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Michigan Great Lakes Freshwater Awareness Week
You probably don’t know it, but through next Sunday, Michigan is observing Great Lakes and Freshwater Awareness Week. It’s certainly appropriate. Michigan has an astounding array of waters. As Governor Whitmer said in her proclamation, “during this week, we encourage Michiganders to learn more about the unique wonders of our …Read More »Good Beach News as Summer Begins
There’s good news and even better news about Michigan’s 1,237 public swimming beaches. The good news is that water at most monitored beaches is clean most of the time. The better news is that a modern testing tool allows for quicker turnaround on public beach monitoring samples. The faster turnaround …Read More »Plastic-Free Picnics
Picnics with Less (or Zero) Plastic You may be surprised at how much trash we generate from what might seem a low-impact picnic. Reducing picnic waste—especially plastics—is particularly important at a time when scientists are sounding the alarm about the buildup of small particles, or microplastics, in the Great Lakes …Read More »Trees Can Talk – If We Learn How To Listen: Part Two
By Brett Fessell Brett is River Restoration Ecologist for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and a member of FLOW’s Board of Directors. Challenges Tribes Face In Fire and Nearly Everywhere Else Overall, the use of fire by Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region was a …Read More »Trees Can Talk – If We Learn How To Listen: Part One
By Brett Fessell Brett is River Restoration Ecologist for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and a member of FLOW’s Board of Directors. Modern forest management practices and policies, such as wildfire control, have had significant impacts on the diversity, resiliency, and productivity of forest communities in …Read More »No Stricter Than Federal
On their way out of office in late 2018, former Governor Rick Snyder and the lame-duck Legislature delivered a body blow to Michigan’s environment by enacting a law intended to thwart state rules that go beyond weak federal minimums. This seemingly abstract law in fact repudiated 50 years of efforts …Read More »Drinking Water Awareness Week – May 7-13th
During Michigan’s 2023 Drinking Water Week, May 7-13, filling knowledge gaps is a critical priority. Knowing the source of your drinking water is crucial, and so are threats to its safety and legal and environmental defenses to its contamination. One surprising fact to many is that 45% of Michigan’s population …Read More »AFFEW Engages Many: An Interview with Founder Julia Chambers
One of Michigan’s most successful grassroots environmental groups may soon take a big step with the hiring of its first staff person. But the group’s volunteer status has not kept it from being effective. Its recent Earth Day event demonstrated its popularity in the Ludington area. In 1990, Julia Chambers …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Caelyn Brintnell as our Operations Manager
We are thrilled to welcome Caelyn to the FLOW family! Read about Caelyn and her love for the Great Lakes region. We asked her a few questions to help our community get to know the newest member of the FLOW team. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where were …Read More »Change Makers: Earth Day Heroes Reflect on Successful Advocacy – Relationships, Persistence and Hope
Bringing about cleaner air, water, land and health is not a simple task. Sometimes it is a long fight with uncertain results until the very end. We asked several of Michigan’s foremost environmental change makers to give us their thoughts. We asked them about the keys to successfully advocating for …Read More »National Environmental Education Awareness Week
By Kaitlyn Bunting Kaitlyn is a former communications specialist with FLOW. She is also an enthusiastic educator. She has built a deep connection to the land and waters of northern Michigan through extensive time outdoors here. Find her way down a dirt road, pb&j in hand, trailing her energetic dog …Read More »Earth Day: The Long View
By Dave Dempsey On the first Earth Day in 1970, I was 13 years old and barely aware of the event. But only when I look back at 1970 later in life, as an amateur environmental historian, do I fully appreciate what happened that year. It wasn’t just April 22—the …Read More »Make It Right Michigan: Restore Sadony Bayou
The Chemours Environmental Impact Committee (CEIC, pronounced “seek”) of White River Township, in West Michigan, has been advocating for the long-overdue cleanup of the sources of groundwater and soil contamination on the DuPont property, now owned by Chemours. This contaminated property connects with both White Lake and Lake Michigan. FLOW …Read More »Federal Rescue Funds Support Michigan Drinking Water, Wastewater Projects
But much more funding is needed. American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding has now supported $140,471,648 in grants to 24 Michigan communities to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs. Congress approved this funding in 2021 to stimulate the economy when it was recovering from the pandemic. The funds are part …Read More »The Great Lakes State Must Protect Fresh Water and Human Health from Untreated Sewage
Editor’s note: Register today! FLOW will host a webinar on Tuesday, March 21, offering legal, scientific, economic, and political perspectives on the urgent need and critical opportunity for Michigan to finally join the rest of the nation in adopting a law to protect public health and fresh water from septic …Read More »First Day of Spring 2023
On this first day of spring, FLOW is celebrating the water cycle in all of its glorious forms. Let It FLOW! #Spring2023 (Design by Ryan Greaves)Read More »PFAS: Every Fish Everywhere All at Once
Map: In a newly released study, every fish tested in the Huron River, which is the main drinking water source for the city of Ann Arbor, contained toxic PFAS chemicals. Credit: All photos and graphics courtesy of the Ecology Center, which will host a webinar on March 16 at 5:30 …Read More »New York Lawmakers Introduce Bill Based on FLOW’s Model ‘Public Water, Public Justice’ Act
By Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director New York State Senator Rachel May and Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas have introduced companion legislation to enact the Public Water Justice Act, a bill derived from FLOW’s (For Love Of Water’s) model Public Water, Public Justice Act. The proposed legislation, S.238A and A.5104, prohibits the sale …Read More »Combating CAFO Pollution
By Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director On February 16, 2023, FLOW (For Love Of Water) and 10 other environmental groups filed an amicus brief asking the Michigan Supreme Court to strike down an appellate court ruling that prevents the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (“EGLE”) from fulfilling …Read More »Keeping Water Public and Protected for All in the Great Lakes State
Photo of children playing at Lake Michigan by Chelsea Bay Dennis. Editor’s note: Sign up today for FLOW’s twice-monthly e-newsletter for updates on the advancement of these legislative recommendations and take action opportunities in support of keeping water public and protected. Michigan’s 2023-2024 legislative session in Lansing is a chance …Read More »Good News on Groundwater
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 …Read More »Register Today for March 21 Webinar: The Case for a Statewide Septic Code in Michigan
Editor’s note: Members of the media are encouraged to register for the webinar. For more information, contact FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at Liz@FLOWforWater.org or (231) 944-1568. Register today! FLOW (For Love of Water) will host a webinar—The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to …Read More »Got Groundwater?
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 …Read More »FLOW and Allies File Amicus Brief with Michigan Supreme Court to Protect Waterways from Industrial Agriculture Pollution
Photo: A harmful algae bloom causing a dead zone in Lake Erie primarily due to excess agricultural nutrient pollution. Editor’s note: Members of the media can reach Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director, at Zach@flowforwater.org or (231) 944-1568. Lansing, MI – Eleven environmental groups, including FLOW (For Love of Water) late last week filed …Read More »Regulating the Victims: The Backwards Nature of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act
When Americans think of environmental laws, they tend to think of standards that control the pollution released by businesses, industries, sewage plants, and incinerators. This puts the stewardship duty and cost on those who generate the pollution, and provides an economic incentive to reduce waste. To an extent, taxpayers are …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Court Order in Michigan Attorney General’s Case to Shut Down Line 5
Editor’s note: The following is a press statement from Zach Welcker, Legal Director of FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, Michigan, in response to a federal district court’s certification on Tuesday of questions for interlocutory review by the U.S. Court of …Read More »Governor Whitmer’s Budget Proposes Major New Funding for Water Priorities
FLOW is reacting positively to the funding for water priorities unveiled in Governor Whitmer’s FY24 budget proposal. Read More »Michigan DNR Sets Feb. 8 Deadline for Public to Comment on Proposed Camp Grayling Expansion
Feb. 2, 2023 Update: DNR will accept public comment on proposed Camp Grayling expansion through 5 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2023 The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced today it will continue to accept public comment through 5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, on the National Guard’s proposed expansion of its …Read More »From Wastelands to Wetlands: Once Condemned, Now Celebrated
World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on February 2, is not only an opportune time to appreciate these special ecosystems, but also to understand why we destroyed so many until recently. Michiganders especially need to know this history, and what residents of the Great Lakes State can do to write new …Read More »How Are We Using Great Lakes Water and Groundwater?
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 …Read More »What U.S. and Canada Won’t Say in the ‘State of the Great Lakes’ Reports
Above: The cover of the State of the Great Lakes Report 2022 published by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Office of the Great Lakes. Reading the two State of the Great Lakes reports published last year— one by the Canadian and U.S. governments and one by …Read More »Keep Michigan’s Water Affordable and in Public Hands
Photo: Liz Kirkwood is Executive Director of FLOW (For Love Of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, Michigan. Reach her at liz@flowforwater.org. Editor’s note: The following op-ed originally appeared Jan. 17, 2023, in Bridge Michigan. Michigan is a water wonderland — think Great Lakes, …Read More »FLOW on the Go in Traverse City
Look for FLOW’s motif and mottos in motion around northwest Michigan’s Grand Traverse Region right now and in the months ahead thanks to the generosity of Andrew Kohlmann and his creative and professional Image360 – Traverse City team. Image360 has partnered with the Bay Area Public Transportation Authority on an …Read More »Michigan Coastal Research Reserve Would Boost Science, Attract Visitors
Above: Maps of the collection of drowned river mouths encompassed in the proposed West Michigan coastal research reserve along Lake Michigan from the St. Joseph River north to the Platte River. (Graphic/Megan Mader) Michigan would get its first site in a national estuarine research reserve program if the federal government …Read More »Veteran Great Lakes Advocate and Author Explores Letting Rivers ‘Meander’ in Latest Book
What is the “physical integrity” of the Great Lakes ecosystem and why does it matter? In her latest book, Meander: Making Room for Rivers, Margaret Wooster, former director of Great Lakes United and resident of Buffalo, New York, answers the question. Physical integrity is one of three recovery targets in …Read More »Happy New Year 2023!
Happy New Year 2023! Cheers to clean water! And cheers to everyone involved in the fight to keep our water public and protected for all of us! (Design by Miles Dupuis Carey)Read More »2022 Year in Review: FLOW Makes Advances along the Waterfront
Above: A burst of sunshine and Lake Michigan’s power at the shore in Frankfort, Michigan. (Photo/Kelly Thayer) Michigan’s water bounty is vast—touching four of the five Great Lakes, more than 10,000 inland lakes, 36,000 river miles, 6 million acres of wetlands, and groundwater that is the drinking water source for …Read More »Energize FLOW With a Gift of Support
Powered by gifts of support, FLOW works to ensure that the Great Lakes, groundwater, and drinking water are healthy, public, and protected for all. Using public trust law, science, citizen action, and the arts to raise awareness and protect public water, FLOW’s team of lawyers and policy experts crafts real …Read More »Happy Winter Solstice
❄On this first day of winter, FLOW is celebrating the water cycle in all of its glorious forms. Let It Snow! ❄ #WinterSolstice2022 (Snowflake design by Miles Dupuis Carey)Read More »Catching Up with Environmental Entrepreneur Lucy Jones at Year’s End
Above: Lucy Jones photographs stickers featuring her original designs for advertising on her Up North Jewelry website and social media. (All photos courtesy of Lucy Jones) When FLOW first wrote about Lucy Jones—the inspiring Traverse City teen who creates and sells jewelry to benefit the Great Lakes—last February, our supporters …Read More »Dave Dempsey Reflects on Lessons Learned after 40 Years of Environmental Advocacy
Above: Appreciating the water cycle and all the many forms it takes, including snowflakes and rainbows over Lake Michigan. (Photo/Kelly Thayer) By Dave Dempsey Last month marked the end of my 40th year of environmental advocacy. Looking ahead to 2022 in 1982, I may have thought humans would have colonized …Read More »Great Lakes Champions
In a time of seemingly overwhelming environmental challenges, it is important to remember that many unheralded individuals are working successfully to protect the Great Lakes. John Hartig profiles some of them in his new book, Great Lakes Champions. FLOW asked Hartig about the book’s message, the people he profiles, and …Read More »What Do the Election Results Mean for the Great Lakes State?
While the word “water” was not on the November 8 statewide general election ballot in Michigan, it was present on the ballot in various local communities and in different, more subtle ways across the Great Lakes State. In some of Michigan’s 276 cities and 1,240 townships, voters considered new regulations …Read More »On Tuesday, Michigan Can Vote for Clean Water and Climate Action
Above: The clear waters of Great Sand Bay on Lake Superior north of Eagle River, Michigan, on the Keweenaw Peninsula. (Photo/Kelly Thayer) You will not find the word “water” on Tuesday’s statewide general election ballot in Michigan. That hasn’t always been true. In 1968, 1988, 1998, and 2002, water appeared …Read More »The Unfulfilled Promise of ‘Zero Discharge’ into Public Waters
Above: Aerial view of White Lake near Montague, Michigan, with Duck Lake visible to the south. (Photo/Doc Searls) By Tanya Cabala I was a young adult before I knew anything about the Clean Water Act, its passage in 1972, its relationship to my community, or even its initial promise of …Read More »The Clean Energy Transition: Minimizing Risks to the Great Lakes
Waves roll in on Lake Superior. (Photo/NPS) About the author: Nancy Langston is the Distinguished Professor of Environmental History at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Langston is the author of five books, including two on the Great Lakes. She served for six years on the Lake …Read More »Clean Water: It’s About Holding Officials Accountable
Editor’s note — See FLOW’s additional coverage of the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement here: Considering Michigan’s Overlooked Resource—Inland Lakes—on the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act — October 18, 2022 The State of Water Quality in Michigan — October 13, 2022 Where Do We …Read More »Considering Michigan’s Orphaned Resource—Inland Lakes—on the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act
Bass Lake in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Photo/Kelly Thayer) Editor’s note—See FLOW’s additional coverage of the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement here: Clean Water: It’s About Holding Officials Accountable — October 18, 2022 The State of Water Quality in Michigan — October 13, 2022 Where …Read More »FLOW to Army Corps: Threat to Great Lakes and Lack of Public Need Should Sink Proposed Oil Tunnel
Editor’s note: Learn more about FLOW’s efforts to shut down Line 5 and stop the proposed oil pipeline tunnel on FLOW’s Line 5 program page and new Line 5 fact sheet. By Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director For Love of Water (“FLOW”) submitted legal and technical comments before today’s deadline …Read More »The State of Water Quality in Michigan
Above: Satellite imagery from August 2022 shows the extent of a western Lake Erie algae bloom. Similar nuisance and hazardous blooms, spawned by excess agricultural fertilizer and animal waste, have plagued the lake for 20 years. But officials continue to insist that only voluntary measures by agriculture are needed to …Read More »Where Do We Stand on the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act?
Fresh water and aquatic plant life shine on October 2, 2022, in southeastern Grand Traverse County, Mich. (Photo/Kelly Thayer) When Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969—the same year Michigan’s Rouge River blazed because of waste oil—America had had enough of worsening water pollution. Public opinion strongly favored tougher laws …Read More »Will the Supreme Court Shrink the Clean Water Act?
The Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. Less than two weeks before the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday (click for audio or transcript) in a case that could gut the authority of the federal government to protect streams and wetlands. The …Read More »Last Call: Army Corps on Oct. 6 to Hold Final ‘Scoping Meeting’ on Proposed Oil Tunnel in Great Lakes
Editor’s note: Learn more about FLOW’s efforts to shut down Line 5 and stop the proposed oil pipeline tunnel on FLOW’s Line 5 program page and new Line 5 fact sheet. The public will have a last chance on October 6 to comment orally to the leadership and staff of …Read More »Michigan Legislature on Wednesday Will Consider Bill to Control Waste from Septic Systems
Editor’s note: FLOW supports the consideration of newly introduced legislation to control septic system sewage and looks forward to helping strengthen the bill’s provisions to ensure the strongest possible protections for public health and public waters. Please read the article, and use the links to contact the bill’s co-sponsors using …Read More »SepticSmart: Can Michigan Move from Last to First?
Editor’s note: During SepticSmart Week, which runs through Friday, FLOW is sharing updates on efforts to protect fresh water and public health from uncontrolled septic system waste, as part of an annual educational campaign that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a decade ago, with the State of Michigan, other …Read More »Get SepticSmart to Stop Pollution, Save Money
Image courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Editor’s note: During SepticSmart Week, which runs through Friday, FLOW is sharing updates on efforts to protect fresh water and public health from uncontrolled septic system waste, as part of an annual educational campaign that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a decade …Read More »SepticSmart: Leelanau County Board Wisely Votes to Protect Fresh Water and Public Health from Septic Pollution
Image courtesy of Leelanau.gov. Editor’s note: This opinion article by FLOW Legal Advisor Skip Pruss was originally published in the Traverse City Record-Eagle on Sept. 4, 2022. During SepticSmart Week, which runs through Friday, FLOW is sharing updates on efforts to protect fresh water and public health from uncontrolled septic system …Read More »SepticSmart Week: Progress on Protecting Public Health and Fresh Water
Graphic courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Editor’s note: During SepticSmart Week, which runs through Friday, FLOW is sharing updates on efforts to protect fresh water and public health from uncontrolled septic system waste, as part of an annual educational campaign that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a decade ago, …Read More »Preview: SepticSmart Week Aims to Protect Water Quality and Public Health across Michigan, USA
Photo of the Au Sable River by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. In the Great Lakes State, we sometimes take water for granted. We turn on the tap and expect our drinking water to be safe. We wade or swim in a lake and assume it is clean. And …Read More »FLOW Raises Concerns on Proposed 162,000-Acre Camp Grayling Expansion in Michigan
Feb. 2, 2023 Update: DNR will accept public comment on proposed Camp Grayling expansion through Feb. 8 The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced today it will continue to accept public comment through 5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, on the National Guard’s proposed expansion of its Camp Grayling training facility to …Read More »Hundreds Attend Army Corps Hearing, Strong Majority Speaks Out against Proposed Oil Pipeline Tunnel under the Great Lakes
Above: Hundreds of people attend a public comment session held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the oil pipeline tunnel proposed by Enbridge under the Straits of Mackinac, on Sept. 8, 2022, at Little Bear East Arena in St. Ignace, Michigan. Photos by Kelly Thayer. By Kelly Thayer, …Read More »FLOW to U.S. Army Corps: Oil Tunnel in the Great Lakes Is Not a Solution
Editor’s note: The following are comments made by FLOW Deputy Director Kelly Thayer on September 8, 2022, in St. Ignace, Michigan, at a public meeting of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps). The Army Corps, Detroit District, held the session to help set the scope of its environmental …Read More »EPA Move Has Big Implications for Michigan’s PFAS “Forever Chemical” Toxic Sites
The proposal last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to list two “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law could help spur cleanup actions in Michigan. The two chemicals, known as PFOS and PFOA, were two of the most widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) …Read More »The Sea Lamprey Centennial: From Ruin to Rehabilitation
Photo: Sea lamprey have a large oral disk filled with sharp, horn-shaped teeth that surround a toothed tongue. Many Great Lakes invasions of non-native species begin unnoticed—but not so with one of the most destructive invasions of all, the attack of the sea lamprey. The scourge of the Great Lakes fishery, the lamprey …Read More »FLOW: Today’s Line 5 Court Decision is Bad for the State of Michigan, Bad for State Courts, and Bad for Plaintiffs
Editor’s note: The following is a press statement from Zach Welcker, Legal Director of FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based, in response to U.S. District Judge Janet Neff’s 13-page decision today to deny the motion to remand the case to state court in Nessel …Read More »A Modest Proposal: The Biggest State Park in America
When Michiganders want to point out where a specific location lies in the state, we often raise our hands and point at a spot somewhere on our palms. Indeed, our identity is tied up in nicknames like The Mitten State. But the legal boundaries of Michigan look nothing like a …Read More »Progress and Hope for the Environment
Ten years to save the planet from climate change. PFAS, microplastics, and invasive species. Wetland destruction and failing, polluting septic systems. Sometimes it seems as though the only environmental news is bad news. Here’s an antidote, borne in a glass half-full. Great Lakes Piping Plover An endearing, small shorebird that …Read More »State of the Great Lakes
Is More of the Same Good Enough for the Great Lakes? Give the U.S. EPA and its Canadian counterpart points for recycling. When they released the 2022 State of the Great Lakes report last week, they offered the same characterization as in previous reports: overall, the Great Lakes are fair …Read More »Jake Bright to Swim the Manitou Passage to Benefit FLOW, North Manitou Light Keepers
Editor’s note: This is a FLOW media release issued August 3, 2022. Members of the media can reach open water swimmer Jake Bright at jake@jakebright.com, 347-204-7576; FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at liz@flowforwater.org, 570-872-4956; and NMLK President Daniel Oginsky at dan@northmanitoulightkeepers.org, 810-360-3768. The event’s fundraising page can be found here …Read More »Introducing Kelli Fitzpatrick: FLOW Intern, Writer, Environmental Optimist
This summer, Kelli Fitzpatrick has assisted FLOW in researching and writing about the threat of water commercialization and the ethics of water stewardship. Originally from Beaverton, Michigan, she now lives in Iowa, where she attends graduate school at Iowa State University. We asked her a few questions about her background, …Read More »Supreme Court Decision: Let the Country Burn
Our newly constituted Supreme Court acted more like “supreme rulers” than an independent judiciary, choosing politics and their fixation on narrow legal ideology over the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases under a realistic and fair reading of federal law—the Clean Air Act, writes Jim Olson.Read More »Long Overdue: A Library of the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes have spawned a multitude of institutions from research to governance to the arts—but no library. Several leaders say it’s overdue. Inspired by a 2016 New York Times article about work to establish a Rocky Mountain Land Library, co-founder Deborah Burand said, “We need to do this, but …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Milliken Law and Policy Interns, Mary Basso and Irene Namae
FLOW is thrilled to welcome our ambitious and talented pair of Milliken law and policy summer interns, Irene Namae and Mary Basso. We recently interviewed Irene and Mary to get to know them, their roots, their passion for environmental advocacy, and what attracted them to FLOW. “At FLOW, our interns …Read More »Appreciating and Protecting Michigan’s Inland Lakes
The Great Lakes rightly command our attention and affection, but maybe it’s time to take stock of Michigan’s other lake resource—the thousands of lakes distributed across the state map like freckles. Michigan’s inland lakes span a large range of sizes and occur in a variety of environments. It’s appropriate during …Read More »‘A Step toward Victory for the Public and the Great Lakes’
Editor’s Note: The following is a statement from Jim Olson, Senior Legal Advisor at FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City. The statement is in response to the decision today by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) at its regular meeting …Read More »The Latest on Line 5: Key Pathways to Protect the Great Lakes from an Oil Spill Disaster
Editor’s note: This is a FLOW media release issued July 6, 2022. Members of the media can reach FLOW Deputy Director Kelly Thayer at Kelly@FLOWforWater.org or 231-944-3119; Oil & Water Don’t Mix Coordinator Sean McBrearty at smcbrearty@cleanwater.org or 616-516-7758; and Whitney Gravelle, president of the Executive Council, Bay Mills Indian …Read More »Helping Great Lakes Communities Address Microplastic Pollution
Microplastics are plastics that measure no more than 5 millimeters long and reflect a growing environmental and public health concern. They come from a variety of sources. Some are intentionally manufactured. These are found in industrial or health and beauty products, the latter often used for scouring or exfoliation purposes.Read More »FLOW Press Statement—Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA
Traverse City, Mich.— The following is a press statement from Jim Olson, Senior Legal Advisor at FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, in response to the United States Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision today in West Virginia v. EPA, which cripples …Read More »You’re Never Too Old to Become a Water Warrior
I’m finally paying full attention to climate change—which is undoubtedly the highest stakes issue of our time. Simultaneously, my appreciation for the Great Lakes and what they mean to all living things that rely upon them is rising exponentially. I may be 66 years old, but it’s never too late …Read More »Test Your Great Lakes Water Knowledge
We all know that the Great Lakes are a magnificent freshwater system, the largest in the world. But are you intimately familiar with their unique characteristics and dimensions? The 10 true-or-false questions below give you an opportunity to determine whether you are a Superior Scholar or a mere landlubber. How …Read More »FLOW’s Jim Olson and Dave Dempsey Honored by IAGLR for Great Lakes Protection Efforts
Photo: FLOW’s Jim Olson (left) and Dave Dempsey. Note: This is a FLOW media release issued June 21, 2022. Members of the media can reach FLOW’s: Jim Olson, Founder & Senior Legal Advisor at Jim@FLOWforWater.org. Dave Dempsey, Senior Policy Advisor, Dave@FLOWforWater.org. Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, at Liz@FLOWforWater.org or cell (570) 872-4956 or …Read More »Traverse City’s ‘Next Generation’ Leaders Promote a Cleaner, Greener Future
"It strikes me as so sad that litter is something that we as humans are so accustomed to that we hardly notice it if we aren’t actively looking for it," writes Ella Kirkwood, a sophomore at Traverse City Central High School and a member of the Students for Environmental Advocacy …Read More »Michigan’s Forgotten Resource: The Water Flowing Underground
Water flows through a single cycle from air to surface water and groundwater, or from the land to lakes and streams, evaporating and beginning its journey all over again. But environmental law and policy often overlook an entire arc of the cycle, neglecting to include groundwater, and as a result, …Read More »Building Consensus to Protect Michigan’s Groundwater
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 …Read More »FLOW to Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority: No Enbridge Oil Tunnel Without Authorization Under the Public Trust Doctrine
Editor’s Note: FLOW today resubmitted the following formal comments from February to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority in advance of the Authority’s 10 a.m. public meeting in St. Ignace regarding Enbridge’s oil tunnel proposed through public bottomlands in the Straits of Mackinac. See the Authority’s June 7, 2022, meeting agenda, …Read More »Celebrate Great Lakes and Freshwater Week
Michigan is a place of natural abundance, but one resource is paramount—water. Michigan Great Lakes and Freshwater Week (June 4-12) is an opportunity to learn more about our state’s water endowment, and how to protect it.Read More »Faster Testing Results, Few Problem Beaches
As air and water warm for summer, so do thoughts of beach time. Is it safe to get in the water? A relatively new tool is adding to the confidence of local health officers that they are capturing in a timely way indicators of water quality problems at public beaches. …Read More »FLOW’s Jim Olson Honored with Large Lake Champion Award
Jim Olson, the founder and senior legal advisor of FLOW, has received one of the first Large Lake Champion Awards presented by the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR), the organization announced Monday. IAGLR is a scientific organization made up of researchers studying the Laurentian Great Lakes, other large …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Drew Broadway as Operations Manager
FLOW is excited to announce that Drew Broadway has joined our staff as Director of Operations.“We are thrilled to have Drew join the FLOW team,” said FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood. “He brings a wealth of environmental and conservation nonprofit sector experience. Drew also brings heart and soul to our work, …Read More »Delivering Water In Flint: An Outsider Documents a Community in Crisis and Recovery
In his 2021 book Standpipe, Delivering Water In Flint, author David Hardin paints a portrait of a community reeling from the lead poisoning of its public water supply. Volunteering to deliver clean water to Flint households, Hardin finds both profound hardship and the will of the Flint community. The Library …Read More »A Next Generation Voice Speaks Up to Keep Our Water Public and Protected
Introducing Mackenzie Joseph, FLOW's summer 2022 Milliken intern for communications.Read More »Shrinking Our ‘Water Footprint’ to Protect the Great Lakes
Why should residents of the Great Lakes region and its abundant freshwater be concerned about their water footprint and take steps to conserve water? Living among water riches does not exempt us from responsible environmental stewardship.Read More »Earth Day Reflection: Beach Cleanup at North Bar Lake Nets 89 Pounds of Single-Use Plastics and Other Trash
FLOW teamed up with Sleeping Bear Surf, Friends of Sleeping Bear, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Surfrider NoMi, and S'well for an April 22 Earth Day Beach Cleanup at North Bar Lake. The event drew a team of 68 passionate people of all ages from as far north as Petoskey and as …Read More »Know the Source of Your Water—During Drinking Water Week, and Every Week
During Drinking Water Week, recognized May 1-7 by the State of Michigan and nationally, filling knowledge gaps is a critical priority. Knowing the source of your drinking water is crucial, and so is knowing about threats to its safety and legal and environmental defenses to prevent its contamination.Read More »An Earth Day Review: The Michigan Environmental Protection Act in 2022
One of the leading champions and practitioners of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) has been FLOW's founder, Jim Olson. For 50 years, he has put MEPA to work in the courts and administrative processes, defending wetlands, streams, flora and fauna, and human health. Jim has adeptly used MEPA to …Read More »The Geography of Hope Is Anchored in Our Precious Great Lakes
In his 1960 Wilderness Letter, conservationist and author Wallace Stegner famously coined the phrase “geography of hope,” referring to the impulse that led Americans to the wilderness idea. Now, in 2022, comes another prophet of hope, Maude Barlow. A lifelong and world-renowned champion of water, Maude has authored a book …Read More »Liz Kirkwood Reflects on the Importance of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement After 50 Years
Friday, April 15, marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement–a deep and lasting commitment between the two nations to restore and protect the greatest collection of fresh surface water on the planet. A key institution in the execution of the Agreement is the …Read More »Evaluating the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement on its 50th Birthday
When Lake Erie algae blooms worsened to a crisis in the 1960s, Canada and the United States shared the problem—but no mechanism to combat it jointly. Out of that gap came the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Signed 50 years ago this Friday by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau …Read More »What the Big Water Infrastructure Law Means for Michigan
On March 30, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a $4.7 billion bill that includes almost $2 billion for water infrastructure. Overwhelming majorities of the State House and Senate approved the bill on March 24. Relying heavily on federal COVID-19 relief and infrastructure dollars, the legislation funds wastewater and drinking …Read More »Our Drinking Water Lacks the Protection It Deserves
Acclaimed author and FLOW Senior Advisor Dave Dempsey stands on the shore of Lake Michigan’s West Grand Traverse Bay. Editor’s note: This opinion article was originally published on April 2, 2022, in the Lansing State Journal. By Dave Dempsey A natural resource on which nearly half the population of Michigan depends …Read More »“Leave the Oil in the Ground … Let the Rivers FLOW”
If you tuned into WNMC, the public radio station at Northwestern Michigan College, recently you may have heard Kurt Westie interview FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood on the air. Westie, a singer-songwriter and member of the band “The North Carolines,” wrote a song during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown titled, “Leave …Read More »The Kids are All Right: FLOW Partners to Lift Up the Youth Water Movement
You’ve heard, no doubt, of Greta Thunberg, the 19-year-old Swedish environmental activist. But you have probably not heard yet of Bebe Schaefer and Rachel Roberts, two students at American University in Washington, D.C., who recently launched the nonprofit organization Water&, on a “constant journey of collective action.” We at FLOW …Read More »Protecting Groundwater and Michigan’s Most Endangered Wildflower
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 …Read More »High Gas Prices Could Drive Down Emissions, Boost Support for Fuel Efficiency and Electric Vehicles
Photo source: iStock By Dave Dempsey Skyrocketing gasoline prices are shocking drivers–but they also provide an opportunity for environmental benefits and demonstrate the value of vehicle fuel efficiency standards. The transportation sector accounts for 28 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Within this sector, about 59 …Read More »Public Trust Bill Package Boosts Groundwater Protection in Michigan
FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood expressed strong support for legislation introduced in Lansing today that would shore up public trust protections for the Great Lakes and groundwater against water-bottling companies thirsting for profits and strengthen safeguards for waterways on state land. “The Great Lakes must never be for sale,” Kirkwood …Read More »FLOW to Michigan Public Service Commission: No Enbridge Oil Tunnel Without Authorization Under Public Trust Doctrine
Editor’s Note: FLOW submitted the following comments today to the Michigan Public Service Commission in advance of the MPSC’s March 17, 2022, public meeting regarding Enbridge’s oil tunnel proposed through public bottomlands in the Straits of Mackinac. See the MPSC’s March 17 meeting agenda, and learn about the opportunity to …Read More »Groundwater Emerges into the Light
Overlooked for many years, groundwater has taken the driver’s seat in 2022, as multiple organizations promote a deeper understanding of the source of drinking water for 145 million Americans and approximately 4.5 million Michiganders. Promotion this week comes from the Groundwater Foundation and National Ground Water Association as they encourage …Read More »Join FLOW in Helping Michigan Create a Comprehensive Climate Plan
Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019 charged the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) with developing and implementing a “Healthy Climate Plan” to achieve Michigan’s greenhouse-gas reduction targets and otherwise prepare for and adapt to climate impacts that are now unavoidable. But EGLE’s draft MI Healthy Climate Plan …Read More »DNR Director Concerned about Climate Change, Accelerating Threats to Natural Resources
Managing one of the oldest agencies in Michigan state government is the job of the youngest person ever appointed as its director. Dan Eichinger was 37 when Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed him in 2019 to run the 101-year-old Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which was originally called the Department of …Read More »Happy Birthday to Jim Olson: Legal Lion for the Environment
Those working on Michigan environmental issues at any time during the last 50 years have known exactly who the pioneering legal advocate for Michigan’s precious air, water, and land is: FLOW founder Jim Olson. As Jim’s February 26 birthday approaches, it’s time to take stock of all that he’s accomplished …Read More »An Eighth Grader’s Quest to Protect the Great Lakes through Homemade Jewelry
Lucy Jones, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Traverse City West Middle School cares enough about protecting the Great Lakes to donate sales of her Up North Jewelry to FLOW, which is working with you to keep the Great Lakes public and protected for all. FLOW thrives on these creative collaborations …Read More »Great Lakes Restoration: Is a New Emphasis Needed?
