Group Says IJC Diversion Report "Game-Changing"

<> Group Says IJC Diversion Report "Game-Changing" - [see previous WIMS report] Michigan water and environmental lawyer Jim Olson, President of FLOW (For Love of Water), a Traverse City-based Great Lakes water policy center, said, "The IJC report and the in-depth consultants' report not only document the success of the Agreement and Compact among the provinces and states to ban diversions and control consumptive uses to protect and conserve the waters and ecosystem in the Basin, it also spotlights the importance for governments to consider implementing a new game-changing, public trust principle as a 'backdrop' to safeguard the Great Lakes and citizens -- it will prevent the Agreement and Compact from being undermined by possible political, economic, or uncertain or unexpected natural forces." FLOW's Public Trust Report on the Great Lakes to IJC

IJC Hails Progress by Governments in Protecting Great Lakes from Diversions

<> IJC Hails Progress by Governments in Protecting Great Lakes from Diversions - The International Joint Commission (IJC) commended federal, state and provincial governments in the Great Lakes Basin for making enormous strides toward protecting the Great Lakes from water diversions and managing consumptive uses.  Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes - IJC 2015 Review of the Recommendations from the February 2000 Report – a Report to the Governments of Canada and the United States

Mild winter keeps Great Lakes' water levels up

<> Mild winter keeps Great Lakes' water levels up - Michigan's mild start to winter has Great Lakes levels doing strange things. December saw record amounts of precipitation in many parts of the Great Lakes basin, but in the form of rain and water levels that typically decline stayed constant, or even rose.

Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Newsletter

<> Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Newsletter - In the issue: Meet the new program, project managers - Brandon Road update - Eagle Marsh update - Partner news US Fish and Wildlife Service

Solutions to Lake Erie Algae Blooms, Providing Safe Drinking Water

<> Solutions to Lake Erie Algae Blooms, Providing Safe Drinking Water - The Environmental Law & Policy Center's Executive Director Howard Learner authored an article in The River Network's online publication River Voices [beginning on page 23].

Website Launched to Inform Public About City of Waukesha Diversion Application

<> Website Launched to Inform Public About City of Waukesha Diversion Application - The State of Wisconsin forwarded an Application by the City of Waukesha for a diversion of Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin water -- the first application under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact for an exception to the ban on the diversion of Basin water -- a two-month public comment period will begin on January 12, and a public hearing on February 18. City of Waukesha Water Utility website

EDITORIAL: Microbead ban will ease harm to Lake Erie

<> EDITORIAL: Microbead ban will ease harm to Lake Erie - A new nationwide ban on microbeads should particularly benefit Lake Erie, which has a high density of the plastic pellets as it is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.