Lake Superior Needs You!

Lake Superior Needs You!

Lake Superior is our source of drinking water, a place for recreation and relaxation, and a healthy Lake Superior supports many aspects of our local economy. Have fun giving back to the places you care about by joining the Superior Coastal CleanUp. 

On Saturday September 17th, work alongside thousands of volunteers from around the globe who will be cleaning beaches, rivers, and waterways in their communities on the same day as part of the International Coastal Clean-Up or Great Lakes Adopt-a-Beach programs. 

Gather information about the amount and types of litter found to make positive changes for our lakes, rivers, and oceans beyond the clean-up. The results: cleaner beaches and data on pollution sources that can be used to develop solutions to pollution problems. 

All clean-up supplies, including garbage disposal, are provided.

Who: All are welcome!

When: Saturday, September 17th anytime between 10am and 3pm

Where: Wisconsin Point, Superior WI. Look for the blue registration table at one of the first parking lots on Wisconsin Point Rd

How: Just show up and register at the blue City of Superior table! All clean-up supplies and a data sheet will be provided. 

Or 

Put together your own clean-up team and select a site to clean up that means something to you! You can clean the site anytime during the week of September 12.

Contact Andrea at 715-394-0392 or crousea@ci.superior.wi.us to register your site and get a clean-up kit prior to the event.

Help us keep our Lake Superior!

Learn more at www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach. 

Seniors Play Lake Superior Jeopardy

Seniors at the Senior Center on Tower played a round of Lake Superior Jeopardy.  The team members had a choice between 5 categories:  Water Use, Lake Superior, Local Waters, Prevent Pollution, What's the Difference. 
Everyone learned more about the local streams and watershed and ways to prevent pollution in our local waters and ultimately Lake Superior.

Here's a photo of a map highlighting our local streams:

Thanks to the local Burger King and McDonalds restaurants for donating food coupon passes.  Environmental Services also brought in prizes ranging from Swedish Fish to fish toys and magnets.


There are many mouths in Superior Bay-  river mouths that is.   Do you know all the local streams?  Storm Drains drain out to local streams which head out to Lake Superior.

Ice Cover and Effects

It's March but with the cold winter ice is still plentiful on Lake Superior.  It's also an opportunity to learn about what the effect will be from more ice on the lake.    In the Twin Ports we have the Large Lakes Observatory and Jay Austin who has researched effects.   http://www.d.umn.edu/llo/
MN Sea Grant has also had research about ice on Lake Superior  http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2006/04/ice_cover_lacking_on_lake.html

I stopped by Brighton Beach yesterday and at least 50 ice shacks were out on the Lake.  Some were pretty far out, too.   How long will the ice last?

Here's a report predicting effects on our summer weather and evaporation rates due to this winter's ice cover.   Cooler summer weather, reduced evaporation rates, less lowering of lake levels due to those factors - these are some of the effects ahead. 
 http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/nearly-frozen-lake-superior-ma/23439393


Here is a list of Michigan experts on Great Lakes ice and its effects.

U-Michigan experts available to discuss near-record Great Lakes ice cover and its implications

ANN ARBOR—Great Lakes ice cover has now increased to 91 percent, creeping closer to the record of 94.7 percent set in 1979, according to the federal government's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. The University of Michigan has several researchers who can discuss the near-record ice cover and its implications.

Frank Marsik, associate research scientist in atmospheric science, can discuss how the ice might affect weather later this year in Michigan. Contact: (734) 763-5369 or marsik@umich.edu.

Derek Posselt, assistant professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, can address how ice cover affects lake-effect snow and rain in the Great Lakes region. His recent research shows that the location of the ice, and not just its thickness, plays a role in determining precipitation levels. Contact: (734) 936-0502 or dposselt@umich.edu.

Andrew Gronewold, adjunct professor of civil and environmental engineering at U-M and a hydrologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, can discuss the impact of ice and cold water in the Great Lakes, how water levels affect shipping and tourism and projects under way to obtain better measurements. Watch a video interview: http://bit.ly/1i8MWzN. Contact: (734) 763-6829 or drewgron@umich.edu.

Dave Schwab, research scientist at the U-M Water Center, says that while this winter has been different than other recent winters, the weather we've experienced falls within the normal range of short-term climate variability for the region. "This winter is unusual compared to other very recent winters, but it may not be so unusual in the long run," he said. "We only have about 40 years of detailed ice statistics for the Great Lakes to work with, which is a fairly short record." Contact: (734) 763-1093 or djschwab@umich.edu.

