Great Lakes Commission Releases Report on Uses of Great Lakes Water in 2020

Contact: Beth Wanamaker – 734-396-6082beth@glc.org

Ann Arbor, Mich. – A report released by the Great Lakes Commission finds that 37.8 million gallons of water per day were withdrawn from the Great Lakes basin in 2020, a close to 3% decrease from 2019 withdrawals. According to the 2020 Annual Report of the Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database, thermoelectric power production, public water supply, and industrial use were the primary water use sectors. Only 5% of the total reported water withdrawn was consumed or otherwise lost from the basin.
The report’s findings were shared at the December meeting of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Compact Council. Since 1988, the eight states and two provinces in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin have submitted water use data to the Great Lakes Commission. The GLC compiles and summarizes these datasets into an annual report, which is presented to the Regional Body and Compact Council.
“The water use data published annually by the Great Lakes Commission helps to ensure that regional decision-makers protect and use the waters of our Great Lakes wisely,” said Timothy Bruno, Great Lakes Commissioner, chief of the Office of the Great Lakes at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and designated chair of the Regional Body. “With the growing effects of climate change and extreme weather on the basin, carefully managing our resources will be even more critical in the years to come.”
To read the report, visit waterusedata.glc.org.

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The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.

Glccomm is a service of the Great Lakes Commission. Visit us at www.glc.org

(PAST) Virtual Harmful Algal Bloom Research Symposium

January 6-7, 2022, the Algal Bloom Action Team hosted a free Virtual Harmful Algal Bloom Research Symposium.  Last year’s event brought together over 890 educators and researchers from across the US to hear the latest HAB research and discussed ongoing outreach efforts.

This year’s  symposium featured emergent harmful algal bloom (HAB) research and provided a venue for moderated discussions regarding HAB research, outreach, and how information dissemination can be improved.

Symposium Presentations

This event has passed. You can view all information regarding the symposium at the link below.

SYMPOSIUM INFORMATION

(PAST) 2-3PM, November 9 – Geothermal Illinois: Resilience Winter Webinar Series

Geothermal Energy: Federal Energy and Water Sustainability Requirements

Energy Storage, Disaster Resiliency, and Sustainability

Federal Models in Resiliency and Sustainability: At home and Abroad

** This event has passed. You can view the slides, recording, and find more information at the links below! **

Slides: https://uofi.box.com/s/wa5h0gc3g1rl9n9htlzvl3pbzijn1re9

Recording: https://youtu.be/2D31Ay1eeo8

Other links:

https://geothermal.illinois.edu/

https://www.sustainability.gov/

To subscribe to receive information on further geothermal webinars/programs: https://groups.webservices.illinois.edu/subscribe/148913


Unlike the sun and the wind, geothermal energy resources are located underground and not commonly visible or exposed to disaster. This resiliency makes them a valuable untapped resource. University of Illinois Extension, in collaboration with the Illinois Geothermal Coalition, is providing a webinar series this winter with expert testimony on the value, sustainability, and policies surrounding geothermal energy.

This will be the first part of an ongoing webinar series.

View the announcement post on the Illinois Geothermal Coalition website here.

View the full event posting and register here.

Agriculture

Reports

Published Materials

Ng, Tze Ling; Wayland Eheart, J.; Ximing Cai; John B. Braden; George F. Czapar, 2012, Agronomic and Stream Nitrate Load Responses to Incentives for Bioenergy Crop Cultivation, Reductions of Carbon Emissions and Fertilizer Use, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 140:1, 112-120.

Ng, Tze Ling; Wayland Eheart, J.; Ximing Cai; John B. Braden; George F. Czapar, 2011, An Agent-Based Model of Farmer Decision-Making and Water Quality Impacts in a Watershed Under Markets for Carbon Allowances and Second-Generation Bioenergy Crops, Water Resources Research, 47:9, W09519.

Aquatic Ecology

Reports

Published Materials

Kalscheur, K.N.; Miguel Rojas; Christopher G. Peterson; John J. Kelly; Kimberly A. Gray, 2012, Algal Exudates and Stream Organic Matter Influence the Structure and Function of Denitrifying Bacterial Communities, Microbial Ecology, 64, 881-892.

Drinking Water Treatment

Reports

Groundwater and Aquifers

Reports

Published Materials

Reed, Patrick; Barbara Minsker; Albert Valocchi, 2000, Cost Effective Long-term Groundwater Monitoring Design Using a Genetic Algorithm and Global Mass Interpolation, Water Resources Research, Vol. 36:12, 3731-3741.