Severe cuts at NOAA would kill Great Lakes data buoy network

ANN ARBOR, MI — Severe cuts proposed at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would shutter a Great Lakes data network which aids fishermen and helps forecast threats to beaches and drinking water intakes.

The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) is facing potential shutdown of its real-time data network of buoys and meteorological towers under a fiscal 2026 Trump administration budget proposal that cuts roughly $1.6 billion from NOAA.

The proposed cuts are detailed in a budget passback memo obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle and other news outlets.

The White House Office of Management and Budget proposes eliminating the Great Lakes buoy system’s parent program, the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), as part of a proposed halving of the National Ocean Service line office budget.

The proposal is part of a broader Trump administration effort to slash the federal budget and workforce which has already resulted in job cuts at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, where GLOS is based.

Former NOAA officials and researchers say the proposed budget effectuates a Project 2025 goal to entirely break up the agency and privatize much of its services.

If Congress approves the proposed budget cuts, GLOS program managers say the buoy and tower network would go offline within a couple months.

“This map is going to go dark,” said Jen Boehme, GLOS chief executive.

The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) uses Seagull, a cloud-based data platform to make data on Great Lakes water and weather conditions freely available.

The loss of an 8-state observation network appears in conflict with goals in the White House OMB passback memo, which says the Department of Commerce is being refocused on “core activities” such as “enforcing trade laws, producing core statistical products, conducting leading edge R&D, and collecting essential scientific observations like ocean and weather data to support navigation and forecasting.”

The memo calls for eliminating functions “misaligned with the president’s agenda and the expressed will of the American people,” and curtailing climate programs at NOAA.

The GLOS nonprofit is almost entirely funded through federal dollars, according to its 2024 annual report. The NOAA IOOS program supplied roughly $3.3 million last year, which was supplemented by roughly $860,000 in infrastructure law grants.

That funding supports deployment of more than 250 of buoys, towers, underwater gliders and high-frequency radar which aids weather forecasting, search-and-rescue operations, maritime navigation, flood warning and harmful algae bloom and alerts.

The system’s nearshore buoys are popular with commercial and recreational anglers, who can “text a buoy” for water temperatures and other conditions.

Its high-frequency radar system in the Straits of Mackinac helps map the speed and direction of currents to aid navigation and improve emergency response.

The observing system’s data is freely available on Seagull, an online dashboard GLOS says is used by anglers, boaters, tour operators, scuba divers, beachgoers, water treatment plant managers, researchers, vessel pilots and cruise ship operators

About 70 percent of the system users are “folks who just want to figure out, ‘is it safe to go to the beach? Can I go out on my boat today?’” Boehme said. “These are tools and observations that aren’t replaceable by the NOAA programs that would remain.”

In Ohio, the buoy network extends inland up the Maumee River watershed and measures nutrients bleeding off farmland, which Heidelberg University researchers use to help NOAA forecast the severity of the annual toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie.

Models used in algae forecasting are housed at GLERL in Ann Arbor. That facility is also facing elimination under the proposed budget, which closes the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

The GLERL lab has already lost 35 percent of its staff this year, according to former staff members who testified before a Michigan Senate committee this week.

Read the full story here: https://www.mlive.com/environment/2025/04/severe-cuts-at-noaa-would-kill-great-lakes-data-buoy-network.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJyXzhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHkPpLx09OI0FeGnqO3IxyQKtNNg1XqEYBqOe5JWcNPxjDObA6mlEbu6SsjbK_aem_Aeo8i7yV6C_8dRqkqCt3aA

Lake Michigan water levels drop below long-term average for first time in a decade

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been monitoring Great Lakes water levels for over 100 years.

“Over this past year, we have noticed Lake Michigan, Huron dip down below long-term average water levels for the first time in a decade,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Megan Royal said.

Adelaide Pointe on Muskegon Lake opened last year with all floating docks to accommodate various water depths.

“When the water level goes down the total draft available from the water level down to the bottom of the lake or the marina changes pretty significantly,” Ryan Leestma, owner and founder of Adelaide Pointe, said. “This is drafted to nine feet deep even at low water. There’s a lot of sand that we took out of here in order to make sure that we had proper depth.”

Leestma noted an increase in dry marina sales as lakefront homeowners face challenges with dock length due to lower water levels.

“We are selling twice as many dry slips as we are wet slips right now. That’s a combination of water levels and the cost of having your own stuff or buying your own dock, or getting a different lift, and the hassle,” Leestma said.

The Army Corps of Engineers forecasts water levels six months ahead and expects a seasonal rise over the next few months, though levels will likely remain slightly below averages throughout the summer.

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