MichiBlogger

NEW WARSHIP ON LAKE MICHIGAN: Freedom (LCS 1) Begins Builder’s Sea Trials

Freedom (LCS 1), put to sea for the first time, marking the beginning of Builder’s Sea Trials for the first-in-class coastal surface combatant.

The agile 378-foot Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]-led industry team, is conducting Builder’s Sea Trials in Lake Michigan. The trials - which are a coordinated effort between the U.S. Navy and the Lockheed Martin team - will include operational testing of the vessel’s propulsion, communications, navigation and mission systems, as well as all related support systems.

GOOD: Water deal paves way to outlaw Great Lakes diversions

Michigan moved one step closer Monday to signing on to a multi-state compact to keep Great Lakes water from being piped to the thirsty Southwest or elsewhere outside the region.

The Great Lakes Basin Compact had widespread support in Michigan all along but it was a connected issue - regulating water use within the state - that delayed movement.

Now with a bipartisan agreement on in-state water use, lawmakers could approve the compact quickly.

The in-state use deal would mean farmers or businesses seeking to drill new wells pumping 100,000 gallons of water or more per day will have to register with the state, but won’t need approval. Those planning to pump 1 million gallons or more per day will need a permit.

The Great Lakes are crucial, not only to Michigan but to the US and North America in general. A balance needs to be struck between growth and the environment, and this seems like a reasonable attempt.

WHY: Government Suppresses Major Public Health Report

A CDC study of environmental and health data in eight Great Lakes states has not been released as scheduled. The story is on Alternet, but still worth a look.

IN GREAT LAKES FOR ALL: Bush budget shortchanges Great Lakes

President Bush’s recently unveiled 2009 budget shortchanges the Great Lakes, according to an AP report. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition analyzed the budget proposal and concluded that the presidents request of about $300 million for Great Lakes programs was a reduction of over $50 million from what was appropriated for 2008. That means less money for sewage upgrades and the ongoing battle against invasive species.

But he also notes that a lot is probably going to change by the time the 2009 budget comes up for a vote.

NO WAR FOR WATER:

Laugh if you want, but if the U.S. is ever going to invade Canada, it is going to be to gain access to our fresh water supplies. California, Arizona and New Mexico are just three of the states in desperate need of fresh water to grow their crops that feed the U.S. consumer and large portions of the world.

I have followed this situation for 48 years in the world of media, and if you don’t think this scenario has any chance of playing out, I would ask you to try pouring oil on your pancakes and try to make coffee and tea by boiling oil.

I’m a proponent of protecting our water supply and aware of water’s importance, but I also think we’ll be building desalination plants by the dozens before we invade someone to steal their water.

Via Great Lakes Blogger.

SPINVILLE: NESTLE’S HOME TOWN. Great Lakes Blogger notes that Nestle seems to be living by rules where taking water out of a stream doesn’t lessen the amount of water in that stream.

At the next hearing, we may hear that the more water Nestle pumps, the more there is in the stream.

There are so many things that threaten Michigan’s water a little here and a little there. This plan seems set to take more than a little.

GREAT LAKES FOR ALL: Hands off our water!

Tempers flared when the House subcommittee on water resources and environment began discussing a seemingly innocuous proposal to study US water use and availability. As reported in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Representatives Candice Miller and Vern Ehlers vigorously opposed the legislation.

Ehlers said Michigan would probably “call up the militia and take up arms” over this. Seriously.

WATER LEVELS PLUS WIND: Wind drives the water away:

During March, April, May and June, water levels rise because ice is thawing. By the middle of July, water levels peak and begin to decline again because of evaporation.

The area is also going through what experts call a seiche, when wind blows water to one end of the lake…

“This is not something that doesn’t happen on a frequent basis,” he said. “It happens, just a lot of times we don’t notice because it’s not as obvious as it is now.”

The U.S. Coast Guard, however, had to move two of its boats from Marblehead to the Jackson Street Pier in Sandusky, something they haven’t had to do in years. Also in the bay, a wrecked freighter whose frame has remained where it was since it burned to the waterline in the 1930s was revealed as water levels dropped.

Via Great Lakes Ship Watchers.

I’ve changed the ‘Lake Michigan’ category on MichiBlogger to ‘Great Lakes‘, which is what it probably should have been all along. I live in West Michigan and I suspect that the majority of big lake news will still involve Lake Michigan, but our state includes all of them and they’re all very closely linked, so I finally made the switch.

Don’t be confused that the actual hyperlink still says ‘lake_michigan’. Once a category name is assigned it sticks. Rest assured that all five great lakes, plus probably even all the smaller lakes (which are great in their own right) will be covered.

Fresh water is one of Michigan’s greatest natural resources and deserves to be watched a lot more closely than it usually is.

GOOD LINKS: Word of the Week: Freighter