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December 18, 2006

Michigan Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Cleanup Grants
Available for 2007

The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) are pleased to announce the release of the 2007 Grant Application Package (GAP)
for Michigan’s Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Cleanup Program (VRSCCP).
A total of $33,758 is available under the program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007.
This includes $25,000 of FY 2007 funds and $8,758 in carry-over funds from FY 2006.
This funding is provided by the MDEQ through fees collected from the sale of the
State’s Water Quality Protection license plates (Public Act 74 of 2000).
The application deadline for Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Cleanup grants is
January 29, 2007.

The Michigan VRSCCP provides small grants to local units of government to help
implement the cleanup and improvement of the waters of Michigan’s rivers, streams,
and creeks. Local units of government may partner with nonprofit organizations or
other volunteer groups to carry out the cleanups. There is a minimum local match
requirement of 25 percent of the total project costs.

The Volunteer Stream Cleanup GAP and application instructions are available online
at www.glc.org/streamclean/app07. The GAP contains detailed instructions,
including eligibility requirements and other information for developing a proposal,
evaluation criteria, and items that should be included with your application.
Applications will be reviewed and assessed by GLC and MDEQ staff, with final decisions
anticipated in March 2007. Contractual arrangements will be facilitated by the GLC,
which is administering the VRSCCP on behalf of the MDEQ.

Once again, the deadline for submitting grant applications under the FY 2007 Volunteer
River, Stream and Creek Cleanup Program is January 29, 2007. If you have questions
regarding the GAP or your application, please contact John Hummer at the Great Lakes
Commission at 734-971-9135 or jhummer@glc.org.

IJC reports Great Lakes water levels up

March 05, 2008

Water Level Changes Mirror Supply Conditions

IJC: Ottawa/Washington - Water supplies to each of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior were above average during February. As a result, water levels increased on each of the lakes except Lake Superior during the month. The level of Lake Superior fell a bit more than average during February, while levels on Lakes Michigan-Huron experienced a small, but welcome, increase. Water levels on lakes Erie and Ontario increased much more than average during the month.

Daily water levels on Lake Superior fell 7 cm during February, 2 cm more than the lake’s average February decline of 5 cm. As indicated in the water level information table provided below, the lake began March approximately 27 cm below its long-term average beginning-of-March level. Nevertheless, it was still 20 cm higher than it was at the same time last year.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron rose by 3 cm during February instead of falling by 1 cm, as it has on average during the month. The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron was 53 cm below average at the beginning of March and 13 cm lower than it was one year ago.

Water supplies to both lakes Erie and Ontario were well above average during February due to precipitation and runoff received early in the month. As a result, daily water levels on these two lakes increased much more than average during February: 21 and 16 cm, respectively, instead of increasing by just 2 or 3 cm as they have on average during the month. Water levels on lakes Erie and Ontario began March above average, but lower than they were at the same time last year.

Six-Month Forecast

With average water supply conditions, the level of Lake Superior is expected to fall slightly during March, while the levels of the other Great Lakes are expected to increase.

For a complete range of probable water levels on each of the lakes over the next six months, please refer to the February 2008 edition of the Monthly Waterlevel Bulletin.

For information please contact:

Canadian Section Office (Ottawa)
Greg McGillis
Public Affairs Advisor
613-947-1420
mcgillisg@ottawa.ijc.org
U. S. Section Office (Washington)
Frank Bevacqua
Public Information Officer
202-736-9024
bevacquaf@washington.ijc.org

Ballast free ship research underway

March, 25, 2008

University of Michigan ‘ballast-free ship’ could cut costs while blocking aquatic invaders

Ann Arbor, Mich. - University of Michigan researchers are investigating a radical new design for cargo ships that would eliminate ballast tanks, the water-filled compartments that enable non-native creatures to sneak into the Great Lakes from overseas.

At least 185 non-native aquatic species have been identified in the Great Lakes, and ballast water is blamed for the introduction of most – including the notorious zebra and quagga mussels and two species of gobies.

This week, the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. will implement new rules designed to reduce Great Lakes invaders. Ships will be required to flush ballast tanks with salt water before entering the Seaway, a practice corporation officials describe as an interim measure, not a final solution.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation that would force freighters to install costly onboard sterilization systems to kill foreign organisms in ballast water. The systems use filters, ultraviolet irradiation, chemical biocides and other technologies, and can cost more than $500,000.

The U-M ballast-free ship concept offers a promising alternative that could block hitchhiking organisms while eliminating the need for expensive sterilization equipment, said Michael Parsons, professor of naval architecture and marine engineering and co-leader of the project.

"There is no silver bullet. But the ballast-free ship has the potential to be an economic winner while addressing the ballast problem in a serious way," Parsons said. Ships take on ballast water for stability when they're not carrying cargo. They discharge ballast when they load freight, expelling tons of water and anything else – from pathogenic microbes to mollusks and fish – that's in it.

Instead of hauling potentially contaminated water across the ocean, then dumping it in a Great Lakes port, a ballast-free ship would create a constant flow of local seawater through a network of large pipes, called trunks, that runs from the bow to the stern, below the waterline.

"In some ways, it's more like a submarine than a surface ship," Parsons said. "We're opening part of the hull to the sea, creating a very slow flow through the trunks from bow to stern. "You're continuously sweeping water through the ship and out," he said. "So you're always filled with local sea water, not hauling water from one part of the world to the other."

The U-M ballast-free ship concept was conceived in 2001 and patented in 2004. It is intended for new-vessel construction only.

With funding from the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute, Parsons and his colleagues recently built a 16-foot, $25,000 wooden scale model of an oceangoing bulk carrier to test the concept.

The work is underway at the U-M Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory's towing tank, the oldest facility of its kind that is owned by a U.S. educational institution.

In addition to helping fine tune the design, results from the latest round of tank tests and computer simulations suggest the ballast-free ship will deliver an unforeseen benefit. The design appears to provide a significant savings – possibly as much as 7.3 percent -- in the power needed to propel the ship.

For a 650-foot bulk carrier hauling 32,000 metric tons of cargo from the Great Lakes to Europe and back, that translates into a roundtrip fuel savings of roughly $150,000. A report on the latest test results, including their economic implications, will be published next month in the Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

In upcoming towing tests, tentatively set for late June, the naval engineers will try to confirm and explain the unexpected power savings. Most of the improvement is likely due to the fact that water expelled from the stern-end of the trunks "smoothes out the flow" into the propeller, allowing it to operate more efficiently, Parsons said. "It's a huge power reduction, a hard-to-believe improvement in power, and we have to convince ourselves that all of it is real," he said.

Building an oceangoing bulk carrier can cost $70 million. The added construction costs of the ballast-free design – for extra hull steel, trunk-isolation valves, piping and welding – would be more than offset by eliminating the filtration system and the ballast tanks. The researchers conclude that the new design would result in a net capital-cost savings of about $540,000 per ship. Combined with the expected fuel savings, total cargo transport costs would be cut by $2.55 per metric ton.

"It seems that, compared to other ballast treatment systems, it's a viable alternative," SUNY Maritime College engineer Miltiadis Kotinis said of the ballast-free ship concept.

"We have proven that the technical part is feasible and that it can be applied to new vessel construction," said Kotinis, a collaborator on the project and a U-M alumnus. "And we have also shown that, regarding the economics, it can reduce the operating cost and reduce or even eliminate the introduction of non-indigenous aquatic species."

For more information on the U-M Marine Hydrodynamics Lab, visit: www.engin.umich.edu/dept/name/facilities/mhl/
U-M Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: http://www.engin.umich.edu/dept/name/name.html

Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council

Events

Michigan Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Cleanup Grants Available for 2007

IJC reports Great Lakes water levels up

Ballast free ship research underway

Michigan Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Cleanup Grants
Available for 2007