Water quality trading allows someone like a farmer to get credits for reducing runoff on their land that they can then sell to buyers like wastewater treatment plants, developers, and cities.

About $14 million will be divided among roughly 30 projects targeting excess nutrients and storm water, which feed harmful algae blooms and otherwise degrade water quality.

Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Gary Peters of Michigan have joined with several House members of both parties to introduce legislation requiring the first update of the maps in more than 20 years.

Lake Superior and Lake Erie are expected to break records set decades ago. Records are not predicted for Lakes Michigan, Huron and Ontario, but they're still expected to rise significantly.

Hunting and fishing groups have teamed up to form the Great Lakes Conservation Coalition, which will push for funding of a strategy proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Lake Michigan's water level is expected to be above normal this summer, but isn't expected to hit record levels like Lake Superior and Lake Erie.

The Great Lakes are one of the world's largest sources of fresh water, but many Americans in surrounding cities face a dark irony: They can't afford their rising water bills.

Ballast water is sometimes blamed for introducing invasive species into new waterways - like the zebra mussel, which has cost the Great Lakes region billions of dollars.

The Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp wants to move forward with the Army Corps of Engineers' plans to prevent the fish from entering Lake Michigan through a lock and dam in Joliet, Illinois.

An organization that represents states in the Great Lakes region says governments should push harder to protect water quality through use of "green infrastructure."