SPRING LAKE TWP. — Two bald eagles were swooping in a manner different than what Diane Valk was used to seeing, but the Spring Lake resident thought there was a small animal on the ice that was attracting their attention Sunday morning.

During a local legislative update meeting Friday morning, Sen. Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, shared the story of a recent meeting with a Lakeshore property owner.

Barb Rowe said it’s time for people to take the PFAS threat seriously and become as informed as possible on the chemical compound’s potential effects.

Grand Haven city staff have been working since last spring and summer to deal with high levels of water causing flooding, erosion and more, and they are not alone.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act this week, completing the first step in ensuring that funding for the Great Lakes extends beyond fiscal year 2021.

After the high water levels of the past year, the Grand Haven Department of Public Works staff has been working to take care of the many issues that arose, which now includes two impacted areas of the city.

DETROIT — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District announced Thursday that water levels were higher on all Great Lakes last month than they were in January 2019, and are expected to continue that trend into the spring and summer.

State Rep. Jim Lilly, R-Park Township, introduced a plan to provide support for families affected by high water levels near state waterways earlier this week.

The two largest city-owned Chinook Pier buildings – which have housed shops like Temptations, Barefoot Dave’s, Surf Shop and more – will be taken down; while the smaller building, home to Dairy Creme and Nautical Knots, will be remediated for continued use.

WEST OLIVE (AP) — A group of West Michigan homeowners are fighting a seawall that could prevent two houses from tumbling into Lake Michigan.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Michigan Democrats and co-chairpersons of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, led an effort to urge the Trump administration to allocate at least $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in the fiscal year 2021 presid…

Shoreline erosion this winter has gotten to the point that Phil Jonassen pulls homes off foundations, drags them several dozen yards away from Lake Michigan and leaves them sitting there on blocks, appearing forlorn against the sharp winter wind.

LANSING — State Rep. Jim Lilly, R-Park Township, participated in a roundtable discussion with several colleagues earlier this week, coordinating ideas to address the shoreline soil erosion disaster along Lake Michigan, which has been experiencing record high water levels for the past year.

DETROIT — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit District announced that water levels on each of the Great Lakes began 2020 higher than they started 2019 — a year where many record high water levels were set across the lakes.

A service disruption in the temporary pumping system at the Spring Lake Pump Station led to sewage being discharged into basements and the parking lot of Spring Lake Middle School on Thursday morning. 

Editor’s note: This article is the sixth and final story about topics presented at the 14th annual Water Quality Forum, which was hosted by the county on Nov. 21.

Editor’s note: This article is the first of multiple stories which will be written about topics presented at the 14th annual Water Quality Forum, which was hosted by the county on Thursday. More articles will be printed and put online in the coming weeks.

A length of pipe disconnected from a pump at a wastewater pump station in Spring Lake, resulting in 85,000 gallons of raw sewage being discharged onto the ground and into the nearby Grand River.

ROBINSON TWP. — After a year of work between multiple organizations, the students and staff at Robinson Elementary School will soon return to drinking water from the school’s fountains.

SPRING LAKE TWP. — A homeowner on Ottawa County’s northern-most shore is banking on a seawall and armor stone to protect his property from being further engulfed by Lake Michigan this fall.

Michigan has taken a major step toward regulating dangerous PFAS chemicals in drinking water supplies.

No homes had fallen into Lake Michigan as the result of the latest windstorm, but the danger is far from over.

According to the local health department, Ottawa County has not yet seen a human or animal case of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).

Fragments of long-lost ships are being flung ashore on Michigan beaches. Skeletons of foundered vessels are showing themselves, then vanishing again.

TRAVERSE CITY — Turn off the lights when they aren't needed? Check. Lower the thermostat a few degrees in winter? Maybe. Go full-time vegetarian? Probably not.

A crowd gathered Friday in Grand Haven’s Central Park to discuss what they could do to help save the planet.

SPRING LAKE — As drivers traveled through Spring Lake on Friday afternoon, a group of residents brought the climate to their attention.

GRAND RAPIDS — Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell Generating Complex in West Olive is scheduled to close in 2040; however, members of a nationwide environmental group would like to see the plant closed sooner than that.

Asian carp could survive in wider portions of Lake Michigan than scientists previously believed, according to a new University of Michigan study. The findings could ratchet up pressure on Congress to fund a barrier to prevent the invasive fish from wreaking ecological havoc across the Great …

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) — Federal regulators said Wednesday they will consider extending legal protections to lake sturgeon – prehistoric fish once abundant in the Great Lakes but reduced to dangerously low numbers by overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction.