are expected to sign it after lawmakers recently passed it in both states), it seems that the final showdown over the agreement has now moved to Congress.

But before we all turn our full attention to congressional ratification of the Great Lakes Compact, we should check in on the oil drilling debate. (more…)

You know what they say about imitation and flattery.

In 2007, Minnesota led the effort to provide uniform protection for new or expanding water usage within the Great Lakes basin, by being the first state in the region to endorse the Great Lakes Compact.

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A new report from the Healing Our Waters coalition summarizes potential impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes region. It also details how proposed Great Lakes restoration legislation in Congress could help the Lakes buffer themselves from some of these effects.

This is a good news, bad news story. It’s good that demand for wind energy is booming in the region. It’s good that there is a benefit to the port. It’s also not as good that Minnesota is not manufacturing all or many of these components. And the more oceangoing vessels dock in Duluth-Superior, the greater the risk of invasive species introductions. But Congressman Jim Oberstar has, at least, guided ballast water control legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives.

This summer, Minnesota families who want to know if their favorite Minnesota lake is clean enough for swimming and eating fish caught in that lake have an easy way to find out – www.CheckMyLake.org.

Powered by Conservation Minnesota, the new website is a user-friendly way that Minnesotans can find out whether their favorite lakes are clean or polluted – or haven’t been tested yet. The site relies on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)’s database but makes the information easy to access and comprehend.

By going to http://www.checkmylake.org, the website’s users can either type in the name of a favorite lake or type in a county name and choose from among a list to find out whether lakes have been tested and what the results show.

According to the MPCA, nearly half of lakes tested are polluted. More troubling, for every lake MPCA has tested, there are 4 more that the agency hasn’t tested.

Hats off to the mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan for submitting this question to the Republican You Tube debate: 

YouTube link to: video home

The word from National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is that Illinois officially became the second state to adopt the Great Lakes Compact today when the Governor signed the bill into law. For more info check out the NWF release on Illinois Compact Signing (pdf).

Might Lake Superior be approaching a record low this fall because the shipping industry has been using it to water down federal legislation designed to keep invasive species out?

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The efforts to create fair and consistent rules for responsible Great Lakes water use has continued on since Minnesota ratified the Great Lakes Compact in February.  Here’s a quick status update from the other seven Great Lakes states:

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