The more than 5,400 projects funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) have done considerable good, especially in speeding progress toward cleaning up dozens of toxic hotspots in bays and harbors. Even so, completing the job of restoring these areas could take another decade or more. The $1 billion …Read More »FLOW to Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority: No Enbridge Oil Tunnel Without Authorization Under Public Trust Doctrine
FLOW urges the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority to suspend further consideration of the ill-conceived Line 5 tunnel project until Enbridge seeks and obtains legal authorization to occupy state bottomlands from appropriate state agencies.Read More »Gov. Whitmer’s FY2023 Budget Proposes Environmental Investments
In a proposed budget with major increases thanks to a booming state economy and massive amounts of federal infrastructure and COVID-19 relief funding, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday announced important investments in environmental programs. As an aide to the governor said, "budgets are a reflection of values." The Governor's …Read More »From PBB to PFAS to Lead: Will Government Ever Learn?
When a coalition of citizen groups, including FLOW, last fall urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect the nearly 10,000 residents of Benton Harbor from lead in their drinking water, it was a reminder that government officials have failed to heed the lessons of a half-century of Michigan environmental …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Development Specialist Tessa Diem
FLOW is excited to announce that Tessa Diem has joined our staff as Development Specialist. Tessa, who lives in Arcadia in Manistee County, has worked in the nonprofit sector since 2014, serving environmental and cultural organizations to advance their missions through program coordination, strategic planning, resource development and communications. We asked Tessa …Read More »What’s the Scoop in the Poop? Sewage Offers Early Warning System for COVID Trends
Not long after the arrival of COVID-19 in Michigan in early 2020, some municipal wastewater systems began monitoring for signs of the virus in their treatment plants. Later, state government funding expanded the program. Rather than waiting for cases to climb, public officials may be able to use sewage surveillance …Read More »Celebrate “Earth’s Kidneys” on World Wetlands Day
A global aquatic resource under threat from drainage, filling and development is the focus of World Wetlands Day, which is observed on Wednesday, February 2. Michigan has a special stake in preventing wetland destruction and promoting wetland restoration.Read More »FLOW’s Partnership with Madcap Coffee “Addresses Planet and Community Right Here at Home”
This week Grand Rapids-based Madcap Coffee announced its initial membership in 1% for the Planet and the company's intent to donate 1% of annual sales to support nonprofit organizations focused on the environment, climate change, and water conservation. To celebrate its 1% membership and to highlight its retail expansion into Leelanau County, …Read More »Groundwater, though Invisible, Is Critical for Our Survival
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 …Read More »Governor Whitmer Has Opportunity to Lead on the Environment
As she begins her fourth year in office, Governor Whitmer, who will deliver this year’s State of the State message on Jan. 26, has an opportunity to build on past environmental successes and set the tone for a historic year of accomplishment. Thanks to significant federal COVID relief aid and …Read More »Michigan Lawmakers Must Step Up on Behalf of Our Water
In Michigan, water in its natural state, including groundwater, is held by the state as sovereign for the benefit of the people. Michigan’s 2008 groundwater withdrawal law declares that lakes, streams, and groundwater–indeed springs, seeps, and wetlands–are a singularly connected part of the water cycle. The removal of water from …Read More »Following the Water
For years my family lived in steamy Arkansas, driving for days to get to northern Michigan in the summers. The air cooled down mile by mile. The moment we rounded a curve and our lake glimmered into view I was transported, transformed. I wanted nothing but to be in it, …Read More »At 50 Years, How Much Progress Have We Made in the Fight for Clean Water?
This year marks the 50th anniversary of two historically significant steps toward healthy streams and lakes, the U.S. Clean Water Act and the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. But are these silver anniversaries truly green? Let’s take a look.Read More »FLOW’s 2021 Annual Report
This past year marked an extraordinary year for FLOW, as we celebrated a decade of keeping our water public and protected. In reflecting upon this past decade, we have much to be grateful for, even in these challenging times. Read More »December Marks 50th Anniversary of Drinking Water Tunnel Disaster
Fifty years ago, on December 11, 1971, 22 workers died in a tragic explosion while completing a tunnel designed to bring Lake Huron drinking water to the Detroit metropolitan area. The anniversary of the disaster was marked by a ceremony earlier this month. “We are honoring the 22 men who …Read More »Public Support for Great Lakes Protection is Strong, But Surveyed Residents Say Lakes in Poor Shape
A recently-released survey of residents of the Great Lakes watershed reveals strong support for government funding and actions to protect the Lakes, but also suggests the public believes the lakes are not in good shape.Read More »What’s Your Favorite Great Lake?
FLOW senior policy advisor Dave Dempsey recently posted a survey on both Twitter and Facebook asking followers and friends to name their favorite Great Lake and to explain their allegiance. The answers were both quantitative and qualitative.Read More »FLOW Welcomes Operations Manager Meagan Walters
FLOW welcomed new operations manager Meagan Walters to our team in early December. Meagan’s deep interest and commitment to clean water is demonstrated not only by her studies, but also by her experiences, including as the current president of the Grand Traverse Freshwater Society and prior internships monitoring water quality …Read More »Does Environmental History Become Environmental Prophecy?
When a book of history you’ve written becomes history itself, this not only makes you feel old, but also gives you a chance, in hindsight, to see how accurate it is. Twenty years ago, in 2001, the University of Michigan Press published "Ruin and Recovery: Michigan’s Rise as a Conservation …Read More »Enbridge’s Attempt to Get into Federal Court Is Two Years Too Late
“The statutory deadline for removing this case to federal court passed over two years ago,” said Zach Welcker, Legal Director at FLOW, the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City. “Enbridge is making a frivolous argument that a federal court’s recent jurisdictional ruling in a separate case …Read More »A Remembrance: Terry Swier, A Michigan Water Warrior
As anyone who knows Terry Swier could attest, it was her clear-sighted commitment to principle and her conviction, grounded like the roots of an oak tree deep in the soil with branches wide in the sky, that stood behind Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation's victory over Nestlé. “Who owns the …Read More »Jim Olson Passes the Torch to Zach Welcker, FLOW’s First Full-Time Legal Director
“I’m thrilled to be surrounded by all of this water and humbled by the opportunity to keep it public and protected for all,” says Zach Welcker, FLOW’s first full-time legal director, who is responsible for building on FLOW’s legal power, policy acumen, and partnerships—especially among tribes, conservation groups, frontline communities, …Read More »2021 Reflection: FLOW Sees Successes and Celebrates Our First Decade Together Keeping Water Public and Protected
FLOW’s 10th anniversary in 2021 was more than an opportunity for celebration and reflection. It was also a year of significant progress in our work to strengthen protection of the waters of Michigan and the Great Lakes, using the public trust doctrine as a powerful tool. In July, we hit …Read More »Breaking News: Traverse City Unanimously Approves Resolution Affirming Public Ownership of Our Water as a Human Right, Public Trust, and Defense against Privatization
Photo of Grand Traverse Bay by Jerry Stutzman Breaking News: The Traverse City Commission on December 6, 2021, unanimously approved a resolution Proclaiming Water and Sanitation as Basic Human Rights, and that Water Shall Remain in the Public Trust.The resolution was advanced by FLOW and in comments to the City …Read More »Water Connects Us to Everything That’s Alive: FLOW Inspires Us to Protect It
"Our bodies are mostly water. Water connects us to everything around us that is alive," says award-winning poet Alison Swan. "The water and the land are inseparable from one another. Stop and think to yourself: How does what's happening to the land around this water impact the water supply of …Read More »Securing Public Ownership of Our Water as a Human Right, Public Trust, and Defense against Privatization
By Liz Kirkwood Water is life. It is the resource that not only keeps us alive, but also powers everything we do on this small blue planet. Living here in the Great Lakes, we are stewards of some 20 percent of the planet’s fresh surface water. It is an enormous …Read More »FLOW: State of Michigan Takes a Strategic Step Today in the Race to Prevent a ‘Line 5’ Oil Spill
Editor’s Note: The following is a media release issued by FLOW on November 30, 2021; please contact Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at (570) 872-4956 or Liz@FLOWforWater.org or Legal Director Zach Welcker at (231) 620-7911 or Zach@FLOWforWater.org. “The State of Michigan took a strategic step today in the race to prevent a catastrophic Line …Read More »“Lake Michigan May Be Coming to Idaho”
Register today for FLOW’s Dec. 8 conversation with author Dave Dempsey on freshly updated ‘Great Lakes for Sale’ Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of the prologue to Great Lakes for Sale (Mission Point Press, 2021) the freshly updated, must-read book by Great Lakes luminary and FLOW Senior Advisor Dave …Read More »Can We Save and Restore the Great Lakes Watershed’s Iconic Species?
Michigan Technological University professor Nancy Langston is a nationally recognized environmental historian and the author of five books . In her latest, Climate Ghosts: Migratory Species in the Anthropocene, she explores the fate of three species historically found in the Great Lakes watershed: woodland caribou, common loons and lake sturgeon. …Read More »FLOW Deeply Disappointed in Court Decision Today Leaving State of Michigan’s Lawsuit to Shut Down ‘Line 5’ in Federal Court, Denying the State’s Request
Editor’s Note: The following is a media release issued by FLOW on November 16, 2021; please contact Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at (570) 872-4956 or Liz@FLOWforWater.org or Senior Legal Advisor Jim Olson at (231) 499-8831 or Jim@FLOWforWater.org. Judge Neff’s decision today addresses only the narrow, procedural issue of whether a …Read More »Spurred by Citizens, Michigan Speeds Up Getting the Lead Out of Benton Harbor’s Drinking Water Supply
In the end, it took outside intervention to begin moving the people of Benton Harbor toward a clean, safe water supply this fall. Why? Despite three years of data showing that the city’s drinking water exceeded state standards for lead contamination, it wasn’t until the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) …Read More »Infrastructure Bill Passes, Now the Work Begins in the Great Lakes Basin
Michigan has a gigantic opportunity to provide clean drinking water, clean up sewage and stormwater runoff, and restore the Great Lakes—while promoting access for all to clean, safe, affordable water—after last Friday’s final bipartisan Congressional action on the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act.Read More »We Must Map and Make Room for Climate-Induced Water Levels to Protect Communities, Taxpayers
While world leaders gather for a second week in Glasgow, Scotland, at the United Nation’s COP26 climate change conference, FLOW’s Jim Olson in this blog calls for a new approach to planning and zoning in the Great Lakes watershed that respects the increasing variability of water levels.Read More »Line 5’s Clock is Ticking Ever Louder in the Great Lakes
The following op-ed by FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle on November 3: We at FLOW agree, “The clock is ticking.” That “tick, tick, tick” sound, however, isn’t coming from Enbridge’s proposed tunnel. It is coming from an environmental ticking time bomb called Line 5—Enbridge’s twin …Read More »New Officers Elected to FLOW Board of Directors
FLOW, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2021, is pleased to announce the election of new officers on its Board of Directors, including the first woman to chair the Board. Renee Huckle Mittelstaedt, former president and CEO of Huckle Media, LLC/Huckle Holdings Inc., has taken over as FLOW’s new …Read More »Fighting Forever Chemicals: Michigan Governor, Feds Take Action
The logjam that has halted progress in dealing with PFAS, the toxic “forever chemicals” that plague communities across Michigan and the nation, is finally breaking up. On October 27, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered state government to discontinue the purchase of many PFAS-containing products, as encouraged by FLOW last month. …Read More »Making a Difference for the Environment: Youth is No Barrier for Michigan’s Nisha Singhi
At the age of 14, Nisha Singhi has already made more impact on state environmental policy than most adults. As a result of her work, two Michigan legislators have introduced bills. Nisha, who resides in Bloomfield Hills and is a sophomore at International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, became concerned several …Read More »In His Newest Book, Jerry Dennis Defines “Up North”
Jerry Dennis is a Michigan treasure. The 67-year-old writer, a native of northern Michigan, is the author of more than 10 books, including the epic "The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Island Seas." His recently-released "Up North in Michigan: A Portrait of Place in Four Seasons," …Read More »Iron Fish Distillery Celebrates, Supports FLOW and Superior Watershed Partnership
Iron Fish Distillery and Balsoda Farms celebrated a trifecta on Tuesday evening, Oct. 12, in Marquette. Richard Anderson, one of the family leaders and visionaries behind Thompsonville-based Iron Fish Distillery—and entrepreneurship for the public interest throughout the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan—joined the release of its new Two Peninsulas Bourbon with …Read More »Protecting Children’s Environmental Health
When it comes to pollution, the truth is something that every parent knows: Children are not little adults. For a variety of reasons, children are the most vulnerable to the health effects of pollution. That’s why October 14 is observed as Children’s Environmental Health Day.Read More »Whitmer Signs Legislation Boosting State Environmental Budget
In late September, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a budget for state government that makes significant investments in environmental and energy programs. The funds will be spent in the state fiscal year that began October 1. Drinking water, climate resiliency and contamination cleanup programs received the largest allocations. …Read More »Why Do Canadians Seem to Care So Little about Protecting the Great Lakes from Line 5?
If the Great Lakes are so important to Canadians, why do they seem to care so little about protecting them? Specifically, I’m talking about Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. Line 5 is a ticking time bomb, especially at the Straits, where Enbridge is proposing a tunnel for this decaying and dangerous …Read More »Introducing the Olson-Dempsey Fund for Public Trust in the Great Lakes
FLOW is welcoming donations here to the newly launched Olson-Dempsey Fund. A true watershed moment: As FLOW in 2021 marks our first 10 years of groundbreaking work on behalf of public trust rights and responsibilities in the Great Lakes, we honor two of the most ardent champions of public water …Read More »Pollution Prevention Is Source Water Protection
This week is the inaugural Source Water Protection Week. Although the term “source water” is unfamiliar to many, the resource to which it refers is critical to the health of millions of Michigan residents. “Source water” refers to the untreated source of public drinking water supplies. For most municipal supplies …Read More »FLOW to Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority: No Enbridge Oil Tunnel Without Authorization Under Public Trust Doctrine
FLOW President Jim Olson made the following statement to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority during a February 3, 2021, public meeting regarding the Line 5 Easement, Assignment, Tunnel Agreement, and 99-year lease.Read More »FLOW Celebrates 10 Years, Honors Jim Olson and Dave Dempsey
Traverse City, Mich.—FLOW is celebrating our 10th anniversary of keeping the Great Lakes public and protected and kickstarting the next 10 years. Founded in 2011 by Jim Olson and directed since 2012 by Liz Kirkwood, both environmental attorneys, FLOW is a nonprofit law and policy center based in Traverse City …Read More »Lana Pollack Reflects: “There Isn’t Another FLOW”
"There isn't another FLOW. There are many worthy environmental organizations but there isn't another FLOW," said Lana Pollack, former U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission. "So I think that FLOW, although it's not a political organization, it's a deeply education organization. That has to come first before people will …Read More »SepticSmart Week: Protect It and Inspect It
Groundwater, a critical part of Michigan’s water cycle, is out of sight—and so is the groundwater pollution that contaminates thousands of drinking water wells and reaches hundreds of rivers and lakes across the state. Despite its invisibility to the naked eye, groundwater contamination sickens Michigan residents. About 45% of the …Read More »Detroit Artist Liz Ably Talks Water’s Power in Art and on Earth
Detroit artists Liz Ably. Photo by Krissy Booth used with permission. By Matt Harmon Liz Ahlbrand is a multimodal artist living in Detroit. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. After an injury left her with severe chronic pain, she turned to the visual arts for new ways …Read More »The Story of “When Water Moves”
It begins for me with the question that haunts my days: How can I use my art, my words, my one small gift which brings me joy, to make a difference in those causes I consider most critical to supporting eco-vigor? In recent years, that attempt to “make a difference” …Read More »Coordinated Cross-Border Protests Call on Canada to Support Line 5 Shutdown
More than 40 protestors assembled on the Detroit Riverwalk Wednesday morning to call on the Canadian government to support Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in seeking to decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The Detroit protest—staged near the Canadian consulate—occurred in solidarity with simultaneous demonstrations …Read More »These Young People are Fighting for Water Justice and Building Community in Michigan and Ohio
Gathered in the gymnasium of the Flint Development Center, young representatives from the community organizations We the People of Detroit, the McKenzie Patrice Croom Flint Community Lab, and the Junction Coalition of Toledo spoke to an enraptured caucus on August 12 on their respective organizations, their summers advocating for water …Read More »Maude Barlow Reflects: ‘The Goal of Our Movement Is Clean, Safe, Public Water for Everyone’
"Without FLOW the Line 5 issue would not be alive in Canada," says Maude Barlow. "With the help of Liz's leadership we have been able to put together a coalition here in Canada to start speaking up and start saying 'It is a pipeline, for heaven sake. We're against all …Read More »A New Look at Protecting Michigan’s Submerged Great Lakes Lands
Protection of the submerged lands of the Great Lakes that lie within Michigan’s jurisdiction is part of the state's public trust duties. This represents a vast area, approximately 38,500 square miles of bottomland beneath four of the Great Lakes. By contrast, the size of the entire state of Indiana is …Read More »Giving Thanks for the Cleanup Folks
In Michigan’s state government there are talented professionals who would like to be able to say the same about the messes they try to clean up—the estimated 24,000 known contamination sites that degrade the state’s groundwater, soils, rivers, and lakes and even threaten people in their own homes. Working in …Read More »Liz Kirkwood Reflects: FLOW is Dynamic, Innovative, Creative, Resilient, and Nimble
In this video testimonial, FLOW executive director Liz Kirkwood reflects on what prompted her to focus on water law, and her childhood memories of fresh water. During 2021, our 10th anniversary year, FLOW staff, supporters and collaborators are sharing reflections on what our work together has meant to them and …Read More »“The Accidental Reef”–A Look at the Great Lakes from the (River) Bottom Up
Lynne Heasley’s new book, "The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes," is hot off the press. Hailed as “extraordinary,” “immersive,” and “one of the best Great Lakes books of our era,” Heasley’s book is complemented by the vivid, evocative art of Glenn Wolff, who illustrates the …Read More »One-Two Punch Clobbers Southeast Michigan: Climate Change and Failing Sewage Systems
A monster rainstorm on June 26 dumped more than 6 inches of rain on Detroit in about 6 hours. The downpour flooded and closed Interstate-94, stranding motorists in high water, and caused widespread sewage backups in city residences. It is a consequence of climate change and a failure by government …Read More »As the Pandemic Flares, Southeast Michigan Cities Start Shutting Off their Residents’ Water Again
Even though Michigan is considered the Great Lake State, bordered by four of the five Great Lakes, and everyone needs freshwater, especially during a global pandemic, some Detroit suburbs like Oak Park and Hazel Park are resuming water shutoff policies after the statewide moratorium expired on March 31.Read More »Farewell to Great Lakes Defender, Senator Carl Levin
The passing on July 29 of former U.S. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan is a solemn moment that presents an opportunity to honor his work to protect the Great Lakes. The longest-serving U.S. Senator in Michigan’s history, Levin consistently, quietly, and effectively crafted federal legislation and funding to benefit the …Read More »Groundwater Threats: Michigan Should Act with Urgency to Pass a State Law to Control TCE
The many chemical contaminants in Michigan’s groundwater, coupled with the lack of environmentally sustainable federal and state chemical policies, continue to put Michigan at risk. An example is trichloroethylene (TCE), a cancer-causing manufactured chemical that has contaminated groundwater at more than 300 locations in Michigan. In 2020, Minnesota became the …Read More »Green Infrastructure: Using and Mimicking Nature for Climate Resilience
FLOW intern Henry Ludwig recently found myself stuck in a downpour in the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and witnessed green infrastructure in action. Green infrastructure represents a return to nature with hopes of fixing the problems of a human-centered world. The infrastructure solutions take a step back from the …Read More »Dave Dempsey Reflects: “Public Trust Doctrine is Key That Can Unlock Environmental Doors For Us”
“FLOW is responsible for the major success we’ve had so far as a movement in halting the Line 5 pipeline that crosses the Straits of Mackinac,” said FLOW senior policy advisor Dave Dempsey in this testimonial about the impact we’ve had during the past decade.Read More »Line 5 Oil Tunnel: U.S. Army Corps Environmental Study Marks a Return to the Rule of Law
In recognition of the critical importance of the Great Lakes and the rule of law, citizens and communities battling the existential threat of climate change won an important victory when the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced June 23 they will conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) for …Read More »SW Detroit Community Care Cleans Basements after Historic Flooding
On the heels of the “once in 100 years” flooding event in 2014, nearly seven inches of rainfall overwhelmed the City of Detroit’s wastewater treatment facilities on Friday, June 25, and the following morning. As a result, rain and sewer water flooded basements all across the city. As soon as …Read More »Exploring the Soul of Place: New Book Conveys Stories of Northwest Michigan
Author Timothy Mulherin’s new book, Sand, Stars, Wind, & Water: Field Notes from Up North, sees the Grand Traverse region through the eyes of a frequent visitor who has fallen in love with its natural beauty and character. In this interview with FLOW, Mulherin talks about what inspired him to …Read More »On the Road: A Midwestern Hydrologist Eyes the Increasing Demand for the Diminishing Waters of the American West and Southwest
FLOW Board member Bob Otwell and his wife Laura have on several trips to the American southwest observed how water is undersupplied and overused. These experiences reminded him about one of the primary reasons he joined FLOW’s Board—to help ensure that Great Lakes water stays in our watershed and is …Read More »Founding FLOW Board Member Royce Ragland: Public Trust Combines Policy, Stewardship, Theology and Philosophy
"It was 10 years ago that I first met Jim Olson, and I invited him to be a guest speaker for Green Elk Rapids," recalls Royce Ragland, the organization's co-founder and a founding FLOW board member. "He talked about his favorite thing—the public trust. I was just so taken with …Read More »Paddling for Change, from the Mackinac Bridge to Lansing
Childhood friends William Wright and Chris Yahanda wanted to do their part to protect the Great Lakes and to urge Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to shut down the Line 5 oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac. So they decided to paddle board from the governor's mansion on Mackinac Island …Read More »It’s Raining PFAS
By Dave Dempsey Every now and then an environmental news headline jumps out at you as though it were printed in 12-inch-tall type on a newspaper front page or web site. It’s not necessarily because of its significance when compared to other news, but because of the personal reaction it …Read More »Remember When Line 5 Shut Down a Year Ago, and None of Enbridge’s Doomsaying Came True?
Dire Straits: A damaged portion of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac shown in this June 2020 photo provided to the State of Michigan by Enbridge. By Nora Baty Do you remember the last time Line 5 shut down? This week marks the one-year anniversary of Line 5’s closure …Read More »Shoring Up the Public Trust, Not Seawalls, during High Water on the Great Lakes
Photo courtesy of Chikaming Township, Michigan. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on June 19, 2021, in the Northern Express. LEARN MORE ON JUNE 29 FLOW will host a free webinar — Managing High Water and High Tension along the Great Lakes Shoreline — at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, …Read More »Stop the Theft of Bottle and Can Deposits by Private Industry: Oppose Michigan House Bill 4443
Revenues from one of Michigan’s most successful environmental laws, the 10-cent bottle and can deposit, are at risk of being diverted from public to private uses. This bill is being rushed through the Michigan Legislature, so we ask you to take action today by asking your State Senator to vote …Read More »Chicago Sewer-and-Stormwater Commission Sounds Alert on Water Markets
Last week, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) unanimously approved a resolution affirming water as a human right and expressing concern about the trend toward treating water as a commodity. The resolution also affirms that “the water of the Great Lakes ... …Read More »FLOW to Host Webinar on Managing High Water & High Tension along the Great Lakes Shoreline
The public is invited to join FLOW on Tuesday, June 29, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Eastern for a webinar—Managing High Water & High Tension along the Great Lakes Shoreline—that will provide frontline, scientific, regulatory, and legal insights into efforts at the state and local level to manage high …Read More »Our Great Lakes – Hostage to the ‘Most Destructive Industrial Project in Human History’
Some 800 miles north of the Montana border, past vast prairie grasslands, clear, untroubled lakes, and pristine boreal forests, lies a place of profound devastation and desolation. Just north of Fort McMurray in Northeast Alberta, Canada, one encounters an abrupt alteration of the landscape—a ravaged wasteland of disturbed lands and metallic …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Interns Nora Baty, Matt Harmon, and Henry Ludwig
FLOW is thrilled to welcome our ambitious and talented crop of summer interns—Milliken law and policy interns Nora Baty and Henry Ludwig, and our Milliken intern for communications, Matt Harmon.Read More »Fact Check: When Line 5 Shuts Down, Detroit Jets Will Still Fly and Union Refinery Jobs Will Still Exist
Line 5-owner Enbridge and its enablers continue to engage in a Chicken Little “sky is falling” campaign, with the Canadian company claiming that, “shutting down Line 5 would cause shortages of crude oil for refineries in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern Canada, as well as propane shortages in northern Michigan. …Read More »During June, Short’s Brewing’s ‘Share the Light’ Campaign Will Raise Funds for FLOW and the Great Lakes
Short’s Brewing in the heart of downtown Bellaire, Michigan, is known for giving back to the community as much as for their fiercely creative handmade beers and ciders and seltzers. And the local company with a broad reach knows you can’t make unique, premium beverages without fresh, clean water. That’s …Read More »Lifelong Sport Fisherman and Former FLOW Board Member Tom Baird Joins the Michigan Natural Resources Commission
FLOW is proud that one of our own, former founding board member, Tom Baird, has been appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and is officially confirmed as of Monday, May 24. The NRC, which oversees the state Department of Natural Resources, has …Read More »Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Movements a Powerful Force for Good
The Groundwork Center’s Michigan Clean Energy Conference and Michigan Climate Action Network's (MiCAN) Climate Action Summit are joining forces this year to present the virtual Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit, May 24-27. FLOW spoke with MiCAN director Kate Madigan about the summit, climate change in the Great Lakes, the …Read More »Michigan Moves to Acknowledge and Address Environmental Injustice
Michigan, the state that became notorious for one of the worst episodes of environmental injustice in American history, this week staked a claim to being a leader in ensuring environmental justice.Read More »Eviction Day for Enbridge Line 5
May 13 marked an inflection point in our water and climate work to shut down Line 5. It was a day of action and a show of force to evict Enbridge as a foreigner occupier—a rogue pipeline company pumping oil through our public waters and lands of the Great Lakes. …Read More »FLOW Business Partner Beth Price’s Innate Connection to Water
In this week’s installment of FLOW’s business supporter spotlight, Development Specialist Calli Crow connected with Beth Price Photography to talk about Beth Price’s love of water, passion for Great Lakes protection, and ongoing partnership with FLOW.Read More »Defying Today’s State Deadline to Shut Down Line 5, Enbridge Is Risking the Great Lakes and Privatizing the Public Trust
The following is a media release issued by FLOW on May 12, 2021. In refusing to shut down Line 5 by the state-ordered deadline today, Enbridge is flatly rejecting the authority of the State of Michigan to regulate and safeguard its own public trust waters and bottomlands —the very same …Read More »Reckless and Defiant, Enbridge Won’t Defuse Its ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ in the Great Lakes at Today’s Deadline to Shut Down Line 5
Despite the well-documented and lasting economic and ecological harm of oil pipeline disasters across the globe, we are witnessing intense, orchestrated opposition from Canada’s Enbridge and its allies to shutting down a clear-and-present danger to Michigan’s waters and way of life. A Line 5 oil spill would be an unprecedented …Read More »Take it from a Fifth Grader: Shut Down Line 5 Now
The Line 5 pipelines at the Straits of Mackinac—which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has called on Enbridge to shut down by May 12—pose a multigenerational threat to citizens of the Great Lakes. Take it from Sage, an 11-year-old from Oxford, Michigan, who chose to do her 5th grade final project …Read More »3M and PFAS: An Attack on Public Health and Michigan’s Drinking Water Rules
It’s not often that two high-ranking officials in Michigan’s state government lash out at a company in strong language. But that’s what happened May 7 when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Liesl Clark, the director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) slammed 3M.Read More »Peggy Case: FLOW Advocates for Better Policy, Better Legal Systems, Better Ways to Protect Waters
For 10 years FLOW has worked to keep our water public and protected. During 2021, our 10th anniversary year, FLOW supporters and collaborators are sharing reflections on what our work together has meant to them, and to the freshwaters of the Great Lakes Basin. Meet Peggy Case, executive director of Michigan Citizens …Read More »Business Partner Kristin MacKenzie: Fresh Water Keeps Me Centered and Grounded, Brings Me Inspiration
Meet Leland, Michigan-based watercolor painter Kristin MacKenzie Hussey, who is donating 50 percent of sales (until June 15) to FLOW from her museum-quality Giclée fine art print, which features Lake Michigan waves lapping the shoreline. "Lake Michigan has always been my safe place, my center," writes Kristin. "I feel most at …Read More »During Drinking Water Awareness Week, FLOW asks, “Do You Know Where Your Water Comes From?”
Do you know where your drinking water comes from? According to a poll undertaken by the International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board in 2018, approximately one-fifth of surveyed residents of the Great Lakes Basin do not. If the same ratio applies to Michigan, about 1.5 million adult residents …Read More »FLOW Business Partner Sleeping Bear Tour Company Leads “Wilderness Tours”
Photo by Sleeping Bear Tour Company’s Julie Den Uyl By Calli Crow, FLOW Development Specialist On Saturday, April 25, members of FLOW’s board and I joined a few hearty volunteers on a trek to North Bar Lake in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to join Sleeping Bear Tour Company for an exclusive …Read More »A Grounding in Groundwater, Climate, and Water Justice
FLOW and the Great Lakes are healthier and stronger because of the help we have received from interns specializing in law, policy, and communications during our 10 years of keeping water public and protected. Case in point, Alex Theophilus, who has served since January as a policy intern at FLOW. …Read More »FLOW Praises Decision Today by Michigan Public Service Commission to Consider Climate Impacts in Permit Case for Proposed Oil Tunnel in Great Lakes
The following is in reaction to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s ruling today regarding the scope of review for permitting required for Enbridge to replace and relocate its decaying Line 5 oil pipelines crossing the Straits of Mackinac with a proposed 18- to 21-foot diameter tunnel housing a single new …Read More »Earth Week 2021: Celebrating Youthful Leadership on Climate Change
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed life in many ways, yet Okemos High School junior Bernadette Osborn and her classmates in the Lansing area have moved quickly and energetically to confront the challenges of climate change.Read More »Earth Day 2021: This Year It’s Really about the Whole Earth
With growing scientific confirmation of accelerating global climate change, Earth Day 2021 is more than just another Earth Day. For the first time, an American president will host an international climate summit on Earth Day to “reset” domestic and international strategies to combat alarming climate trends. The Biden Administration invited …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Tribal Law Expert Matthew L.M. Fletcher to Board of Directors
FLOW is excited to announce the growth of our Board of Directors as we welcome tribal law expert Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Foundation Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center. He is also the primary editor and author of …Read More »Michigan Needs a Groundwater Protection Act
Michigan groundwater policy has failed to evolve even as understanding has grown about groundwater’s importance and its interconnection with the Great Lakes. The simple fact that Michigan has approximately 14,000 groundwater contamination sites with an estimated cleanup bill of over $1 billion—most of it likely to be charged to taxpayers—should …Read More »Will Wall Street Control Our Water in the 21st Century?
The water barons are finally moving in to gain control over water rights in public water that is supposed to be held and managed by each state as sovereign for the benefit of its citizens. These water transactions, which seek to profit by speculating on an underlying assumption that water …Read More »Line 5 “Reality Check”—We Don’t Need Line 5 to Supply Energy to Canadians and Michiganders
We need a realty check on Line 5. There is plenty of capacity in Enbridge’s system to handle enough crude oil to make up for most of the loss in Line 5 when it is shut down.Read More »My Memories on the 50th Anniversary of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore
My first experience with Sleeping Bear Dunes was in the mid-1950s, when I was a teenager, accompanying my family on the Dunesmobile ride. I recall the ride in those convertible Oldsmobile 88s with the big, balloon tires so they didn’t get stuck in the soft sand. That sticks in my …Read More »More Progress Needed on Attacking the Threat of Microplastics in the Great Lakes
A January 2021 story by the Capital News Service headlined “Microplastics threaten Great Lakes, and not just the water” was one of the first I have seen recently about the threat of microplastics to our precious fresh waters. However, microplastics have been reported in the Great Lakes for more than 15 …Read More »High Great Lakes Water Levels Strain Wastewater Sewer Systems
High Lake Michigan water levels are are forcing more water to flow into Traverse City’s wastewater treatment system. This forces city residents to pay more in energy, maintenance and other operational costs, write FLOW Board member Bob Otwell and Traverse City Commissioner Tim Werner.Read More »Green Ooze Cleanup Illustrates Flawed Groundwater Policy
Recent news that a final cleanup has begun to remove the infamous green ooze that leaked onto a Detroit area freeway in December 2019 is a reminder that Michigan policy still fosters many sites where toxic contamination remains in groundwater. The policy has drawn little attention, but it is a …Read More »Happy 99th Birthday to the Late Gov. William Milliken
March 26 marks the 99th anniversary of the birth of William G. Milliken, regarded as the Michigan governor most committed to protecting Michigan's water, air and land. Together with his wife Helen, the Millikens were known for promoting civic engagement in the public sphere. This legacy lives on at FLOW, …Read More »Water Access Plays Critical Role During Global Pandemic
Across Michigan and the United States—in both cities and small towns—residential water rates have skyrocketed. Hundreds of thousands of Michiganders are behind on paying their water bills, and we're calling on the State Legislature to extend a water shutoff moratorium.Read More »Valuing Water: It’s More than How Much Surrounds Us
We live in the Great Lakes State, surrounded by four of the largest lakes in the world. As we gaze out at the blue horizon, it’s tempting to think that there’s no way humans could significantly diminish them. On World Water Day, it’s important to recognize that seeming inexhaustibility is …Read More »Embracing and Protecting Great Lakes Water Before It’s Gone
On World Water Day, it's worth asking this question: Why is it that we only begin to understand what we have at the very moment it is gone? This question defines the crisis around water in the Great Lakes. The stories and statistics around water poisoning, pollution, and scarcity are …Read More »Reality Check: Line 5 Threatens More Jobs Than It Sustains
By Maude Barlow and Jim Olson Editor’s note: This opinion piece appeared originally in Canada’s National Observer. The United States and Canada are not only close friends and neighbours, but are also committed to resolving their differences with civility and common purpose. The 112-year-old International Joint Commission (IJC), which prevents …Read More »Water Privatization: The Struggle To Stop Nestlé’s Groundwater Grab Continues
FLOW and our allies, including Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, continue to call on the state of Michigan to withdraw the permit for Nestlé’s groundwater extraction in Mecosta County.Read More »PFAS and the Public: State of Michigan Owes Affected Communities the Truth
In February 2020, a state team led by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) began an investigation into the possibility of PFAS contamination spreading in groundwater north of Cherry Capital Airport and the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station to drinking water wells in the nearby Pine Grove …Read More »Groundwater Contamination: Clean It, Don’t Treat as a Long-Term Trash Can
Imagine if state government, because of toxic contamination, cordoned off parts of Michigan rivers, lakes, and Great Lakes bays, forbidding public use for swimming, fishing, and boating for generations to come. The people of Michigan wouldn’t stand for it.Read More »“MI Propane Security Plan” Is the Right Plan at the Right Time for Michigan’s Energy Independence and Prosperity
The following statement can be attributed to Liz Kirkwood, environmental attorney and executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, in reaction to the Whitmer administration’s release today of a five-point propane security plan to aid Michigan residents after …Read More »FLOW’s 2020 Annual Report
By Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, and Mike Vickery, Board Chair Being in, on, or near water brings us into balance, restores clarity, and grounds us in understanding what matters most. Water is life. These elemental connections to water and nature were profoundly important to all of us in the tumultuous …Read More »Solving Michigan’s Groundwater Crisis to Protect Drinking Water, the Economy, and the Great Lakes
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, …Read More »March 10 Webinar – Deep Threats to Our Sixth Great Lake: Spotlighting and Solving Michigan’s Groundwater Emergency
Out of sight and therefore out of mind, Michigan’s groundwater faces deep threats, including contamination in thousands of places by everything from failing septic systems to industrial chemicals. A Zoom webinar hosted by FLOW on Wednesday, March 10, from noon to 1 p.m. EST, will provide insight and commentary on …Read More »Canada’s Pressure Campaign to Keep Running the Dangerous ‘Line 5’ Pipelines in the Great Lakes Calls for a “Reality Check”
Enbridge has unleashed a barrage of stories that claim Michigan and the U.S. need Canadian oil from Line 5, that thousands of jobs in Sarnia are in jeopardy, and that Sarnia and Ontario oil refineries already plan to implement an alternative by transporting crude oil by rail or ship it …Read More »FLOW Will Appeal Administrative Decision on Oil Tunnel and Pipeline that Ignores Critical Evidence on Climate, Public Need, and Looming Shutdown of Line 5
Photo by Barbara Brown. Jim Olson, environmental attorney and senior legal advisor to FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, reacts to a narrow ruling released today by an administrative law judge on Enbridge’s oil tunnel proposed for the Straits of …Read More »Governor’s Budget Proposal Contains $385 Million for Clean Water in Michigan, More For Cleanup and Clean Energy
Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday released a proposed state budget for the fiscal year starting October 1 that includes $385 million in new funding for clean water priorities, as well as funding for emergency contaminated site cleanup and energy projects. “The Governor’s budget would make some significant investments in Michigan’s …Read More »For Love of Water: I Need You Most in the Cold Season
Traverse City writer Karen Anderson’s “Love Letter to Otter Creek Beach” appeared in Art Speaks Water: Love Letters to the Lakes—a FLOW collaboration with writer and poet Anne-Marie Oomen—which was presented to the International Joint Commission on July 24, 2019. Anderson’s love letter is as appropriate for Valentine’s Day as …Read More »Michigan’s Conservation Centennial: What Does It Teach?
The creation of a government agency rarely creates fanfare. Names and organization chart blocks come and go. But this year’s 100th anniversary of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is a little different. Signed into law in February 1921 by Governor Alexander Groesbeck, what was then called the Department of …Read More »Premo Fitness, Primo Support of FLOW’s Mission
FLOW's work is supported through partnering with local, regional, and virtual businesses, including Premo Fitness that share our "Love of Water." Anna Premo is a Traverse City health and fitness professional who took Premo Fitness virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic. She recently reached out to FLOW to offer a charitable promotion for the month …Read More »FLOW’s statement to Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority
FLOW President Jim Olson made the above statement to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority during a February 3, 2021, public meeting regarding the Line 5 Easement, Assignment, Tunnel Agreement, and 99-year lease.Read More »Joan Wolfe’s Enduring Protection of Michigan’s Air, Water, Land, and Living Creatures
Joan Wolfe, who passed away on January 23, 2021, was a passionate, visionary and effective champion of Michigan’s environment, she holds an assured place in Michigan’s environmental history. Few citizens have done so much to protect our air, water, land and living creatures for posterity.Read More »FLOW Deeply Disappointed in the State of Michigan’s Environmental Permit Approval for Proposed ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac
Liz Kirkwood, environmental attorney and executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water), reacts to news today that the State of Michigan has granted environmental permit approval for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 oil tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac: “We are deeply disappointed by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great …Read More »Pandemic Relief, Public Health, and Protecting Our Water
When Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers her State of the State address at 7 pm tonight—virtually, in compliance with Centers for Disease Control guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic—we hope she continues to voice strong leadership to protect our Great Lakes and ensure access to clean water for all. Fresh water, …Read More »The Sixth Great Lake is Under Your Feet
It’s natural to stand on the shoreline of one of the Great Lakes and admire their vastness and majesty. But another abundant water resource in the basin is out of sight and rarely commands such appreciation. That’s groundwater. Between 20-40 percent of the water budget of the lakes (the total …Read More »Turning the Tide on National Environmental Policy
The tide has turned. Within hours of taking the oath of office today, President Joe Biden set a new course for national environmental policy. The United States will rejoin the Paris climate accord, undo rollbacks to environmental standards imposed by the former President, expand national monuments on federal land, and …Read More »Enbridge Defies Ancient Public Trust Rule of Law, Undermines Great Lakes and Citizens’ Protected Rights
By Jim Olson Enbridge has launched yet another attack on the rule of law in Michigan, a habit that underscores its arrogance and looks more like the disregard for rule of law exhibited by the mob that attacked the constitution, the Capitol, and rule of law of the Nation on …Read More »Elk Rapids Faces Major Decision on Powerboat Race
Photo courtesy of SpeedontheWater.com. The author, Nikki Hayes, who grew up in Elk Rapids, Michigan, is a FLOW intern. Currently a junior at Loyola University Chicago (LUC), she has spent her life close to the Great Lakes. While organizers are optimistic that an August powerboat race that would be hosted by …Read More »From PBB to PFAS: How We’ve Failed to Protect Our Health and Water from Toxic Chemicals
On Tuesday, January 19, from noon to 1:30 pm, the League of Women Voters/Grand Traverse Area will host FLOW senior policy advisor Dave Dempsey discussing the topic of toxic chemicals present in our groundwater. Almost 50 years ago, Michigan suffered one of the worst human exposures to a toxic chemical in …Read More »Reflecting on 2020, Looking forward to 2021—FLOW’s 10th Anniversary Year
By Jim Olson With the New Year upon us, we are taking a moment at FLOW to look back at 2020 and forward to 2021, the start of our 10th year of partnering with you to protect the Great Lakes. This is a really exciting time. FLOW now enjoys a …Read More »Support FLOW with a Special Gift
As we look to the close of 2021, we are grateful for gifts of support that allow FLOW to work every day to ensure the Great Lakes are healthy, public, and protected for all. Recognizing that certain methods of giving take a little extra time for donors to arrange, we …Read More »From Earth Day 1970 to Today: 50 Years of Lessons Learned and the Path Forward
Throughout 2020, FLOW has been remembering and reflecting on one of the most consequential years for the environment in America’s history. The 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day — the year in which the U.S. EPA was created, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was authorized, the Michigan Environmental Protection Act became …Read More »FLOW Sponsors Online Poetry Reading and Conversation with Alison Swan
Join us on Sunday, January 17 from 5-6 p.m. for a FLOW virtual event with award-winning Michigan writer Alison Swan reading from her new book of poetry, A Fine Canopy. FLOW’s own Dave Dempsey will ask the questions.Read More »New IJC Report Strengthens Case for Great Lakes Climate Change Framework
Just as water does not stop at the international boundary in the middle of the Great Lakes, climate change is having dramatic effects on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the shared waters. In its triennial report issued last week on Great Lakes water quality progress, the International Joint …Read More »2020 Hindsight: FLOW Sees Progress Amidst a Pandemic in Protecting the Public’s Water
In nature, there is often a long time between the planting of seeds and the ripening of fruit. In 2020, the public policy and action seeds FLOW began planting a decade ago turned into wins for the people of Michigan, public water, and the paramount value of our environment.Read More »Enbridge’s Proposed Oil Tunnel Would Significantly Affect and Endanger Human Environment
FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood made the following statement during a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public hearing on Monday, December 7, regarding the environmental impact of Enbridge's proposed oil tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.Read More »O&WDM: Groups, Tribes Ask U.S. Army Corps to Reject Proposed Enbridge Oil Tunnel
Editor’s note: This is an Oil & Water Don’t Mix (O&WDM) media release. Twelve organizations and Michigan tribal representatives today (Dec. 7, 2020) called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject the Enbridge Line 5 Straits of Mackinac oil tunnel project. If not dismissed now, the Army Corps …Read More »Environmental Stewardship in the Harbor
Growing up in Elk Rapids, FLOW intern Nikki Hayes was fortunate to have a summer job throughout high school working as a dock attendant at the Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor. She got to see both the good and the bad of human behavior in environmental stewardship.Read More »State of Michigan Dodges Decision, Nestlé Dodges the Rule of Law
In a baffling decision announced November 20, the director of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) dismissed a contested case brought by citizens challenging the state permit issued to Nestlé Waters North America in 2018 for increased water withdrawals from springs north of Evart, in Osceola County’s …Read More »Giving Does Have Great Consequences
With the shutdown of the Line 5 oil pipelines in sight, past and present FLOW Board Chairs take note of this moment in history, and recognize the results of your commitment in supporting FLOW’s public trust work. Take heart in how far we’ve come and celebrate in the fact that your gifts …Read More »The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at 50 Yields a Mixed Legacy
The memorable year of 1970, whose spring featured the first Earth Day, culminated in the creation of the nation’s first consolidated federal environmental agency. Officially born on December 2, 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has overseen significant improvements in air and water quality in the last 50 years. …Read More »Enbridge’s Federal Lawsuit Attacks State Authority to Protect the Great Lakes from Line 5
The federal lawsuit Enbridge filed Tuesday is an attack on the State of Michigan’s sovereign title and authority to protect the public trust in the Straits and Great Lakes from Line 5. The federal government can regulate safety, but it can never control the location and use of the State …Read More »Biden Energy Plan Puts Science and the Public Trust First to Protect the Climate, Fresh Water
Above photo courtesy of Biden-Harris transition By Skip Pruss History will mark 2021 as the year the United States finally got serious about combating climate change and protecting water security. The Biden administration appears to fully comprehend the depth and gravity of current climate trends and is prepared to take …Read More »Will Michigan Keep the Water on during COVID-19?
