The pipeline will be part of a regional system and is expected to provide untreated water to more than 2,400 square miles.
Federal experts will discuss the causes and potential consequences of low Great Lakes water levels during a Thursday seminar in Ann Arbor that also will be broadcast on the Web.
Water levels across most of the Great Lakes are likely to remain well below average for the next six months, posing continued hardships for commercial vessels and tourist towns that cater to recreational boaters.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation earlier this week creating a $21 million program to deepen Michigan harbors that could become impassable to boats as parts of the Great Lakes hover near historically low levels.
The effectiveness of a long-term plan to heal the ailing Great Lakes could be marred by federal spending cuts, which also could make it harder to cope with low water levels that threaten the region’s economy.
Gov. Rick Snyder will call for spending $11 million this year to dredge Michigan harbors in danger of losing their connections to open water because of low Great Lakes levels.
The U.S. Coast Guard is warning that warmer temperatures over the next few days are likely to cause unsafe ice conditions on Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron are nearly at record low levels because of drought and evaporation.
The U.S. Coast Guard says a freighter that ran aground on the Canadian side of southern Lake Huron has been freed.
A dredging barge that sank in southern Lake Huron earlier this month during stomy weather has been salvaged, and is now at a maintenance dock.