Download the report: Institutional Controls for Groundwater Management: Long-Term Costs and Policy Impacts The true economic, ecological, and social costs of relying on land use restrictions to address groundwater and soil contamination instead of active clean up are likely significantly higher than generally estimated. That is a conclusion of a new report submitted to the… Groundwater Contamination”>Read more »
Traverse City, Mich.— On Friday, August 2, 2024 FLOW submitted comprehensive legal and technical comments (PDF) to the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment (“EGLE”), calling on EGLE to deny a groundwater discharge permit for the Fremont Regional Digester owned by Generate Upcycle, a Delaware corporation. The Coalition of signatories includes Fremont area… groundwater-discharge-permit-for-fremont-regional-digester/" title="ReadFLOW Coalition Calls on EGLE to Deny Groundwater Discharge Permit for Fremont Regional Digester”>Read more »
FLOW will host a livestream event – Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible on World Water Day & Every Day – on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from 12 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. EST. The online session will offer perspectives on the critical importance of our groundwater resources and the work of the Michigan Groundwater Table, which is convened by FLOW.
For over three years, FLOW has analyzed and reported on one of the biggest gaps in Michigan’s environmental protection safety net—groundwater protection. Now, during National Groundwater Awareness Week 2021, we are reaffirming and expanding upon our call for stronger state groundwater protection policies and actions. We’re also releasing our new report, “Deep Threats to Our Sixth Great Lake.”
What’s the natural resource that is critical to the survival of billions of human beings but invisible to the vast majority of them? The answer is groundwater, both in Michigan and globally. Out of sight but not detached from our economy and health, groundwater plays a critical role in Michigan communities, supplying 45 percent of Michigan’s population with drinking water. Yet groundwater is a neglected and much-abused part of our state’s natural endowment. This year, groundwater will be in the spotlight on the annual World Water Day, March 22.
Read the full article in The Province here Amid growing controversy around B.C.’s lax groundwater regulation, an American lawyer who waged a 10-year winning court battle against Nestlé is watching to see how the province modernizes its century-old Water Act. The Province’s reports last week on Nestlé and other companies extracting B.C. groundwater without regulation… groundwater-says-michigan-water-lawyer/" title="ReadThe Province: B.C. should enshrine ‘public trust’ principle to protect its groundwater, says Michigan water lawyer”>Read more »
Protecting the Vital Resource Beneath Michigan’s Ground Watershed art by Glenn Wolff. 2023 Report—Making Polluters Pay: How to Fix State Law and Policy to Protect Groundwater and Michigan Taxpayers On October 24, 2023, FLOW published Making Polluters Pay: How to Fix State Law and Policy to Protect Groundwater and Michigan Taxpayers (PDF) to provide the… Groundwater: The Sixth Great Lake”>Read more »
Here’s a riddle: what resource is critical to our public health, environment and economy and invisible to the naked eye? That should be easy. The answer is groundwater. By its nature out of sight, and therefore out of mind, groundwater is an indispensable resource in Michigan and around the world, but frequently wasted and polluted… groundwater-awareness-week-2024/" title="ReadGroundwater Awareness Week: March 10-16, 2024″>Read more »
A resource invisible most of the time to Michigan residents may be coveted more and more by other regions of the U.S. It’s called groundwater. Found underground in cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock, groundwater is vital to human health and the environment. And while Michigan has an abundance of groundwater, significant regions… groundwater-aquifers-losing-water/" title="Read53% of groundwater aquifers are losing water”>Read more »
A fish kill in Oregon may seem to have little to do with Michigan waters – but if you look closely there is a close connection in law. As the result of large-volume groundwater withdrawals like that in Oregon’s Deschutes River, western states have documented the serious impairment of streams, their ecosystems, fish, and the… groundwater-withdrawals-public-trust/" title="ReadLarge-Volume Groundwater Withdrawals and the Public Trust”>Read more »