Once prized for its medicinal value, the water produced at Waukesha, Wisc., is at the center of a fight with precedent-setting ramifications for using Great Lakes water.

This time the battle is over replacing instead of capturing the city’s water.

Train ridership has reached all-time highs and President Barack Obama has proposed a big boost in federal aid to transportation. Advocates want more direct routes, an increase in the frequency of trains and schedules that better accommodate business travelers. They say paying for public transportation is far cheaper than expanding and maintaining highways.

The Great Lakes region has some die-hard Jack Hanna fans.  Three of the top five finalists in the “Wanna Be Like Jack Hanna” contest are from Great Lake states. The contest required applicants to create a 60 second video explaining why they wanted to be like the famous zookeeper, TV show host and animal enthusiast.
The final applicants from the region are: Rebecca Long from Worthington, Ohio, Bret Muter from Saginaw, Mich. and Cassandra Stull from Delaware, Ohio. Click on their names to watch their video submissions.
The grand prize winner receives …

When more than two inches of rain falls in the Chicago area, the deluge flowing into storm sewers mixes with the wastewater from homes and businesses.   Often there is more water than the metropolitan area’s treatment plants can handle, so the excess is discharged untreated into the Chicago River and its connected waterways.
Such Combined Sewer Overflows – CSOs – are common in Chicago and many other U.S. cities where storm water and municipal wastewater are funneled into the same aging combined sewer pipes. Milwaukee and other cities discharge CSOs into …

Native American tribes in the Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula are seeking to develop renewable energy, but a lack of money is impeding many projects, experts say.

Michigan tribes have a potential for wind energy and wood-based biomass, said Roger Taylor, the principal project manager of the Tribal Energy Program.

The Great Lakes region saw it’s share of diverse environmental challenges in 2010. But they are bound by an attack on a common target – a regional identity that defines a sense of home and that may be the greatest of environmental threats.

We’re introducing a new feature called Photo Friday. Every Friday in Catch of the Day we will post an image  representative of the Great Lakes environment.
You can help by contributing images you have taken. Send submissions to greatlakesecho@gmail.com. Include your name, a short caption and an approximate date that you took the picture.
There are no prizes here. But we look forward to seeing your great work.
Examples of subjects: a great landscape image of one of the lakes, invasive species in your backyard, a fishing trip, a community garden  or  any  environmental …

As rainfall in Michigan gets increasingly severe and erratic, fertilizer prices skyrocket and concern grows over the environmental impact of agricultural run-off, many farmers are returning to an old technique.

Recreational trail lovers should look to a Great Lakes state for the best network of hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and water routes, according to a national nonprofit promoting pathways.
American Trails honored Minnesota with its “Best Trails State” award in late November.
The North Star State has more than 30,000 miles of recreational trails, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. That’s the same length as traveling from the west to the east coast of the United States 10 times.
“Minnesota’s extensive, scenic trails are a major draw for travelers …

Lawmakers voted to keep a fee on gasoline meant to fund pollution cleanups — mostly so they can continue to raid it to fill state budget gaps. The fund was meant to clean the mess from some of Michigan’s 9,100 leaking gasoline tanks.