Advocates for a drinkable, fishable, swimmable Great Lakes will meet Sept. 15-17 at NMC’s Hagerty Center for the Lakebed 2030 conference, an update on collaborative efforts to map the world’s largest available freshwater body.

Lakebed 2030 is a consortium of researchers, policy, governmental and industry partners who seek to fully map the 94,250 square miles of the Great Lakes in high resolution by 2030. Presently, about 17 percent of the U.S. waters are mapped, a 2 percent increase since Lakebed 2030 was formed in 2019. That increase represents about 1,885 square miles.

This lack of information is vital to keeping the Great Lakes drinkable, fishable and swimmable, as well as to the region’s growing blue economy. It also hinders effective management, research and innovation, which are critical given threats like climate change, invasive species, water pollution and more. The conference will bring together Great Lakes experts and stakeholders from around the U.S. and Canada to:

-Focus on high-resolution mapping and bathymetry (shape and depth) data in the Great Lakes.
-Develop a strategy to catalog new and existing lake bed information for shared use, including crowdsourced data from recreational boaters.
-Select the winner of the Great Lakes Blue Tech Challenge, an NMC-led competition to inspire, support, and fast-track early-stage businesses that are developing technologies and solutions for issues impacting the Great Lakes basin.  Three early-stage companies will win $55,000 in seed funding.

NMC Marine Technology bachelor’s degree students contribute directly to the Lakebed 2030 initiative through annual capstone hydrographic mapping projects conducted in partnership with NOAA. Using industry-standard multibeam sonar and hydrographic survey techniques aboard the R/V Northwestern, students collect high-resolution bathymetric data north of the tip of the Leelanau peninsula, a previously unmapped or inadequately mapped area of Lake Michigan. 

These graduates are highly sought after by employers working in the global marine space. NMC also offers professional development courses through the Marine Center and is a lead partner in the Freshwater Research & Innovation Center, set to open next year on West Bay. This collaborative hub will protect freshwater for future generations by uniting education, research and innovation.

The Great Lakes contain more than 80 percent of North America’s surface freshwater and 20 percent of Earth’s surface freshwater. Mapping it completely at high density is estimated to cost $200 million.