Concerning News from the Integrated Ocean Observing System on the Great Lakes

May 6, 2025

We want to share this concerning news regarding NOAA, the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), and the possible serious effect on the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) and their partners. 

Of course, Canada shares the Great Lakes, responsibility for the lakes and the concern about their future.

Several reports, including the articles below, describe major proposed budget cuts for FY2026. The reported cuts would slash NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) budget, and eliminate the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) entirely.

If IOOS is eliminated, GLOS would also shut down.

What’s at stake?

GLOS is the Great Lakes’ leading source for real-time water data. As an IOOS Regional Association, they have long-standing, trusted relationships across all the Great Lakes states, provinces and the extended region. GLOS works closely with user groups to deliver data and applications that help local businesses and support safety, while also improving weather and marine forecasts via real-time data provided by GLOS. 

Wisconsin Public Radio – WWMT | News Channel 3 – Duluth News Tribune
 
These proposed cuts would force GLOS to remove equipment from the water and shut down partnerships with public and private-sector innovators whose work directly supports emergency response, water quality protection, and economic development. We would lose our vital observing tools in the water and access to trusted, public data about lake conditions – putting public safety, maritime commerce, and environmental protection at risk. 

This critical information protects Great Lakes communities and residents by reducing the risk of weather- and lake-caused damage and loss of life.
 
More than ever, GLOS needs to send a strong message. Here is what they are asking people to do:

Contact their congressional representative and send them a letter of support for IOOS and GLOS by APRIL 24, 2025. Let them know how important this public service is to you and your family and that without it, lives could be lost. 

GLOS supplied a letter template for guidance and invited people to copy and paste the letter into a supplied form, for easy contact. Our Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest readers are not American citizens but we wanted to make you aware of this matter and the steps being taken to protect our shared Great Lakes resource.