By Janet Meissner Pritchard COVID-19 has already taken the lives of more than 8,100 Michiganders, and the pandemic is surging in Michigan, with more than 7,000 new cases per day diagnosed in Michigan over recent days. Given this grim context, it is essential for public health to secure access to …Read More »The Line 5 Shutdown Order: A Major Milestone in Michigan’s Environmental History
The State of Michigan’s decision to revoke and terminate the 67-year-old easement across the Straits of Mackinac granted to Enbridge for the Line 5 petroleum product pipelines was more than that day’s news—it was an event that will be remembered in the state’s environmental history. The Line 5 shutdown announcement …Read More »Oil and Water, and the Public Trust, Don’t Mix in the Great Lakes
Their legal duty under public trust law, and the clear and present danger from the anchor strikes and currents of the 67-year-old dual oil pipelines, left only one choice for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and DNR Director Daniel Eichinger: Revoke and terminate the easement allowing Line 5 to occupy the …Read More »Fact Check: When Line 5 Shuts Down, Detroit Jets Will Still Fly and Union Refinery Jobs Will Still Exist
Exploiting worker and community fears with bogus claims is the latest in a series of unconscionable tactics deployed by Enbridge to pressure Michigan officials into letting the company occupy the Straits with its current antiquated Line 5 pipeline and later, a tunnel under the lakebed.Read More »FLOW Praises Gov. Whitmer for Upholding Public Trust Law on Line 5 by Revoking and Terminating Easement
Today’s announcement by Governor Whitmer and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Eichinger that the State of Michigan, under the public trust doctrine, is revoking and terminating the 1953 easement allowing Enbridge to operate dual pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac—due to repeated violations of the easement—represents a clear victory for …Read More »Support Wind, Waves, and Freshwater: Celebrating FLOW’s Business Partners
FLOW is taking advantage of 2o20 Shop Your Community Days in Traverse City, November 12-14, to celebrate our Business Partners who are supporting FLOW and our effort to protect the Great Lakes. Please support these businesses during Shop Your Community Days and the upcoming holiday shopping season. FLOW Development Specialist …Read More »FLOW Appeals ALJ’s Decision on Proposed ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel
Source of tunnel graphic: Enbridge’s 2020 application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FLOW on Nov. 6, 2020, filed an appeal with the Michigan Public Service Commission of the October 23 decision by Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Dennis W. Mack granting in part Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership’s motion …Read More »Election Results Have Profound Impact for Environmental Policy in U.S. and Michigan
The result of the Presidential election, which has not yet been decided, will have enormous implications for U.S. environmental policy. Democrat Joe Biden, who won Michigan and currently leads the Electoral College count, has pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement “on day one of his presidency.”Read More »In Appreciation of Greg Reisig: Passionate Steward and Member of FLOW’s Family
When longtime northwest Michigan environmental leader Greg Reisig passed away in September, it was as if one of the state’s great white pines had fallen. Greg — a journalist, environmental champion, esteemed friend, and beloved husband and father — made a lasting difference for the good of our environment and the …Read More »PFAS-tainted Groundwater Emergency Threatens Traverse City Residents’ Wells and Well-Being
News has just broken that drinking water wells in East Bay Township, just a few blocks from Traverse City’s eastern edge and just across US-31 from East Grand Traverse Bay, may be contaminated by PFAS — what is being called, the “forever chemical.” My well. My neighbors’ wells. Our wells… …Read More »A Matter of Reverence
The COVID-19 pandemic that has so overwhelmed us all for these past many months has made me draw inward, wanting to protect the waters and all things of natural beauty just for myself, writes FLOW supporter and author Jerry Beasley in his essay, “A Matter of Reverence.”Read More »Line 5 Oil Tunnel in the Great Lakes: Is the Die Cast for the Next 99 Years?
There was good news and bad news in a state administrative law judge’s October 23 ruling that addressed legal arguments over what the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) can and cannot evaluate when deciding whether to permit the siting of Enbridge’s proposed oil pipeline tunnel project under the Straits of …Read More »Pandemic PPE Poses Environmental Threat
Face masks, gloves, eye protection, and other forms of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have become a part of our daily life during the Coronavirus pandemic. But as states have reopened and people ventured outside more, their improper disposal of this protective gear has threatened the environment.Read More »Take Action: Call Your Michigan Lawmaker to Extend the Moratorium on Water Shutoffs
By Janet Meissner Pritchard October 21, 2020, marked the sixth annual observation of Imagine a Day Without Water. Imagine having no water to drink, prepare a meal, or to wash your hands. Having no water to shower, flush the toilet, or do laundry. For thousands of Michigan families since this …Read More »The High Cost of Short-Sighted Water Pricing
Water is becoming unaffordable in communities across the state and the nation. The village of Beulah is one of many places across Michigan and the United States where residential water rates have skyrocketed. In fact, water bills have risen by 80 percent in the past decade for millions of Americans. …Read More »Evart’s White Pine Springs Takes Center Stage in North America’s Water Wars
Evart is taking center stage in North America’s “water wars” as local advocates demand that Nestlé Waters North America revert its claimed rights to the White Pine Springs back to the public trust. These springs, a source for Ice Mountain’s bottled water brand, have long been subject to community opposition …Read More »FLOW & Straits-Area Citizens Groups Call on State of Michigan to Deny Permits for ‘Line 5’ Oil Pipeline Tunnel in Straits of Mackinac
Citing inadequate legal authorization, an incomplete application, and lack of a comprehensive state review, FLOW and two Straits-area citizen groups called today in formal comments on the State of Michigan to deny pending permits sought by Enbridge to construct and operate a roughly four mile-long tunnel under the Great Lakes. Read More »Comment by Oct. 19 on Permits for Risky Line 5 Oil Tunnel
On Monday, October 19, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will conclude its public comment period on pending state permits for the expected wetland and wastewater impacts, and alternatives to constructing and operating Enbridge’s proposed, roughly four mile-long oil tunnel under the Great Lakes. The proposed …Read More »Water and the Environment are on the 2020 Ballot
Voting season has already begun in an election that will have much to do with protection of our water in Michigan and the nation. FLOW does not take positions on individual candidates, but we do remind voters to exercise their power in order to protect water and the environment generally. …Read More »The Promise and Peril of the Clean Water Act
When Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969—the same year Michigan’s Rouge River blazed because of waste oil—America had had enough of worsening water pollution. Public opinion strongly favored tougher laws and enforcement to protect water. It took a little more than three years, but on October 18,1972, overriding a …Read More »Moving Forward, Natives and Non-Natives Alike, Through Our Common Love of Water
Today, October 12, is Indigenous People’s Day, a holiday that celebrates and honors Native American peoples and commemorates our histories and cultures.Read More »Gov. Whitmer’s Proposed Investments a Step Forward in Solving Michigan’s Water Infrastructure Crisis
On October 1, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced $500 million in investments in clean water. Three features of this investment package are particularly welcome. The severe decline in federal and state grants for water infrastructure since the late 1970s has led to an over-reliance on water ratepayers to repay bonds and …Read More »Protecting the Children: A Special Day to Highlight a Constant Duty
Pollution is a health threat to all, but in many respects, children are the most vulnerable. October 8 is the fifth annual Children’s Environmental Health Day, calling attention to the need to strengthen environmental protections for young people.Read More »Gov. Whitmer’s Michigan Carbon-Neutral Plan a Step Forward, But Bigger Steps Needed Now
A new climate action plan released by Michigan Governor Whitmer is attracting both praise and calls for faster action from environmental organizations. Announced September 23, the Governor’s plan calls for a carbon-neutral Michigan economy by the year 2050. That makes Michigan the ninth state to commit to a carbon-neutral economy.Read More »Speak Up for the Great Lakes at EGLE’s Line 5 Tunnel Hearings Starting Tuesday
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will host four online public hearings and receive public comment on the expected wetland and wastewater impacts of constructing and operating Enbridge’s proposed, roughly four mile-long oil tunnel under the Great Lakes. The tunnel would house …Read More »FLOW Joins Effort to Prevent Factory Farm Pollution of Michigan’s Public Waters
FLOW has joined environmental allies in seeking to defend the state of Michigan’s new initiative that seeks to curb water pollution by large factory farms. Led by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), the coalition seeks to intervene in a challenge brought by the agribusiness lobby to the water …Read More »Will Michigan Allow Nestlé to Operate below the Ground and above the Law?
By Jim Olson In the coming weeks, Liesl Clark, the director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)—and ultimately, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer—will make the final decision required by state law on a Nestlé water bottling permit to remove another 210 million gallons of groundwater a …Read More »While Toilets Flush, Inaction on Michigan Septic Policy
Nothing defines Michigan more than water. This begs the question, why is Michigan the only state in the union without a statewide septic sanitary code? This question came to the fore last year when Kalkaska County decided it wanted to get rid of its “point of sale” septic ordinance.Read More »During Septic Smart Week, Let’s Protect our Groundwater
Most Michiganders don’t know that September 14-18 is Septic Smart Week — and that an estimated 130,000 septic systems in our state are failing. In many cases that means sewage and associated microorganisms are reaching groundwater, lakes and streams.Read More »Exploring Sally Cole-Misch’s book “The Best Part of Us”
The reviews are in—and they’re very, very good. The first novel by Sally Cole-Misch, The Best Part of Us, is attracting favorable reactions from the critics. The Michigan Daily calls it a “captivating celebration of nature that pushes us to consider our connections to the Earth.” Reader’s Favorite calls the …Read More »The Marriage of the Rights of Nature and the Public Trust Doctrine
By Jim Olson The citizens of Toledo, Ohio, desperate to end the continuing plague of toxic algal blooms covering the western one-third of Lake Erie, in February 2019 passed by referendum a municipal ordinance that enacted the “Lake Erie Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights holds that “Lake Erie, …Read More »FLOW Welcomes New Board Members Barbara Brown and Benjamin Muth
FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, is excited to announce the growth of our board of directors as we welcome Barbara Brown and Benjamin Muth.Read More »Public Health, Water, and the Pandemic: We Are All as Vulnerable as the Most Vulnerable
During #WorldWaterWeek (August 23-28) FLOW asked Abdul El-Sayed, former executive director of the Detroit Health Department and public health professor at Columbia University, how the global pandemic has changed his connection to water.Read More »Tribes and Environmental Groups Will Help Decide Fate of Proposed Line 5 Oil Tunnel in the Great Lakes
MPSC seeks public comments online and at August 24 public hearing By Jim Olson Good news arrived recently for citizens concerned about Enbridge’s dangerous Line 5 pipelines that convey millions of gallons of petroleum each day, and the proposed massive new tunnel pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac — the …Read More »State of the Great Lakes?
This month, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) issued the 2019 State of the Great Lakes Report. While legitimately showcasing much good news about policies and programs benefiting the Lakes, the report joined the ranks of many that don’t say enough about the conditions of the …Read More »When Water Was Trash
Helene Kouzoujian Rimer read her compelling and arresting poem, "When Water Was Trash" at the Glen Arbor Arts Center's "Words for Water" poetry throw-down on July 31. The outdoor event was a collaboration between the Arts Center and FLOW. Poets and performers were invited to read works that sought to …Read More »Michigan’s Great Lakes and Freshwater: Much to Protect
Sometimes Michiganders take for granted the abundance of water that surrounds us and flows beneath us. In the midst of Michigan Great Lakes and Fresh Water Week, reflecting on that endowment is timely.Read More »A Stronger FLOW
FLOW Welcomes Development Specialist Calli Crow FLOW, the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, is excited to announce the growth of our staff. Calli Crow has joined FLOW’s team as our new Development Specialist. She started July 20 and is working to connect FLOW with supporters …Read More »The Milliken Legacy: More than Nostalgia
In the flurry of news coverage about last week’s memorial service for the late Governor William Milliken, there was plenty of talk of days gone by. The Governor left office 37 years ago, and it sometimes seems as though moderation, civility and environmental ethics left office with him. But focusing on …Read More »Groundwater and Green Ooze
When a mysterious green slime crept onto the shoulder of I-696 in Madison Heights last year, it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. Instead, it was the inevitable result of state policies since 1995 that have treated Michigan’s groundwater as an essentially worthless resource. And Michigan residents have been …Read More »Turning the Spotlight on Line 5 in the Great Lakes
Last week the Michigan Attorney General’s Office chose not to appeal a lower court ruling upholding the constitutionality of a law that facilitates the framework for an oil tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac—forgoing any further challenge, but, in reality, yielding no strategic legal ground.Read More »The Man Who Biked to Work
By Jim Olson In the late 1950s, I would ride my bike from East Bay, on the other side of the ridge that runs along Old Mission Peninsula, to near downtown Traverse City, and I would notice a man on a bike. It seemed odd because in the 1950s no …Read More »New Michigan Standards for Toxic PFAS in Drinking Water among Most Protective in the U.S.
New, enforceable state drinking water standards to protect public health from seven toxic compounds will take effect early this month. “Michigan is once again leading the way nationally in fighting PFAS contamination by setting our own science-based drinking water standard,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.Read More »Governor Milliken’s Evergreen Legacy
By Dave Dempsey When historians consider the late Governor William Milliken’s place among Michigan’s chief executives, they will note his leadership on behalf of the environment at a critical time, but they will acknowledge even more. In today’s climate of coarse, zero-sum politics, they will recognize his civility and refusal …Read More »The MEPA Turns 50
Photo: Kolke Creek in the headwaters of the AuSable River was protected by MEPA after the Michigan Supreme Court prohibited discharge of 1 million gallons of oil-field treated wastewater. Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a series on the history of import of the MEPA. By Jim Olson Serendipity …Read More »FLOW’s Video Testimonials Honoring Gov. William and Helen Milliken
Michigan’s late Governor William G. Milliken was celebrated at a public memorial on August 6, 2020, at Interlochen Center for the Arts. To honor the Milliken legacy, FLOW has launched the “Helen & William G. Milliken Fund For Love of Water.” FLOW also published a series of video interviews in the run-up …Read More »The Edenville Dam Failure and Flooding Disaster in Midland County
The accounts of the failure of the Edenville dam on the Tittabawassee and Tobacco Rivers and the devastating damage and threat to safety and life beg the question: How did the owner and a dam stamped as a red-zone for hazardous risk escape regulatory enforcement before it failed? Who is …Read More »An Enbridge Oil Spill on My Grandparents’ Farm
Photo: The clean up on the Zinn family farm in Marshall, Michigan, after Enbridge’s Line 6B failed a decade ago on July 25, 2010, eventually contaminating nearly 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River and its watershed with a million gallons of tar sands oil, sickening more than 300 people, permanently …Read More »Documenting the Impact of High Water on Businesses, Livelihoods
Photo of flooding in Fishtown Leland by Isaac Dedenbach Fluctuating Great Lakes water levels are nothing new. Since records have been kept, Great Lakes levels have varied by approximately 6 feet. What is new is a rapid swing from record-low levels as recently as 2013 to record highs today. According …Read More »FLOW, Environmental, and Tribal Groups Urge U.S. Army Corps to Reject Enbridge Line 5 Tunnel Permit
Enbridge’s request for federal approval of a Line 5 replacement oil pipeline in a proposed tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac should be rejected to protect the Great Lakes from the continued risk of a catastrophic oil spill and a pipeline that is no longer needed, 10 leading environmental and …Read More »Plastics and the Pandemic
The founder of an initiative to prevent aerial litter and plastic pollution from intentional balloon releases remains committed to the cause. This month is Plastic Free July and millions of people have joined the global movement, signing a pledge to use less plastic at home, work, school, and in their …Read More »FLOW Launches “Helen & William G. Milliken Fund For Love of Water”
With the approach of the August 6 memorial service for beloved former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken, FLOW is honored to announce the creation of the Helen and William G. Milliken Fund For Love of Water.Read More »Two Virtual Hearings, Two Real Steps Closer to Shutting Down Line 5 in the Great Lakes
After two pivotal hearings Tuesday, June 30, Enbridge has lost its grip on the fate of its dangerous twin Line 5 crude oil pipelines in the waters of the Straits of Mackinac. Two hearings, and the State and its citizens are two steps closer to shutting down the unstable twin …Read More »MPSC: Proposed ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac Must Undergo Full and Vigorous Public Review
Photo above: MPSC Chairman Sally A. Talberg, presiding over the Commission hearing today on Enbridge’s proposed oil pipeline tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac. The following statement can be attributed to Liz Kirkwood, environmental attorney and executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water), a Great Lakes law and policy …Read More »Michigan’s Lake Erie Cleanup Plan Falls Short
A draft plan prepared by state government agencies to reduce phosphorus pollution and algae blooms in Michigan-controlled waters of Lake Erie will not deliver on the state’s commitments, FLOW said in comments submitted to the state this month.Read More »High Water, Public Rights, and Michigan Shoreland Protection
Water levels in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan won’t drop anytime soon. Private waterfront homeowners rush to save their homes from loss. Citizens seek to preserve their public right to a walkable beach along the shore below the natural high water mark, and the State of Michigan and municipalities struggle …Read More »Shutdown of Damaged Line 5 Must Be Permanent
Gov. Whitmer, State of Michigan Should Put an End to Enbridge’s Damaged and Decaying Oil Pipeline in the Great Lakes to Protect Drinking Water, Economy, and Way of Life The following statement can be attributed to Liz Kirkwood, environmental attorney and executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water), a …Read More »Environmental Protection Must Not be Sacrificed During Pandemic
Using the current COVID-19 situation as a pretense, the Trump Administration has stopped enforcing many Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safeguards. This has left individual states with the additional responsibility to sustain environmental protection. Many companies and corporations have recently requested that state regulators be lenient on environmental regulations that require …Read More »FLOW, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation to Host Webinar on Nestlé: Stopping the Groundwater Grab
The public is invited to join FLOW and the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation as we co-host a one-hour webinar on Wednesday, June 17, at 1 p.m., providing frontline, scientific, and legal insights into citizen-led efforts to challenge Nestlé, the Swiss-based corporate giant, in its quest to expand its groundwater …Read More »State Points to Fatal Flaw in ‘Line 5’ Tunnel Law
What may seem like dry legal arguments over the interpretation of a few words sometimes can have ripple effects on people, health, safety, and the environment. Such is the case with arguments heard June 3 before the Michigan Court of Appeals over the fate of the proposed Enbridge oil pipeline …Read More »Racial Equity and Clean Water for All Now!
