Protection of the waters of Georgian Bay is something that resonates with all who live, work and play on the Bay and all living beings that depend on these waters for their very existence. The following video contains a powerful message in this regard from a young member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation.
So far this month, the entire Great Lakes Basin has received 111% of average precipitation, with Lakes Superior and Lakes Michigan Huron at 143% and 119% respectively. More precipitation occurred this weekend primarily in the eastern part of the basin. - Lake Michigan-Huron is 4 inches higher than one month ago, 7 inches above its level of last year, and is projected to continue its upward seasonal trend, climbing 4 inches over the next 30 days. - Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River, and Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, are forecasted to be above average in April. Moreover, the outflow of Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River is predicted to be above average. - The most recent clear satellite image is this one
From Detroit Public Radio - Great Lakes Now on Detroit Public Radio is doing a series on cruising adventures on the Great Lakes. This installment talk about the growth of cruise ship traffic on the Great Lakes and the changes required for infrastructure to accommodate increased ship traffic over the next 10 years. Here a link to the article. -
Despite a well coordinated campaign to ask the Ontario government not to close the ECO this valuable protection for the Ontario environment has been diminished, even though many of its former functions have now been transferred to the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. - For instance, environmental rights for individuals and organizations have been preserved ( http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/downloads/ECO_FAQs_April1_en.pdf ) as are the notification structure and procedures via the Environmental Registry ( https://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/ ). - Anyone wishing to, must now submit applications for environmental reviews and/or investigations directly to the ministry that you want to have conduct such a review, instead of applying via the
On April 9th, GBA was asked to appear as a witness to the Senate Sub-Committee dealing with the new Fisheries Act Bill C-68. This gave us an opportunity to provide further evidence to the government on the negative environmental impacts of open net fish farms operating in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Read our oral submission here… -
Over the past week, temperatures have been warmer than average across the Great Lakes basin. Lake Michigan-Huron is 4 inches higher than it was a month ago, 4 inches above its level last year, and is projected to rise 3 inches over the next 30 days. Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River, and Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, are forecasted to be above average in April. - The most recent clear satellite image is this one from April 10th, which shows that the ice cover on the Bay has retreated further, but the east and north shorelines are still completely covered. All the images since then have been too cloud covered to determine more recent coverage. - Best Regards, - Rupert - Rupert Kindersley - Executive
All of the Great Lakes are currently above their levels of last year. Lake Michigan-Huron is 6 inches above last year’s levels, 3 inches higher than it was a month ago, and is projected to climb 3 to 4 inches over the next 30 days. - Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River, and Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, are forecasted to be above average in April. Moreover, the outflow of Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River is predicted to be above average. - The most recent clear satellite image is this one from April 4th, which shows that the ice cover on the Bay has retreated further, but the east and north shorelines are still completely covered. All the images since then have been too cloud covered to determine more rece
The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario has just released a useful guide on how to how we can all reduce our environmental footprints. Being a Guardian of the Bay also means doing what we can to reduce our individual consumption of carbon based fuels. - Here is a very good fact sheet and here is a full presentation on this topic. -
Lake Michigan-Huron has risen 2 inches over the last month, is 6 inches above the previous year’s level, and is forecasted to rise 4 inches over the coming month. - Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River is predicted to be above average in March. Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River and the outflow of Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River are projected to be above average. - The most recent clear satellite image is this one from March 29th, which shows that the ice cover on the Bay has retreated further, but the east and north shorelines are still completely covered. A mainly cloudy image from yesterday appears to show that more of the ice out in the middle has broken up with some blown across to the west side of the Bay. -
Check out this map, which is updated daily, for flood warnings in your area. -
Since last month, Lake Michigan-Huron has risen 2 inches, is 6 inches above its level of last year, and is projected to rise 4 inches over the next month. - Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River is predicted to be above average in March. Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River and the outflow of Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River are projected to be above average. - The most recent clear satellite image is this one from March 19th, which shows that the ice cover on the Bay has retreated further to about 50% coverage with the warmer temperatures, but the east and north shorelines are still completely covered. A mainly cloudy image from yesterday appears to show that more of the ice out in the middle
A new assessment by the Chicago based Environmental Law and Policy Center warns that Climate Change is expected to trigger more flooding and extreme weather, as water temperatures in the Great Lakes continue to climb rapidly. Read the CBC report here..h -
Before we have another dry summer, GBA has asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to review their forest fire rating system and protocols to reduce the risk of future fires. We do not want to see a repeat of the Henvey Inlet (Parry Sound 33) fire that devastated ~12,000 hectares of ecologically important Georgian Bay coastal habitat and destroyed 6 cottages. Read more… -
