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… 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… 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… Read more »
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a map is often worth tens of thousands. That’s especially true of a map that tells the story of a natural resource that is out of sight and often overlooked: groundwater. Building on over five years of work, FLOW has recently updated and improved our groundwater story… Read more »
Download the Polluter Pay Report (PDF) FLOW (For Love of Water) hailed the introduction of “polluter pay” bills in the Michigan Legislature as a long overdue step toward protecting Michigan’s groundwater resources and public health from the 24,000+ contaminated sites in the state. The new legislation shifts the cost burden of cleanups from Michigan taxpayers… Read more »
Photo: Capitol of Michigan. Credit: David Marvin via http://capitol.michigan.gov/. Editor’s note: Register today for FLOW’s March 21 groundwater webinar, “The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to Protect Fresh Water.” There is good news in the often-overlooked realm of groundwater protection in Michigan: millions of dollars proposed to study and… Read more »
Photo: Groundwater helps recharge the Great Lakes, and is the source of drinking water for 45% of Michigan residents. Credit: José Manuel Suárez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Editor’s note: Register today for FLOW’s March 21 groundwater webinar, “The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to Protect Fresh Water.”… Read more »
Above: Watershed art by Glenn Wolff. By Bob Otwell, FLOW Board member A Great Lakes water use report recently released by the Great Lakes Commission provides an important snapshot of the kinds and volumes of water withdrawals in the region. The report found that an average 37.5 billion gallons of water per day were withdrawn… Read more »
Michigan’s groundwater is a critical part of Michigan’s present and future. Increasing population, a changing climate, and limited public funding for prevention and cleanup of contamination will continue to stress groundwater resources. The report, “Building Consensus: Securing Protection of Michigan’s Groundwater,” contains findings about the status of Michigan’s groundwater and also recommendations on how to improve its protection.
An unseen resource, Michigan’s groundwater provides drinking water to more than 4 million Michiganders, supports agricultural irrigation and manufacturing, and contributes a significant portion of the inflow to the Great Lakes. But there is still another reason to protect Michigan’s groundwater: conservation of our state’s biological diversity. Groundwater is critical to valuable species and their habitats, including cold water trout streams like the Au Sable River–and a rare wildflower found exclusively in Michigan.