Dmitry Beletsky, an expert on the hydrodynamics of lakes, can address the impact of Great Lakes ice on lake circulation patterns, current speed and summer water temperatures. "Deep lakes like Superior and Michigan take longer to warm up after a winter with extensive ice cover, and water temperatures will likely remain cooler than normal throughout the year," said Beletsky, associate research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research, a collaboration between U-M and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Contact: (734) 741-2360 or beletsky@umich.edu.

Program Schedules Announced for Numerous Talks and Events

Things are happening here in Superior.  Several conferences and programs are coming up in town here - or nearby in Duluth.  In fact, have you checked out our

February 25 & 26  
Lake Superior NERR and UWS present the St. Louis River Summit at UWS.  It's free. Check out the schedule.HERE

February 25
River Talks at Clyde Iron in Duluth. Organized by WI Sea Grant. It will be on Microscopic Critters affecting health on the St. Louis River. The full schedule for the upcoming months is at this site    HERE

March 28Lake Superior Bi-National Forums Annual Meeting will be at Barkers Island
The schedule is now available. HERE The event is free.

March 28-30
Douglas County Fish & Game League Fair at the Wessman Arena.  Booths, talks, fishing, some free food.  More info. HERE  Ice fishing seminars, training your retriever, and more.  It's a 3 day event.

April 11
Science Night at UWS.  This community event will have interactive booths and learning opportunities. More info. HERE

We're excited about an upcoming Water Fair in mid-March that we will putting on at the Mariner Mall for 5th graders at Cooper and Bryant Elementary Schools.  Local experts from the community will running 10 learning stations for the youth - ranging from Invasive Species to Fisheries work, to watersheds to Bioaccumulation. This is the 2nd year for the fair and this year 40 more students will be participating.

Today was supposed to be our first round of puppet shows with Snow the Bald Eagle and Spotty the Leopard Frog.   Due to the coming snow storm the shows from today are rescheduled to next week where we are already heading out to 6 1st grade classrooms. That will be 9 shows by the end of the month.  It will be fun for all!   If you're local and would like us to come visit from a 10-20 minute program, let us know.

Get out there and take advantage of these learning opportunities about our local rivers and Lake Superior.

Do you live in a watershed?

Yes! We all live in a watershed. The USGS defines a watershed as an "area of land where all the water that falls in it and drains off of it goes into the same place." 
All the water in the city basically ends up in Lake Superior, but do you know where it goes before then? Do you know the name of the stream nearest you? The rain that falls here at the wastewater treatment plant drain directly to Superior Bay of Lake Superior. If you live more inland, chances are your rain water flows into a storm drain connected to a stream before reaching the lake. Here are a couple of resources to determine the stream nearest you:
Streams of Superior (city website)
Lake Superior Streams (Info on streams from Duluth-Superior area)

We are constantly promoting "only rain down the drain" because storm sewers do NOT go through a treatment process. Do you have a storm drain by your home? Think about all the stuff that snowmelt and rain water flushes from your yard into the drain:

• Road salt
• Dog poop that never got picked up
• Lawn fertilizers and other chemicals
• Grass clippings and fallen leaves
• Dirty washwater from washing your car at home

All of these will find its way to pollute our lake. The map above is a bit hard to read, but all the boxed red text shows our impaired waters due to pollution.

Keeping Lake Superior Blue Is Up To YOU!!

Clean Water - clean waterways depend on community efforts - Come chat on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.

The final chat in our 3 part series - Bites on Clean Water - will be on Thursday, October 24 at Big Apple Bagels, 1224 Belknap.  The topic of discussion is how do activities in the community impact our local streams, rivers, and Lake Superior.  Not everyone makes it to the shores of a stream or Lake Superior everyday but with the over 2000 storm drains in our area we are all standing on the shore of streams and lakes via the nearby storm drains carrying materials moved by stormwater runoff down the drain.    What is on our lawns and public spaces can be carried down a storm drain - pet waste, litter, plant debris and other items.  Thanks for helping keep places clean.  Stop in for the discussion Thursday morning.  We'll supply free bagel bites.   You don't need to have attended any of the previous discussions to attend this one. 

