The Great Lakes: Unprotected documents how novel rule-making, staff cuts, and dramatic shifts in funding priorities are systematically unraveling a 60-year-old program of safeguards for the region’s rivers, lakes, wetlands, habitat, and drinking water. The government’s neglect sharply increases the region’s vulnerability to water pollution, land degradation, economic disruption and harm to human health.
A Nuclear Shift Buoyed by Billions, and the Waters of the Great Lakes
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. – As a study in troubled operation, the Palisades Nuclear Plant once was ranked by the federal government as one of the four worst-performing nuclear power stations in the country. The 51-year-old facility closed in 2022, joining Big Rock Point near Charlevoix and 11 other nuclear plants decommissioned outside Michigan in what…
Ohio EPA Considers ‘Lowering of Water Quality’ Necessary for Data Center Growth
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering approving a new permit that would allow data centers across the state to discharge untreated wastewater and stormwater directly into rivers and streams, an allowance that is without precedent across the Great Lakes region. With this permit — which also applies to stormwater associated with on-site industrial activity,…
An Obscure Provision In FEMA’s Program To Prevent Disaster Is Making Serious Flooding Worse
LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN — Since its creation in 1979, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been charged with protecting communities from natural disasters. Central to that mission is curtailing serious flooding, the most prevalent and severe weather threat to people and property across all 50 states. That objective, though, is impeded by an old and…
National AI Boom Hits Home as Demand for Power Surges
PLYMOUTH COUNTY, WISCONSIN — On a warm fall afternoon, dairy farmer Chris Kestell pushes through prairie brambles taller than himself, tracing a path overgrown with thickets and swarming with bees as he hikes toward a hidden waterway. Though the route is unidentifiable to the untrained eye, Kestell, 47, has lived here, in the small town…
Momentous Court Decisions Near For Line 5 Oil Pipeline
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – For 72 years, in order to serve as a shortcut for crude oil from production fields in western Canada to refineries in eastern Ontario, Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline has transported 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids daily beneath the forests and wetlands of northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Opened…
Three Great Lakes States at Greatest Risk as EPA Rolls Back Wetland Protections
On Monday, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers proposed a set of new rules that would leave millions of acres of wetlands, small waterbodies, and ephemeral streams across the country unprotected — threatening the drinking water of millions of Americans and leaving crucial habitat and floodplains susceptible to filling. These proposed changes were…
The Next Deluge May Go Differently
In early August, days after thousand-year rain fell on southeastern Wisconsin, officials waded through the devastation’s wake — and liked what they saw.
New Era of Confrontation Between Energy and Water Opens in Great Lakes
With accumulating force and accelerating speed, a new era of electrical generation and power demand is taking shape across the eight states of the Great Lakes basin – and with it come potentially treacherous consequences for the region’s environment and its world-leading supply of clean, fresh water.
Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing
The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water, making them a vital resource for drinking, agriculture, industry, and energy across North America. But they are also at the frontlines of climate change, facing rising temperatures, fluctuating lake levels, pollution, and stressed ecosystems. What happens here offers a preview of global water challenges — from ensuring safe drinking water to balancing economic growth with environmental protection. Paying attention to Great Lakes news is not just about regional concern; it’s about understanding how water security shapes our shared future.
Fresh is a weekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today.
Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every Wednesday.
The Latest
Fresh, February 25, 2026: Proposed Michigan Bill Would Tie State Wetland Protections to a Recently Narrowed Federal Standard
The Great Lakes hold nearly 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater, making them a resource of national and international importance. They power regional economies, support shipping routes vital to global trade, and provide drinking water to 40 million people across the U.S. and Canada. Safeguarding the Great Lakes is not only essential for the communities that rely on them daily, but also for the stability of North America’s environment, economy, and international partnerships.
Fresh is a weekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every Wednesday.
— Christian Thorsberg, Fresh Editor
Weekly Watershed
- A new bill proposed in the Michigan Legislature would redefine “wetland” to match the new federal standard under the Clean Water Act.
- The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have petitioned to challenge a judge’s ruling that the Line 5 pipeline’s new route does not threaten environmental harm.
- A new analysis suggests that every dollar spent on wetland restoration under Ohio’s H2Ohio program yields an eight-fold return in public benefits.
Fresh from the Great Lakes News Collaborative
- Rep. Dingell says rising energy costs for Michiganders driven by Trump administration policies — Michigan Public
- A $10-billion AI data center races ahead in a rural Alberta town, population 9,679 — The Narwhal
- Michigan, Enbridge battle over Line 5 pipeline before US Supreme Court — Bridge Michigan
- Restoring Grayling and Salting Roads — Great Lakes Now
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.
