Great Lakes Region

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
Chicago flood potential higher than expected

• Flood peaks in the Chicago metropolitan area are higher than they used to be, and they are also higher than estimates currently used by water managers, according to an Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant study.
• The study found that the steady increase in flood discharges in small streams over the past 100 years is due to increases in urbanization and precipitation, with urbanization playing the major role.
• "Estimating future flood peaks accurately is critical in terms of allocating resources to minimize damage from these events," says researcher, Momcilo Markus. "Underestimating or overestimating 100-year flood levels can result in large economic losses on one hand or increased environmental degradation on the other."
• The study shows that these estimates need to be updated. In addition to incurring economic costs in terms of property damage and insurance rates, high flood peaks can be ecologically harmful, which is ultimately costly as well.
• The good news is that storm water managers can design structures, such as detention ponds that lessen the impact of flooding.

Michigan Sea Grant
NOAA Fisheries and Sea Grant collaborate on preservation project

• The Fishtown Preservation Society of Leland received federal funding to protect and improve one of Leelanau County, Michigan's top tourist attractions.
• As part of a White House initiative known as Preserve America, NOAA's Fisheries Service considered proposals from 34 organizations and awarded grant money to eight for the purpose of preserving and showcasing historic and cultural, or "heritage," resources, and, to foster tourism.
• Fishtown Preservation Society is the only group in the Great Lakes basin to receive funding through the program (the $9,000 grant will leverage an additional $50,000 or more in grant funding and "in kind" services).
• Michigan Sea Grant will collaborate with NOAA by providing facilitation and communications services through Sea Grant Extension Director, Mark Breederland.
• "This is a wonderful way to impact many people to more fully understand the history of fisheries in Lake Michigan's freshwater sea, assist with coastal heritage tourism in Leelanau County, and help tell the story of 200 years of science for NOAA" says Breederland.

Minnesota Sea Grant
Sea Grant features enhanced website and free screensaver

• Minnesota Sea Grant's website (www.seagrant.umn.edu) has been updated and substantially enhanced. The sleeker site includes new information, new images, and a screensaver that visitors can download for free.
• The screensaver www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/screensaver features images of Lake Superior and Duluth.
• The site offers easy access to factual information about Lake Superior and water-related topics, such as: Lake Superior water levels and water quality, fish in Lake Superior and VHS disease, aquatic invasive species, maritime transportation, and land use and coastal communities.

New York Sea Grant
Entergy volunteers team up with Sea Grant to protect sand dunes

• Entergy employees, New York Sea Grant and partners joined together in an effort to protect the natural sand dunes of Lake Ontario.
• Entergy Nuclear provided $10,000 to the Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District to help develop a dune trail interpretive guide to the Deer Creek Wildlife Management Area and to hold a Habitat Restoration Day.
• According to Mary Penny, steward coordinator for Sea Grant, "The 17-mile stretch of dunes located along Eastern Lake Ontario hosts numerous rare and endangered plants."
• The dunes help to protect the fragile wetlands and creeks lying directly behind the sand barriers from harsh Lake Ontario storms.
• Members of the group also planted beach grass, a fragile but crucial plant that holds onto the sand and slows the erosion process.

Ohio Sea Grant
Sea Grant and Cleveland TV station develop Lake Erie program

• Ohio Sea Grant is working with WKYC, Channel 3 in Cleveland on a 4-part series on Lake Erie.
• The first thirty-minute special, hosted by Chief Meteorologist Mark Nolan, aired on Saturday, June 30th, and is the first of four programs dealing with the fate and future of Lake Erie.
• The second airs in mid October, followed by specials in January 2008 and May of 2008.
• Part 1 can be viewed at: www.wkyc.com/life/programming/shows/lake_erie
• This website also provides additional interviews with people shown on the television programs.

Pennsylvania Sea Grant
Brown bullhead fish tumor proceedings & manuals available

• The proceedings from the third workshop on brown bullhead tumors hosted by Pennsylvania Sea Grant is now available online, along with the Field Manual for Assessing Internal and External Anomalies in Brown Bullhead and the Manual for the Microscopic Diagnosis of Proliferative Liver and Skin Lesions in the Brown Bullhead.
• The workshop, titled "Development of Standardized Criteria for the Assessment of Brown Bullhead Lesions and Deformities in Areas of Concern Conference," was a continuation of the previous conferences on fish tumors related to Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC).
• As a result of the workshop, participants helped establish recommendations to consistently identify Lake Erie reference sites and determine appropriate delisting targets for the fish tumors or other deformities beneficial use impairment (BUI) in Lake Erie AOCs. These manuals are available at: seagrant.psu.edu/publications/aor.htm

Lake Champlain (VT) Sea Grant
Sea Grant educator extols virtues of rain gardens

• Rain gardens are perennial plantings that catch rainwater runoff from buildings.
• Sea Grant and University of Vermont Extension are working together to teach workshops on how to create rain gardens.
• The bowl-shaped gardens help retain water so that it doesn't drain off roofs, carrying away mulch, dirt and fertilizer residue which can flow into brooks and rivers.
• Last year, Sea Grant worked with the Youth Conservation Corps to complete five rain gardens.

Wisconsin Sea Grant
Sea Grant samples water from space to measure water quality

• The warm days of summer regularly trigger explosions of toxic algae in Green Bay and other Great Lakes waters.
• Using two satellites soaring 435 miles above Earth, a Sea Grant researcher is seeking new perspectives on the unpleasant phenomenon.
• The research will help water quality managers and municipal, industrial, and agricultural officials better understand what causes excessive algal blooms and what can be done to control them.
• Remote sensing cannot replace traditional, in-the-water measurements of water clarity or suspended solids, but it can tremendously multiply the value of those efforts.
• The researcher has so far produced a series of maps of Green Bay, from 2000 to 2006, that are color coded for Secchi depth, chlorophyll-a concentrations, suspended solids, and turbidity.
• The ultimate goal is to deliver near-real-time data and maps via the web. From such data, maps of monthly and yearly averages can be produced, showing recurring trouble spots and, hopefully, improvements over time.