Dear Friends, We need racial equity and access to clean water for all now. The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and continuing protests across the country and globe require each of us to re-examine our basic principles and to envision anew the diverse, inclusive, equitable, and just society we …Read More »Exploring the Spirituality of the Great Lakes
Billed as “stories, reflections and conversations around a spirituality of the Great Lakes Basin,” the Great Lakes Spirituality Project is intended “to further develop a spirituality of the Lakes that values and protects the Great Lakes Basin and the life that depends on these waters.”Read More »Decision Time Coming on Line 5 Oil Tunnel
During a three-week comment period that ended in mid-May, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) received a flood of more than 3,100 public comments, with a strong majority firmly opposed, on Enbridge’s request to bypass the legal review process and plow forward with other permitting required to replace and relocate …Read More »Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation Calls on Governor, EGLE Director to Withdraw Permit for Nestlé’s Water Grab
Rarely does a ruling by a state Administrative Law Judge overturn a permit issued by a state agency. In the contested case hearing on the Nestlé permit to withdraw more than 500,000 gallons of water per day from a White Pine Springs well near Evart, MCWC and the Grand Traverse …Read More »Engaging Young People to Continue the Milliken Legacy
Protecting our precious waters is a multigenerational mission. At FLOW, we put that mission into practice not only by pursuing solutions to water problems that will pay off for generations to come, but also by engaging young people who will carry forward the work as part of a rising generation. …Read More »Courtroom Showdown Coming Friday over Line 5 Shutdown
Streaming live online this Friday morning, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and members of her staff—attorneys Peter Manning, Bob Reichel, and Dan Bock, steeped in water and natural resources law—will make historic arguments that will lead to a shutdown of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac to protect the …Read More »Drink Short’s Beer, “Share the Light” with FLOW
Short's Brewing Company in Bellaire, Michigan, is stepping up to protect North America's fresh water—85% of which is held within our Great Lakes. FLOW is one of three nonprofits you can support with each purchase of Local's Light, as part of the "Share the Light" campaign. Just upload your proof-of-purchase …Read More »FLOW Urges MPSC to Deny Enbridge’s Request for a Free Pass on Siting a ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac
Photo of the Mackinac Bridge and Straits of Mackinac by Kathryn DePauw. The Michigan Public Service Commission should reject Enbridge’s attempt to dodge the legal review process required to replace and relocate the segment of the Line 5 oil pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac into a $500 million proposed …Read More »Mother’s Day Words from Mothers at FLOW
Photo: from left-to-right, Miles, Liz, and Ella Kirkwood Haiku to My Children By Liz Kirkwood, FLOW Executive Director Toe. Dip. Jump. Splash. Smile. Brave you are. I am in awe. Water unites us. Small Gestures By Diane Dupuis, FLOW Development Director My daughter filling the kettle to make my scratchy …Read More »FLOW & Straits of Mackinac Alliance Urge State of Michigan to Suspend Review of Enbridge’s Application for a ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel
The State of Michigan was right this week to suspend consideration of Enbridge’s April 7, 2020, application for construction permits to dig an oil tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac and place a pipeline in it until the Canadian energy-transport giant corrects deficiencies, including the failure to consider viable alternatives …Read More »The Drinking Water Source We Forget: Telling the Story of Groundwater
As is the case with surface water sources of drinking water, those who depend on city or individual wells cannot always count on the water that comes out of their taps to be safe for consumption. In fact, individual wells may pose a greater risk, because there is no routine …Read More »It’s Time to Reinvest in our Water Infrastructure—to Protect Drinking Water and to Create Jobs
It’s a sad irony that in Michigan, surrounded by an endowment of 20% of the world’s freshwater in the Great Lakes, there are communities where people don’t have access to clean, affordable, safe drinking water.Read More »On Earth Day and Every Day, We’re All in this Together
The interconnectedness of human and natural ecosystems has never been more apparent. It’s the clarion call, the mantra, and the rallying cry of this global pandemic crisis: We’re all in this together.Read More »Earth Day at 50: Observing Natural and Political Cycles
When I look back at 1970 later in life, as an amateur environmental historian, I can fully appreciate what happened that year. It wasn’t just April 22—the first celebration of Earth Day—it was 12 months of successful citizen work to raise consciousness and pass new federal and state laws that …Read More »Earth Day Against the Backdrop of the Events of 1970
The first Earth Day celebration at University of Michigan did not wait until April 22, 1970, the date Wisconsin’s Senator Gaylord Nelson had set for environmental teach-ins across the country. In Ann Arbor, this history-changing observation blasted off March 11 when 15,000 people jammed U-M’s Crisler Arena, and thousands more crowded …Read More »Progress at Home, What About the Planet?
Acting locally has gotten us clean air and water, but what has it done for Earth Aren’t we rather arrogant to relish our environment while importing cheap manufactured goods made by people choking on their air and vomiting from their water? Will countries continue to meet carbon dioxide emission targets …Read More »How Do Hands Get Washed?
I worried, as I am prone to do, about the thousands of families in Detroit without even a dribble flowing from faucets, their water shut off because of unpaid bills. How do they wash their hands for 20 seconds when they enter their homes? How do they drink plenty of …Read More »Clean Water and Public Health are Inseparable
What we know is that water and public health are inseparable. Without water, we simply can’t fight this pandemic, let alone meet daily household hydration and sanitation needs. Much more work lies ahead to ensure everyone has access to safe, affordable water. Frontline communities like Detroit continue to be hardest …Read More »Enbridge’s ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel Permit Application is Contrary to the Legal Process
Enbridge Energy’s permit application is out of step with Michigan’s legal process, according to FLOW. The Canadian energy-transport company has not even sought, let alone obtained, authorization from the State of Michigan for the easement and lease required by law to locate a risky, multibillion-dollar oil pipeline tunnel in the …Read More »FLOW to U.P. Energy Task Force: Act Fast to Protect Residents, End Reliance on Risky ‘Line 5’ Oil Pipeline
Photo by Kathryn DePauw for FLOW. To alleviate the rising threat to the safety and economic security of Upper Peninsula residents, a state energy task force at its April 13 online public meeting should act with urgency to adopt, prioritize, and schedule the implementation of the 14 recommendations in its …Read More »We Shouldn’t Suspend Laws that Protect Water, Health, and the Environment During the Time of Coronavirus
Like all of you, in this time of the coronavirus pandemic, the common ground we share—the ground we stand on—is shaking, sinking, shifting beneath our feet.Read More »To Combat Coronavirus, Michigan’s Governor Orders Communities to Turn Water Back On to Shutoff Homes
Governor Whitmer's order on March 28 to halt disconnections and restore drinking water followed urgent calls by the People's Water Board Coalition and its partners—some of which (like Michigan Welfare Rights Organization) have been leading this fight for nearly 20 years. Continued leadership and collaboration with these frontline groups must happen to ensure …Read More »How Far We’ve Come: The Bad Old Days of Waste Dumping in the Great Lakes
By John Gannon My first job after graduating from high school in 1961 was working on the stewards’ crew of the S. S. Aquarama, a car ferry-passenger ship that ran from Detroit to Cleveland. It was put out of business the next year upon completion of freeways between the two …Read More »The Most Hidden Source of Microfibers in the Great Lakes is Our Laundry
By Dave Long Plastic bottles, bags, straws, and packaging are often the focus for reducing plastics in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes. But there’s a smaller, more ubiquitous type of plastic pollution, called microfibers—fibers less than 5 millimeters in length—that may pose a bigger threat and may be harder …Read More »We’re All in this Together
We cannot beat COVID-19 without access to safe water for all of us. Water is a public health issue. Water is a human right. This is what the pandemic tells us. Our work continues. It continues every day. We are developing legal and policy solutions for Michigan’s water infrastructure crisis …Read More »Looking Back in Remembrance: Gov. William Milliken’s 98th Birthday
Today, March 26, would have been the 98th birthday of Michigan Governor William G. Milliken, whose leadership in the 1970s and 1980s put Michigan at the forefront of the 50 states in environmental protection. When the Governor passed away last October, FLOW was honored to be named one of two …Read More »COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Michigan’s Failure to Provide Clean Water for All
Photo courtesy of People’s Water Board Coalition Story update: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order on Saturday, March 28, stipulating that people who have lost water service because of non-payment of bills will have that service reconnected. The order comes with a $2 million state grant attached that will …Read More »How many Microplastic Particles Do We Consume Every Year?
As we become increasingly aware of the crisis surrounding plastics in the environment, we need to increase research on the health effects of the microplastics we ingest each year. Tiny pieces of microplastic ranging from 5 millimeters down to 100 nanometers in diameter are showing up in oceans, lakes, and …Read More »Record-High Water Levels Present Tough Times for Great Lakes Beach Walkers
The beaches along Michigan’s west coast have all but disappeared under the rising water levels of Lake Michigan as well as the other Great Lakes. In fact, lake levels haven’t been this high in well over 100 years. They reached an all-time low in 2013 before a meteoric rise brought …Read More »Michigan’s Ottawa County has a Groundwater Conundrum
In the Great Lakes state, we think of water as abundant, if not inexhaustible. Not far from Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Ottawa County is bordered on the west by the bulging waters of an engorged Lake Michigan. However, over the past 30 years, increasing use of groundwater is causing water …Read More »Recognizing Our Symbiotic Relationship with Groundwater
Over half the U.S. population, including 99 percent of the rural population, relies on groundwater for its drinking water supply. Groundwater is also used in crop irrigation. It may come as a surprise, then, to realize that most citizens are generally unaware of the nature and critical importance of groundwater.Read More »FLOW Office Closes through at least March 27 in Response to Coronavirus
As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) intensifies here in the Great Lakes region and beyond, our thoughts are with those everywhere whose health and well-being are impacted. To ensure the safety of our staff, board, volunteers, and visitors, we have closed our office in downtown Traverse City through Friday, March 27—or …Read More »Cherish the Groundwater Under Our Feet
To foster appreciation of groundwater, FLOW is unveiling our groundwater story map. Packed full of information about the environmental significance of this resource, the story map is a window into one of Michigan's overlooked assets.Read More »FLOW Urges Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority to Halt Action on Unauthorized ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: …Read More »Onus is on State, Not Citizens, to Turn on Water in Detroit
Since when is the burden of proof on residents to prove a health crisis to get a drink of water from the tap in their home? By refusing to grant relief to tens of thousands of residents in Detroit, the State has effectively deprived citizens of their rights under public …Read More »Great Lakes Histories: from Ruin to Recovery, Led by Citizen Leaders
"Since the beginning of Michigan as a state in 1837, we’ve had several resource binges," FLOW senior policy advisor David Dempsey told the University of Michigan’s Great Lakes Theme Semester panel series: "Great Lakes Histories—Indigenous Cultures through Common Futures" on Monday in Ann Arbor. "We took a heavily timbered state …Read More »FLOW’s Work is a Matter of the Heart
As we reflect on FLOW's work, it seems appropriate to quote FLOW supporter, and author, Jerry Beasley. “What is fundamental about our relationship with water is a matter of the heart, " writes Beasley. "If the heart is not engaged, the waters will not be saved.” FLOW's 2019 annual report, …Read More »Groundwater Should be Treated as Priceless, Not Worthless
Why should we clean up contaminated groundwater instead of sealing it off? Because what we can't see can come back to hurt us. Almost 40 years ago, contamination in Charlevoix's groundwater forced the city to switch to Lake Michigan as its drinking water source. Now, Michigan Radio reports, that contamination …Read More »FLOW Challenges Nestlé Monitoring Plan; Says it Masks True Impacts of Pumping
FLOW has submitted formal comments to the State of Michigan finding deep and fundamental deficiencies in a state-approved groundwater monitoring plan fashioned by water-bottling giant Nestlé.Read More »How Big is the Plastics Problem in the Great Lakes?
Significant volumes of plastics and Microplastics enter the Great Lakes every year, and they are not going away. The United States and Canada together discard 22 million pounds of plastic into the waters of the Great Lakes each year.Read More »It’s Time to Bring Enbridge ‘Line 5’ Under the Rule of Law
In a partial victory for Michigan’s waters and the rule of law, a state government administrative law judge ruled on Monday that legal challenges to permits issued by the state for the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline project in the Straits of Mackinac can move forward. Judge Daniel Pulter ruled …Read More »New Book About International Joint Commission Takes Hard Look at U.S.-Canada Water Relationship
The First Century of the International Joint Commission is the definitive history of the International Joint Commission (IJC), which oversees and protects the shared waters of the United States and Canada. Created by the Boundary Waters Treaty (BWT) of 1909, it is one of the world’s oldest international environmental bodies. A pioneering piece …Read More »Michigan Courts Can Enforce a Township’s Responsibility to Remedy Widespread Septic System Failures
Michigan remains the only state without statewide regulations governing the inspection of septic systems, leaving the job of protecting waters from septic systems to local governments. A 2012 decision of the Michigan Supreme Court makes clear that, in the face of widespread septic system failures in a region, Michigan courts …Read More »Who Owns the Water? Glen Arbor Arts Center, FLOW Hold Student Art Exhibition
Applications are available for the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) 2020 student exhibition, Who Owns The Water? This themed, juried exhibition takes place April 7-May 1, and is open to students in grades 9-12, attending schools in Benzie, Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. The deadline for online submissions is March …Read More »Wanted: a Government That Acts Like an Adult and Cleans Up its Mess
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has a prime opportunity to provide a bold, optimistic alternative to Trump’s war on the environment when she delivers the Democratic Party’s response to the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. As the leader of our Great Lakes state, and the protector of our …Read More »FLOW Calls for Strong, Protective Drinking Water Standards for “Forever Chemicals”
Meeting a January 31 deadline for public comment, FLOW urged state officials to adopt standards protecting the health of Michigan residents from PFAS chemicals detected in drinking water supplies serving 1.9 million residents. FLOW also appreciates the 42 people who responded to a FLOW alert and submitted their own PFAS …Read More »The State of Governor Whitmer’s State of the State Message
When Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers her State of the State speech on Wednesday, January 29, she would do well to emulate her predecessor Gov. William Milliken, who 50 years ago gave a 1970 State of the State speech that fought environmental degradation and deregulation and called for dramatic changes in …Read More »Delivering an Environmentally-strong State of the State—the Milliken Way
Michigan Governor William Milliken outlined a sweeping attack on environmental degradation in both his annual State of the State address on January 15, 1970, and a special message to the Legislature solely on environmental issues, on January 22, 1970. "Milliken Urges War on Pollution," read a Detroit Free Press headline.Read More »Billions of Taxpayer Dollars and 2 Billion Gallons a Year of Great Lakes Water Don’t Mix with Private Corporate Profits and Promises
No one has asked the real Foxconn question: What do taxes, jobs, and transferring billions of gallons of Great Lakes water outside the Basin have to do with public water supply? What does this have to do with public services or public purpose? The answer is nothing.Read More »“I Have a Dream that Our Water Will Be Protected as a Commons Under the Public Trust Doctrine”
FLOW founder and president Jim Olson delivered the following remarks — inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech — on January 12 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Grand Traverse. By Jim Olson I had a dream in 2009 and 2010. I had a dream …Read More »“I Have a Dream that the Climate Crisis Awakens our Common Purpose”
Former FLOW board chair Skip Pruss delivered the following remarks — inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech — on January 12 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Grand Traverse. By Skip Pruss I have a dream where the urgency of the climate crisis becomes …Read More »Speak Up About PFAS, the “Forever Chemicals” in Michigan’s Drinking Water
Michigan residents have an opportunity until Friday, January 31, to speak up and defend our families and public drinking water from a group of chemicals known collectively as PFAS — also called “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment and are known to be in the water supply of …Read More »Why the Trump Administration’s Attack on the National Environmental Policy Act Matters
On the first day of 1970—a hallmark year for the environmental movement—President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law. A milestone in the protection of America’s environment, NEPA has been nicknamed the “Magna Carta” of American environmental law. On its 50th anniversary, it’s important to remember why …Read More »Safeguarding and Reclaiming the Public Water Commons and a Human Right to Water and Health
Maude’s new book, "Whose Water Is It Anyway?: Taking Water Protection into Public Hands" is a combination of big picture world water crisis, personal story, water policy, conflicts, and solution. Here is a short readable book, a book you can slip into your purse, backpack, or even suit coat pocket, …Read More »Michigan DNR Takes Steps to Hold Enbridge Accountable
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Daniel Eichinger today set a 30-day deadline for Enbridge to submit key information regarding its ongoing violations of the state-granted easement conditionally allowing the Canadian company’s 66-year-old Line 5 oil pipelines to occupy the Straits of Mackinac.Read More »When State Government Favored Environmental Regulations Over “Fries with that Permit”
Seth Phillips started working as a state regulator in the late 1970s, at a time when there was a strong growth in environmental consciousness in society, and a serious commitment in government to environmental improvement. William Milliken was Michigan’s Governor when Phillips started, and he and the legislature were national …Read More »The Case of the Green Ooze
It's disappointing that it took creeping green ooze to awaken state officials in Lansing to a monumental environmental problem — thousands of dirty groundwater contamination sites across the state. But that's exactly what has happened.Read More »Protecting Michigan’s Drinking Water from PFAS – the “Forever Chemicals”: Action You Can Take Now
Michigan residents have an opportunity throughout January to speak up and defend our families and public drinking water from a group of chemicals known collectively as PFAS, also called “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment and are known to be in the water supply of at least 1.9 …Read More »FLOW in Focus: Doing the Next Right Thing For the Love of Water
As FLOW’s Executive Director, Liz demonstrates the rightness of Jim’s decision every day. She is a courageous advocate for public water and the public trust, a champion of water justice and water literacy, and a valued counselor to many other professionals and organizations. Liz has earned every accolade and deserves …Read More »Live, Work, Create, Renew, Repeat.