The Lead
Wetland Definitions: A bill introduced in the Michigan House proposes to change the state’s definition of “wetland,” which its authors say has become “confusing, inconsistent, and overly burdensome” for both residents and developers.
“Over and over, I’ve heard from property owners who did everything they were told to do,” says state Rep. David Martin, a Republican and the bill’s primary sponsor, in a statement. “They paid for studies. They followed local zoning. Then the state shows up, tells them their own research doesn’t count, and threatens fines. That is not how government should operate.”
House Bill 5536 would align the state’s definition of “wetlands” with that outlined by the federal Clean Water Act, which recently experienced notable cuts to its authority to consider many wetland ecosystems as “Waters of the United States.”
The landmark Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision in 2022 ruled that the Clean Water Act’s protections only applied to bodies of water that maintained a continuous surface connection to traditional, navigable waters — a rigid order that is incompatible with the naturally fluctuating connectivity of many crucial watersheds. In November, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed adopting this precedent into federal code, a move that leaves millions of wetlands around the country vulnerable to filling.
According to HB 5536, any parcel of land considered a wetland in Michigan must be both “adjacent to a water of the United States” and have a “continuous surface connection with a water of the United States,” unless it is separately classified as a rare or imperiled wetland.
Isolated, ephemeral, or seasonal wetlands would appear to be left unprotected in the state, as they are on the federal level, if the bill is passed.
In a statement, Rep. Martin emphasized that the bill does not intend to weaken environmental protections, but rather make projects for “everyday property owners” easier and less expensive.
“When the rules are unclear, inconsistent, or depend on who shows up from the state, people lose trust,” Rep Martin says. “HB 5536 fixes that by aligning our definition with federal law and establishing clear criteria property owners can understand before they invest time and money.”
In the News
Line 5 Latest: Earlier this month, a judge ruled in favor of a planned $450 million reroute of Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline, which is planned to be built around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northern Wisconsin.
The tribe and other environmental groups had previously challenged the new route’s legality and permits issued by the Wisconsin DNR, citing the project’s potentially detrimental impacts on the environment and their way of life. The tribe has argued that the pipeline would cross roughly 200 waterways and affect 101 acres of wetlands, but Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput Foy ruled that these concerns lacked substantive proof.
“While the Band expresses concern regarding potential impacts, they have failed to provide evidence demonstrating that the authorized activities will, in fact, violate state water quality standards,” wrote Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput Foy. “The fears that they express are fears; they lack evidence showing that these changes will occur and impact water quality.”
Last week, the tribe filed a petition to challenge Judge Foy’s decision.
“Our community and future have been on hold, held hostage by a company that has been playing a full court press offense against us from the beginning,” Elizabeth Arbuckle, Chairwoman of the Bad River Band, said in a National Wildlife Federation statement. “Our only option has been to play defense against one of the most well-funded, expertly staffed and unrelenting corporations in existence, a company which ultimately refuses to recognize our right to exercise sovereign control over the only remaining homeland we have.”
In Context: Momentous Court Decisions Near For Line 5 Oil Pipeline
Looking Ahead
A new study of H2Ohio, the state’s comprehensive plan to improve water quality and mitigate pollution, suggests that its wetland restoration and fertilizer management programs have brought serious economic benefits to the Buckeye state.
The analysis, jointly published by non-governmental organizations Earth Economics and the Nature Conservancy, found that for every $1 spent on wetland restoration, the public receives $8 of flood protection, cleaner water, and recreation improvements, while $2.16 is returned to the state’s economy.
Meanwhile, as part of the plan’s nutrient application program, more than 3,000 farmers have committed to limiting agricultural runoff from 2.2 million acres of land. In 2025, an estimated 550,000 pounds of phosphorus was prevented from entering Ohio surface waters, providing roughly $32 million in health, recreation, and property-value benefits annually.
Launched in 2019 by Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, the H2Ohio program has been lauded by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. As the governor’s second and final term nears its end in January 2027, the two leading candidates for his job appear poised to ensure its continuation.
“I have been an advocate and enthusiastic supporter of H2Ohio,” Amy Acton, a Democrat, told the Toledo Blade. “Access to clean water and sustainable agriculture benefits all Ohioans, especially our farmers. As governor, I will prioritize continuing to fund this critical program and ensure that we are protecting our state’s natural resources.”
A spokesperson for Vivek Ramaswamy, the leading Republican candidate, told the Blade that “while we have not yet had an opportunity to review this report, Vivek firmly believes that protecting Lake Erie is essential to our future and our way of life here in Ohio.”
You can find more stories from the Great Lakes region here.
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