Schoolship Year in Review This Wednesday

The Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) will present a seminar that focuses on the work of the Schoolship Inland Seas and the current ecological status of Grand Traverse Bay at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, December 12th, at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The program will be presented by Tom Kelly, Executive Director of ISEA. This seminar is free and open to the public.

Advanced Invasive Spieces Field Course Students (teachers) in the Straits of Mackinac

During the 2012 navigation season, ISEA’s 77 foot schooner Inland Seas sailed the waters of Grand Traverse Bay and northern Lake Michigan, visiting 13 ports with students from all across the state of Michigan. Together with the schooner Manitou, ISEA provided shipboard science programs for 4,175 students in 2012. Since its founding in 1989, ISEA has sailed with 94,609 students and teachers.

The major findings this year relate mainly to the continued impact of invasive species on the lower food web in Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan. The round goby, an invasive fish, dominated the forage fish community in the near shore waters. Water clarity continued to increase, largely due to particle filtering by quagga mussels, which have largely replaced zebra mussels in Lake Michigan. Kelly will also discuss the recent lowering of lake levels and the prognosis for 2013.

Hope to see you there!

Freshwater Summit in Traverse City, October 26

The Freshwater Summit will be held on Friday, Oct. 26 from 9 a.m-4 p.m. at the Hagerty Center, 715 E. Front St. in Traverse City.

Preregistering is strongly encouraged, as the Summit usually sells out. Walk-ins cannot be guaranteed.
The registration deadline for the fifth annual Freshwater Summit is Tuesday, Oct. 16. Click here to register online. The cost is $30, which includes lunch.


If you cannot register online and want to pay by credit card, call Denise Baker at 231~935~1514 ext. 4. If you prefer to pay by check, mail a check payable to the Watershed Center, postmarked by Oct. 15, to 13272 S. West Bay Shore Dr., Traverse City, 49684.

This year’s theme is Our Changing Great Lakes. Highlights include:

•Dave Ulrich, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative~Change the Great Lakes for the Better

•Ralph Bednarz, Michigan DEQ~Lakes Assessment Survey•Guy Meadows, Ph.D., Great Lakes Research Center~Secrets Beneath Lake Huron

•Dr. Dave Hyndman, MSU~Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Climate Change

•Matt Herbert, The Nature Conservancy and Randy Claramunt, MDNR~Restoring Critical Fish Spawning Reefs

You’ll also learn about Boardman River dam removals, inland lake fish shelters, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, clean boating and more!

You can download a complete agenda soon. Agendas will also be distributed at the Summit. Please note that agenda may be subject to change.

If your lake association is a member of the Network of Lake Associations, you can send two representatives free, but you must register all names by October 16 with Denise Baker at dbaker@gtbay.org.

If your organization or business would like to have a booth, please contact Denise Baker at dbaker@gtbay.org by October 16. Non-profit booths are $50, and business booths are $200. You must pay an additional $30 for lunch for each person staffing your booth.

The Freshwater Summit is generously sponsored by AMEC, Cambria Suites and Great Lakes Environmental Center.

The Freshwater Summit is co-hosted by the Watershed Center, NMC Water Studies Institute, Michigan Sea Grant, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Resource Alliance, Grand Traverse Conservation District, Inland Seas Education Association, Network of Lake Associations, Rotary Water Committee and Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

The Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing - Presentation Monday at Leelanau Govt. Center

Dr. Grenetta Thomassey, Program Director at Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council will speak at the
Leelanau County Government Center Community Meeting Room Monday, October 17th, From 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Fruit, cheese and beverages at 5:00 p.m.

Free and open to the public

RSVP appreciated, call (231)256-9812 or email Karen at: khall@co.leelanau.mi.us

Dr. Thomassey will discuss:

 Where the millions of gallons of water used in each fracking well comes from

 What chemicals are added to the water for the fracking process

 Where the wastewater from fracking goes

Saving the Great Lakes Forever” Conference kicks off May 6

People from around the entire Great Lake Basin will be gathering for the 2011 Conference “Saving the Great Lakes Forever” which kicks off on Friday, May 6, at 6:50 p.m. at the historic State Theater in downtown Traverse City.