-Posted by Wendy Grethen

Pollution Prevention Night - Sept 17 (Tues) at the Superior Public Library

 Sept 17 Program on Pollution Prevention

Come to Pollution Prevention Speaker Night on Tuesday, September 17 starting at 6 p.m. at the Superior Public Library, 1530 Tower Ave.  Guest speakers, displays, and a short game will be part of the evening’s program on pollution prevention.  Information on proper disposal of household hazardous waste, lead and children, e-waste, environmental and human health connection, and more will be part of the evening’s program. National Pollution Prevention Week is September 15-21.   Helping keep water and air clean has benefits for wildlife and for humans.  Preventing pollution can save money and unhealthy consequences. Doing activities such as fixing leaks in your car, not putting medicines down your toilet, properly disposing of household hazardous waste, and reducing use of items containing toxic materials can help reduce pollution in the environment.  The speaker night is free and open to the public.   Come learn how you can reduce pollution in our community.

   For more information, contact city of Superior Environmental Services Division at 715/394-0392. 

Posted by Wendy

Celebrate the greatest lake with Lake Superior Day activities!

Each year, communities around the Lake Superior basin celebrate the lake that gives life to our region on the 3rd Sunday of July.  Learn about Lake Superior and its day below.  For more information on Lake Superior Day events, visit the Lake Superior Binational Forum's website.



Written by Jillian Edwards

St. Louis River Estuary Summit

This week, some of us from ESD attended the St. Louis River Estuary Summit, hosted by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR).  It was a great opportunity to learn about the research people are doing in and around the St. Louis River Estuary and best of all, it was free and open to everyone!
There were a lot of interesting presentations at the Summit, but I think my personal favorite was given by the students from South Shore School District in Port Wing.  The students presented the monitoring work that they were doing as a part of their aquatic biology course.  I was pretty amazed at all the great things they were working on.  It was really inspiring to see how well-informed they are as high school students.  Another great thing I learned from that portion of the program was the work that LSNERR is doing with teachers.  The education coordinator, Deanna Erickson, took teachers on a field trip over the summer and they learned about many aspects of the St. Louis River.  It is a great opportunity for teachers to get their students actively involved with the outdoors. Click here to see more on the LSNERR site.
There were so many interesting presentations.  As a relative newcomer to the area, I felt as though I learned a lot about the history of the area and some water quality challenges that are dealt with here.  I'm sure even people who are involved with some of the research found it extremely beneficial and informative.  So, plan ahead to attend the summit next year!  You'll be amazed at the amount of research and collaboration that's happening in your own backyard!

Thanks to Lake Superior NERR for putting on such a great program!

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards

Where is our Water Going?

Information about water withdrawals-when someone takes surface water (lakes, rivers, etc.) or groundwater (aquifers, wells) and uses it so it is no longer available for others- in Wisconsin for 2011 is now posted to the DNR website.  Even if you’re not someone who gets excited about water information regularly, it is pretty interesting. 

The report breaks down the withdrawals by sector, by month, and by source.  1.9 TRILLION gallons of surface water were withdrawn in 2011, while 213 billion gallons of groundwater were withdrawn (that's a lot of water!).  Power generation was the biggest user of surface water (84.6% of withdrawals).  Water is used in power generation to cool down equipment.  It was interesting to me that another use that came up was cranberry production at 2.2% of surface water.  I had no idea Wisconsin had such a large cranberry industry (see more information here).  It is especially exciting that Wisconsin cranberry growers and the NRCS have been working to conserve water; it would be great to see their percentage and the total amount of water withdrawals decrease! Municipal water suppliers and paper producers took more surface water than cranberry growers, but that was not nearly as surprising to me.

As for groundwater, municipal water supplies were the biggest withdrawal with 42%.  Agricultural irrigation also accounted for a large chunk of withdrawals.

The report details the basin where the water withdrawals came from as well….Lake Michigan's basin had the most withdrawals by far, with the Mississippi River basin coming in second.  Lake Superior basin withdrawals were actually very, very small in comparison.  However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t conserve water up here in Superior! With the Great Lakes at low levels (Lake Michigan and Huron are at all-time lows), now is a great time to think about water conservation.  We did a post previously (see here) with some tips about water conservation.  As we near gardening season, consider purchasing a rain barrel either from our pre-order sale or WLSSD/RSPT’s truckload sale.  March 18^th- 24^th is Fix a Leak Week; go through your home and repair leaks that waste water and cost you money.  Having a huge lake just outside our doors should only make us want to conserve water more. 

 

Check out the DNR report here.

-Written by Jillian Schubert Edwards