This post includes a review of the 2023 season and news highlights from around the Great Lakes region for 2024.
In 2024, an array of challenges continue to impact the Great Lakes region, including climate change, pollution, invasive aquatic species, economic pressures, and others.
A lack of ice on the Great Lakes has gotten a lot of attention from scientists in the first months of 2024. Great Lakes ice coverage was measured at 2.7 % on February 11, 2024, according to NOAA Research.
Water quality, availability, and use are important issues to the region. The Great Lakes contain about one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply and nine-tenths of the U.S. supply. The system is a vital source of drinking water for more than 40 million people in the USA and Canada.
A report released by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) finds that 40.8 billion gallons of water per day were withdrawn from the Great Lakes basin in 2022, representing about a 3% decrease from 2021 withdrawals.
Two U.S. Coast Guard sectors have been renamed for 2024. Sector Buffalo is now Sector Eastern Great Lakes, The Sector Headquarters are located on Lake Erie near the mouth of the Buffalo River in Buffalo, New York. Sector Sault Ste. Marie was renamed Sector Northern Great Lakes and is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The Philip R. Clarke was the last ship through the Soo Locks for the 2023-2024 Great Lakes navigation season. Located in Sault Ste Marie, MI, on the St. Marys River, the locks connect Lake Superior to the Lower Great Lakes. The Soo Locks will reopen on Monday, March 25, 2024. The Visitor Center will reopen May 1, 2024.
U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved 81.4 million tons of cargo in 2023, according to Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced port improvement projects under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a PIDP project will complete Phase 2 of the Agricultural Maritime Export Facility. When completed, the project will improve efficiency by expanding grain storage capacity for staging inbound and outbound grains by over 1.3 million bushels.
In January 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District announced that a habitat restoration project along the Buffalo River near Katherine Street has been completed.
The $2.7 million project, funded by the EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, was the final habitat restoration project required to complete management actions before delisting the Buffalo River Area of Concern.
USACE Buffalo District has also awarded a $6.3 million contract for repairs to the Vermilion Harbor West Pier on the south shore of Lake Erie.
Repairs at the south end of the west pier will include installation of a soldier pile wall and sheet pile lagging connected to subsurface rock and bedrock, and re-installation of cut stone to form revetments. Construction is scheduled to begin in May and be completed by fall 2024.
USACE Buffalo District completed $1.2 million in repairs to approximately 900 feet of the west pier from the beach to the north wrap in 2023.
On February 15, 2024, officials from the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth Coast Guard District and Canadian Coast Guard Central Region signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on Great Lakes icebreaking and maintaining aids to navigation, including the main connecting navigable waterways, Georgian Bay, and the shared portion of the St. Lawrence River. This new and updated MOU combines existing MOUs between the two agencies that have been in place for the last ten years.
In March 2024, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), the Great Lakes Commission (GLC), and International Joint Commission (IJC) formally signed the first-ever memorandum of understanding (MOU) between them.
The agreement sets a clear path for advancing the commissions’ existing shared goals and objectives, such as developing a Great Lakes science plan, coordinating science vessel activities, and promoting annual Great Lakes Day events.
Also in March, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released a bulleting regarding the updated Great Lakes Fishing Decree. Updated guidelines for co-management of fishery resources in parts of Michigan’s Great Lakes are now in effect for the next 24 years. The new Great Lakes Fishing Decree was approved Aug. 24, 2023, by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Supporters of the Great Lakes gathered in Washington, D.C., from March 5-7, 2024, for the Great Lakes Commission semiannual meeting and Great Lakes Day on the Hill. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, leadership and staff attended various engagements throughout the week.
On March 8th, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District began dredging in Muskegon Harbor to remove about 133,000 cubic yards of sediment from the federal navigation channel. The project marks the start of the 2024 Detroit District dredging season on the Western Michigan shoreline of Lake Michigan to maintain Great Lakes navigation for commercial shipping to harbors along Western Michigan.
The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan opened the Poe Lock to all marine traffic at 6 p.m. on March 22, marking the start of the 2024 Great Lakes shipping season.
The park and viewing platform were open until 8 p.m. to allow visitors to watch the first ship of 2024 pass though the Soo Locks.
March 22 was also the opening day of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System’s 66th navigation season.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) joined its partner, the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), at the opening ceremony in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
The 729 foot M/V Algoma Sault, a Seawaymax self-unloading bulk carrier, was the first ship to transit through the lock in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
In March, The binational Lake Erie Committee (LEC), composed of fishery managers from Michigan, New York, Ohio, Ontario and Pennsylvania set total allowable catches (TACs) for 2024 of 12.858 million walleye and 6.554 million pounds of yellow perch.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse attracted large numbers of visitors to the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Several cities in the Great Lakes region were in the path of totality including Cleveland, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester.
The 2024 Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission was held June 4-6, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario.
On April 11th, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the agency and its federal partners would be seeking input from the public on the draft Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan IV. The latest plan outlines the goals and objectives of the GLRI for the years 2025 to 2029. Input will be accepted until May 24, 2024.
In June 2024, Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary was designated as America’s 16th national marine sanctuary. Adjacent to New York’s Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga and Wayne counties, the 1,722-square-mile sanctuary aims to protect maritime assets and provide new opportunities for research, education, recreation, and maritime heritage-related tourism in Lake Ontario’s coastal communities.
In December, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced an investment of over $350 million in infrastructure upgrades. The investments, which will span approximately three years, include more than $170 million in the Montreal to Lake Ontario (MLO) region and $180 million in the Welland Canal region.
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