Lake Ontario

A $20 Billion Carp Barrier

Tucked inside the massive $21 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) reauthorization is $9 million for the Corps of Engineers to construct and maintain a permanent barrier that will keep non-native Asian carp from wreaking havoc on Lake Michigan’s ecosystem.  

It is too bad that the only way to stop the ferocious fish has involved nose pinching. While WRDA has attracted some unwanted attention as a piggy bank  for the Army Corps of Engineers, it holds within it one of the most significant programs for the survival and vitality Read More » »

Photos of Ontario

Lake Ontario is the most polluted Great Lake, suffering from industrial pollution and waste disposal that comes from having one of the most populous watersheds along the Great Lakes. You wouldn’t know it, though, by looking at some of the gorgeous photos on Gary Wood’s Flickr stream. You can see how his fellow Canadians are working with New York legislators to restore the wildlife and beauty of the Lake here.

The photos illustrate an important point: While the Great Lakes appear majestic, beautiful, vast and impervious to harm–in fact they are very vulnerable.

Read a report that details the Read More » »

Ontario: The Lakes’ Link to the Atlantic

Although Lake Ontario is the smallest in size of the Great Lakes, it plays an important role—its watershed is the Great Lakes system’s only connection to the Atlantic Ocean.

The watershed includes some of the most impressive and important bodies of water in all of North America. Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and other key Ontario arteries are not only popular and beautiful tourist destinations, but they are also critical to the health of the Great Lakes watershed.

But many of these arteries are clogged with over 50 years’ worth of toxins and contaminants, and they are contributing Read More » »

Bloody Red Mysid Could Destroy Lake Ontario Food Chain

An Associated Press story published recently describes a small but deadly threat to Lake Ontario’s fish and wildlife: Hemimysis anomala, aka The Bloody Red Mysid. The half-inch long shrimp has been found in Lake Ontario and feeds on phytoplankton and zooplankton—in quantities that will threaten the population of young fish that also feed on them if not checked.

The AP’s William Kates writes:

“David MacNeill, a fisheries specialist with New York Sea Grant, said Lake Ontario offers a friendly habitat for the red mysid, which prefers warm, shallow waters with rocky bottoms and likes to swim near the shore and Read More » »

The State of the Great Lakes & New York

Click to view a larger map of the restoration sites.

State of Great Lakes - New York
Fact Sheet (PDF)

The Great Lakes are one of our most precious national treasures. With nearly 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh surface water, they provide drinking water to 28 million U.S. residents. But threats to the Great Lakes basin are making our waters less fishable, closing our beaches to swimming and affecting our drinking Read More » »