Hosted by the Flow for Water Coalition, the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute at Northwestern Michigan College and Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, the conference will focus on learning about the abuses and threats facing the Great Lakes. The conference will also provide solutions to stop these threats and to protect the citizens, communities, local agriculture, and businesses who depend upon the waters of the Great Lakes Basin.

Friday night's kick-off will feature a presentation by Maude Barlow, internationally recognized water advocate and former Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Ms. Barlow is the author of 16 books. Her address will offer a unique perspective on how each of us living within the Great Lakes Basin need to come together to protect the waters of the Great Lakes.

A screening of the award winning documentary “Tapped”, an unflinching look at the plastic bottled water industry, will follow Ms. Barlow's presentation and the evening will conclude with an afterglow party in the “Dome” at the Park Place Hotel for networking, live music, and refreshments.

The conference continues on Saturday, May 7, at Milliken Auditorium and Scholar Hall on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. Welcome and introductions begin at 8:45 a.m.

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch and one of the world's leading experts on water, energy, food and the environment, will speak at 9:00 a.m. Her address will be followed by breakout workshop sessions on a variety of water-related hot topics. The event will conclude with an expert roundtable discussion: Solutions for Saving the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin.

Tickets are $25 per person for the 2-day event or $40 for two.

Tickets can be purchased on-line at http://www.flowforwater.org./

Waste Water Education 501(c)3 Presents Web-Seminar on Pharmaceuticals in Water

On Wednesday December 1, 10 am EST -


Prescription For The Future?  

The presenter is Herbert T. Buxton - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Coordinator.

The second seminar in this series, examining the potential and realized impact of pharmaceutical products in the environment, will be presented via live internet video feed at 10 am EST on December 1.

There is no charge for attending this internet seminar but space is limited. To register contact info@wastewatereducation.org - or call 231 233 1806.

It will run until approximately 11.30am. The meeting will stay open for discussion afterwards.

The presentation is free to the public - you may attend via your own computer at home or office or can attend in person at the Benzie County Health Department - http://www.bldhd.org where the event is being sponsored by the Benzie County League of Women Voters. This option is offered for people who want to discuss the issue afterwards or don't have a high speed internet service.

Content will be a review of recently completed and current research in progress, on the presence of, environmental and public health impact of, pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater, drinking, surface and ground water.

There is growing concern about the long term effects of PPCPs on human health and the natural environment - through a series of science based seminars WasteWater Education 501(c)3, seeks to provide some clarity to the risks involved.

What's in Our Wastewaters and Where Does it Go?

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has implemented a national reconnaissance to provide baseline information on the environmental occurrence of "emerging contaminants" such as human and veterinary pharmaceuticals (e.g., fluoxetine and lincomycin), industrial and household wastewater products (e.g., p-nonyphenol and triclosan), and reproductive and steroidal hormones (e.g., equilenin and progesterone) in water resources. 142 streams, 55 wells, and 7 effluent samples were collected across 36 states as part of this national reconnaissance effort. A majority of the sites sampled were those suspected to be susceptible to emerging contaminants from animal or human wastewaters. This national reconnaissance of emerging contaminants is the first of its kind in the United States. (Source: http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/whatsin.html )

Whether your drinking water comes from a private well and aquifer or via a municipal system; whether you have a private onsite wastewater system or connect to a municipal sewer; if you live by an ocean, a lake or a stream - traces of pharmaceutical products have been detected. When prescriptions and over-the-counter drug purchases now run in the billions annually it's not surprising. The general misconception is that the body consumes the total dose - which is far from true. In addition, some municipal wastewater treatment process can increase the toxicity of flushed medications and cannot effectively remove them prior to discharge to a local lake or river.

Although the amounts are measured in parts-per-billion or million, what is the long term accumulative effect on people and the environment? USGS lead research attempts to provide some answers.

To register contact info@wastewatereducation.org - or call 231 233 1806.

The first seminar in this series, Al Alwan, Ph.D.Water Quality Branch, Water Division, Environmental Protection Agency Region 5: Alternative Approaches to Address Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP) Environmental Fate . - may be viewed at this link. -http://www.wastewatereducation.org/eventsarchive.html