Great Lakes News Collaborative

Thanks to the Clean Water Act, the Rouge is no longer a dumping ground for industrial waste. But its gains are fragile and incomplete, with contaminants still soiling the river bottom and the fish that returned to its waters.

Some call it prom night for amphibians: When warm rain falls in early spring, Michigan’s normally-elusive salamanders and other species gather at ephemeral wetlands to dance in the dark, looking for a mate.

A new phase of restoration along polluted areas stretching from Midland to Saginaw to Bay City and beyond is up for public scrutiny.

A new report suggests Michigan and Ohio will fail to reduce nutrient runoff by 40 percent as agreed upon.

Outdated federal water laws and chemicals that were approved for industry without assessing for risk leave Ann Arbor and other communities struggling to ward off water contaminants before they foul drinking supplies.

Some Democratic lawmakers see a bill to declare a human right to water as a first step toward broader efforts to end the water shutoffs that plague low-income Michiganders.

Rivers and lakes are becoming saltier while law and practice limit effective responses.

Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes. One group is urging Michigan, other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to coordinate efforts to make the Great Lakes basin more resilient to those changes.

On Jan. 25, Bridge Michigan environment reporter Kelly House will moderate a Zoom discussion about the priorities for water in the 2023 Michigan Legislature.

The century-old dams are expensive to maintain, generate little energy and are generally harmful to rivers and native fish. But their reservoirs bring boaters, visitors and lake houses that help support small communities.

Democrats and Republicans, hunters, fishers and birding groups want Michigan to invest $30 million in federal funds for wetlands to help reduce algal blooms in Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay.

Too much waste spread on too little land causes worst of Michigan’s water pollution.

Run-off promotes toxic algae blooms, but farmers and other phosphorus producers are reluctant to alter practices.

Bridge is part of Great Lakes News Collaboration, which won the US Water Prize for its examination of Michigan’s infrastructure crisis.

Water sampling finds no reduction in bloom-producing nutrients.

Billions spent on strategies to limit nutrient pollution that don’t work.

The blooms are a threat to drinking water, beaches and our way of life. Join a Zoom discussion Sept. 14 to learn what is being done.

Cleared of pollution and debris, Muskegon again sees lake as a virtue.

Bridge Michigan reporter Kelly House moderated a Zoom discussion with three experts about the impact of climate change on the Great Lakes region.

The seabird, which feasts on alewifes in the Great Lakes, is thought to be particularly susceptible to spreading disease because they nest closely together.