1- Increased funding for Great Lakes restoration and clean water are on tap for 2014.

A spending bill released this week by Congress includes more money for two big Great Lakes programs.

That includes $15 million more for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The bill provides $300 million for the Initiative, up from $285 million in 2013.

Also, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund is set to receive about $1.4 billion this fiscal year, about $70 million more than in 2013. The figures are according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is aimed at cleaning up toxic pollution, restoring fish and wildlife habitat, fighting invasive species, and reducing runoff from cities and farms.

The Clean Water fund goes for low-interest loans for cities to upgrade aging sewers.

Michigan and other Great Lakes states would receive about $530 million under the spending bill (see pages 32 and 37).

Deep cuts to the programs had been proposed last year, the Detroit Free Press notes.

Also under the spending bill, the Saginaw River is due to receive $3.8 milllion for dredging and maintenance, according to The Detroit News.

2- Delta College wrote the book on sustainability.

Actually, a Delta coordinator has helped produce a new book called “Green Book: Creative Sustainable Action.”

Artwork and readings from the book are to be featured in a Jan. 31 event at a downtown Bay City business.

The book was produced and published in collaboration with Linda Petee, sustainability coordinator at Delta College, and designer Michael Glowacki.

It’s described as “a gathering of imaginative, artistic, and resourceful actions that give credence to our ability to make a difference.”

Printing was funded through a Delta College Distribution Committee Grant.

A volume 2 is already being planned.

– Mr. Great Lakes, as heard at 9 a.m. Fridays in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM NPR.