Above: Liz Kirkwood, who has been standing guard over the Great Lakes since 2012 as FLOW’s executive director, will be on sabbatical with her family from January through March 2020. By Liz Kirkwood, FLOW Executive Director sab·bat·i·cal /səˈbadək(ə)l/ noun: a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other …Read More »A Truly Golden Anniversary: 50 Years Since the Environmental Awakening of 1970
Although American environmentalism reaches back to the early 20th century, public demands for clean water, clean air, and healthy ecosystems reached a crescendo in 1970. As 2020 dawns, FLOW believes it’s time to remember and reflect on all that happened that 50 years ago—and how we can make the next …Read More »Court’s Denial of Zoning Permit for Nestlé Pump Station Exposes Achilles Heel of Private Bottled Water Industry
On December 3, the Michigan Court of Appeals released an opinion nullifying a lower court order that had allowed Nestlé to build an industrial booster pump facility to transport 210 million gallons per year of groundwater that feeds headwater creeks in Osceola Township just north of Evart. The decision exposes …Read More »Chronicling FLOW’s Accomplishments in 2019
Powered by our supporters, FLOW had quite a year in 2019. Our legal advocacy work to restore the rule of law made a big impact at the state level. Michigan’s new Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a public trust lawsuit on June 27 to revoke the 1953 easement that conditionally …Read More »FLOW’s Top 10: Water Diversions, PFAS, Line 5, Beach Access, and Septic System Pollution Rank among Most Popular Stories of 2019
Drumroll please! It’s time to unveil the top 10 most popular, most clicked, most-talked about blog posts written by FLOW in 2019.Read More »State Official’s Non-Decision Thwarts Protection from Potash Mining
A Michigan state administrative law judge, after almost a year and a half delay, recently decided he had no jurisdiction to rule on a citizen challenge of a proposed potash mine that would suck enormous amounts of groundwater out of an aquifer near the town of Hersey—near Reed City and …Read More »Thunder Bay Film Festival Showcases Water Themes
In what is becoming a cherished Great Lakes community event, the eighth annual Thunder Bay International Film Festival takes place in Alpena, Michigan, January 22-26, 2020. Organized by Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the festival’s offerings span a range of films, from a local student competition to Great Lakes subjects …Read More »Don’t Forget the Department of Natural Resources
An angler speaks with a DNR creel clerk. Photo courtesy Michigan DNR By Tom Baird Many Michiganders overlook a state agency critical to the environment. When we talk about water issues in Michigan, we usually think of environmental protection, especially related to pollution and public health. We tend to forget that …Read More »Government Protects Human Health and the Environment, in West Michigan and Nationwide
FLOW held a community engagement session at the Grand Rapids Public Library on Thursday, December 5, to make the economic case for government’s role in protecting human health and the environment—both nationally and locally.Read More »Microplastics Invading the Food Chain
The Great Lakes face many challenges. Some are well-known, such as Asian carp, but some are almost invisible, such as microplastics. Small plastic detritus, termed “microplastics” or “microfibers,” are a widespread contaminant in aquatic ecosystems including the Great Lakes. Research reported in Environmental Science and Technology suggests that marine microplastic …Read More »Accounting for Environmental, Health, and Climate Impacts in the Energy Sector
This article is excerpted from the final of four policy briefs by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss, that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment. The fourth policy brief, “Resetting Expectations: Accounting …Read More »Breaking the Cycle of Great Lakes Ruin and Recovery
It’s been almost 50 years since the United States and Canada entered into the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and during this time, we have watched rust-belt contaminated urban cores rebound and polluted ecosystems revived. But we also have witnessed a rollback of major federal environmental regulations and laws, the …Read More »Protecting the Great Lakes is “A Matter of the Heart”
What I have learned, and what I believe in the most elemental way, is that our first and most basic relationship with water is anchored in love. In the absence of love there is the great risk of indifference and failure to protect this resource that, under the Public Trust …Read More »Minnesota Water Train Proposal Exposes Flaw in Great Lakes Compact
By Jim Olson A railway company recently proposed extracting 500 million gallons of groundwater per year from Minnesota and shipping it to water-scarce states in the southwestern United States. Although the water that would be diverted lies outside the Great Lakes Basin, and Minnesota officials said they are not likely …Read More »Kalkaska County Bid to End Point-of-Sale Septic Inspection Program Fails
Residents and wastewater users in Kalkaska County can rest easier at night. A bid to weaken septic and groundwater protections has failed. The November 22 meeting of the District 10 Health Board yielded what appears to be the final chapter of the year-long effort to prevent Kalkaska County from ending …Read More »Resetting Expectations in Traverse City and Grand Rapids
Do environmental regulations hinder or help the economy? That question framed FLOW’s community engagement session on November 13 in Traverse City examining the role of government in protecting human health and the environment. Presenters included Cherry Republic founder and environmental steward Bob Sutherland and former FLOW board chair Skip Pruss, who …Read More »FLOW Cites New Evidence of Enbridge Operating Illegally, Calls for Orderly Shutdown of ‘Line 5’ Oil Pipelines in Straits of Mackinac
FLOW today called on the State of Michigan to increase and strictly enforce the requirement for comprehensive oil spill insurance and terminate the 1953 easement that conditionally allows Line 5 to occupy the Straits of Mackinac, triggering the orderly shut down of the dual oil pipelines as soon as practicable …Read More »Where Does Michigan Go from Here on Leaking Septic Systems?
Can Michigan’s governance system succeed in solving one of our state’s worst water pollution problems? That’s the key question in the wake of FLOW’s Michigan Septic Summit in Traverse City on November 6. Attended by more than 150 people representing diverse points of view, the summit demonstrated that there is …Read More »FLOW Welcomes Development Director Diane Dupuis and New Board Members Brett Fessell and Douglas Jester
FLOW (For Love of Water) is excited to announce that Diane Dupuis started earlier this month as our new Development Director. Diane works to connect FLOW with resources that can help fuel our work of safeguarding the Great Lakes for all.Read More »Michigan Septic Summit Draws Packed Crowd to Traverse City
Above: Nature Change’s Joe VanderMeulen and FLOW’s Liz Kirkwood welcome attendees to the Michigan Septic Summit on Nov. 6, 2019, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Hagerty Center in Traverse City. All photos by Rick Kane. We really didn’t know what the level of public interest would be when FLOW started working …Read More »The Multifaceted Benefits of Regulation for the Economy and Environment
This article is excerpted from the third of four policy briefs by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss, that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment.Read More »Carrying on Governor Milliken’s Environmental Legacy
FLOW gratefully acknowledges the Milliken family’s suggestion that memorial donations in Governor William Milliken’s name be made to FLOW and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. We will carry on the Milliken legacy of environmental stewardship and hope for the future.Read More »Remembering Governor William Milliken, Protector of Michigan’s Environmental Soul
A great tree has fallen. On Friday, October 18, former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken passed away at age 97 in Traverse City. The longest-serving governor in the history of Michigan, Milliken distinguished himself in numerous other ways, several of which seem especially important today.Read More »FLOW and Partners Hosting “Michigan Septic Summit” on November 6 in Traverse City
FLOW and several community partners will host the Michigan Septic Summit on Wednesday, November 6, at the Hagerty Conference Center in Traverse City. The public event aims to protect fresh water and public health from uncontrolled septic pollution. The one-day conference runs from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and costs $25 …Read More »Hot Off the Presses: Keeping Water Public and the World from Burning
Thanks to Maude Barlow, Meera Karunananthan, Emma Lui at the Council of Canadians, the Blue Planet Project, the World Social Forum, and the dedication of so many other individuals and organizations, the United Nations in 2010 declared in successive resolutions that water is a human right.Read More »Remembering Lee Botts – A Faithful Friend of the Great Lakes
When Lee Botts died October 5 at age 91, the Great Lakes lost one of their best—and most faithful and effective—friends. Although perhaps not well known in Michigan, Lee was a legend in the Great Lakes environmental community. She not only made our freshwater seas far better because of her …Read More »Recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Respecting Water
By JoAnne Cook Indigenous Peoples’ Day (October 14 this year) has become a day of recognition to the Anishinaabek and has replaced Columbus Day in some communities. This recognition comes because we are the first people of this earth. Although many believe Columbus discovered this land, there were many visitors to …Read More »Art Meets Water: FLOW’s Campaign to Celebrate Creative Expression and Freshwater Stewardship
Art meets water. Creative expression holds hands and swims with freshwater stewardship. Breathtaking, life-sustaining water inspires art, and that art propels us to protect the Great Lakes. The stillness, waves, clarity, and reflection of water give rise to poetry, music, paintings, dance, letters, and more. It’s a swirling, symbiotic, cyclical …Read More »FLOW, City of Mackinac Island Join Legal Fight on Invalidity of Existing Line 5 and Proposed Oil Tunnel under Great Lakes
The Michigan Court of Claims has issued orders accepting FLOW’s and the City of Mackinac Island’s amicus briefs advancing key legal arguments in Enbridge’s Line 5 oil tunnel lawsuit against the State, rejecting opposing arguments by the Canadian oil pipeline company. The ruling in Lansing by Judge Michael Kelly in …Read More »Gov. Whitmer, Michigan Legislature Agree on Funding for Clean Water
Although budget talks between Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state Legislature are strained at best — as the two sides appear deadlocked over road funding — it does appear her request for significant one-time funding for clean water for the fiscal year 2020 starting October 1 will survive the …Read More »Faceoff over Farm Runoff Heads to Iowa Court
The foot-dragging by public officials to take action against deadly algal blooms and pollution from bad farming practices finally has reached a tipping point. Food and Water Watch, a national public interest organization, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement have teamed up in Des Moines to file a lawsuit to …Read More »It’s Septic Smart Week
Most Michiganders don’t know that September 16-20 is Septic Smart Week — and that an estimated 130,000 septic systems in our state are failing. In many cases that means sewage and associated microorganisms are reaching groundwater, lakes and streams.Read More »Lake Erie: Clean It Up or Admit It’s a Sacrifice Zone
It’s been five years since the August 2014 bloom that contaminated Toledo’s water supply for a weekend, leaving half a million without drinking water — an event that many compared to the 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River at Cleveland. Where’s the outrage and action now? All we have to …Read More »Government Must Protect the Great Lakes, our Greatest Source of Natural Capital
Michigan lies at the heart of the Great Lakes, the largest fresh surface water system in the world. Harboring 95 percent of all fresh surface water in United States and 84 percent of all fresh surface water in North America, the Lakes are an enormous source of natural capital, providing direct …Read More »Line 5 Poses On-land Explosion Risk for Michigan Residents
On August 1, a natural gas pipeline operated by an Enbridge subsidiary exploded in Kentucky. The blast killed one person, injured six others, and blew 30 feet of pipeline out of the ground, resulting in a crater that is 50 feet long, 35 feet wide and 13 feet deep. About …Read More »Natural Capital and the Value of Ecological Services
The natural world provides a continuous stream of abundant, valuable goods and services. Air, water, soil, flora, and fauna upon which we all depend are relentlessly harvested, used, and abused without an appreciation of our dependency upon this natural capital and the value we derived from it. Nature-based capital, when unimpaired …Read More »In Honor of Ted Curran: Friend and Founding Board Member of FLOW
Ted Curran and his wife Marcia walked into my life and FLOW’s life during the fight by the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) for the soul of Michigan’s public water and the Great Lakes in its lawsuit against bottled water-giant Nestlé. Ted became a stalwart supporter of FLOW during …Read More »Swine CAFO Threatens Environment, Public Health along Lake Michigan Shoreline
Public notice in a local newspaper in October 2017 announced a permit application for a mammoth swine factory near the Oceana/Muskegon County line along Lake Michigan. Called a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), this proposed pollution factory activated our resistance. Reviving Our American Democracy (ROAD) is a White Lake Area public …Read More »Digging a Hole for Future Generations
After a brief rally outside with many participants wearing black t-shirts saying, “No Line 5 Oil Tunnel,” dozens of people this morning (August 21) overflowed the meeting room and lobby of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners in Traverse City. In all, 54 residents spoke out for the next …Read More »Call to Action: Ban Balloon Releases that Kill Birds and Other Wildlife
Every day, balloons and balloon ribbons and strings are discovered littering the waters and shorelines of the Great Lakes. Between 2016 and 2018, volunteers with the Alliance for the Great Lakes picked up more than 18,000 pieces of balloon debris during coastal cleanups. Latex balloons also burst into small pieces that are …Read More »Déjà Vu: PFAS are Latest in Long Line of Failed Chemical Policies
The discovery of toxic per or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in many Michigan locations, the fear and concern these chemicals have stirred, and the difficulty posed to government officials and the public on how to respond feel familiar to those residents 50 and over. PFAS are just the latest symbols of …Read More »Resetting Expectations: the Value of Natural Systems and Government’s Role in Protecting Water
This is the second of four reports by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment. FLOW will unveil the last two reports in the coming months.Read More »Line 5’s Failing Design – Anchor Supports, Anchor Strikes, and the Rising Risk of an Oil Spill Disaster in the Great Lakes
The disclosure by Enbridge that 81 feet of Line 5 has been undermined by powerful currents and is slumping points to something far more serious—and dangerous: The 66-year-old dual pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac are failing and also at risk of rupture from a ship’s anchor drag that hooks and …Read More »No ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel in the Great Lakes!
Confronted at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday by a full audience passionately and unanimously against a proposed Line 5 oil tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac, the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners voted today to temporary table a misguided and error-filled resolution supporting the oil tunnel. (Click here to …Read More »The Climate Crisis and Sea-sawing Great Lakes Water Levels
The IJC heard concerns for threats to the Great Lakes when it visited Traverse City on July 24: Enbridge Line 5, nuclear waste storage, invasive species, bottled water, plastics and privatization, and harmful algal blooms. But the most threatening concern, one that drives or is exacerbated by the others, was the …Read More »FLOW’s Two-Pronged Proposal to the IJC for an Emergency Pilot Study and Urgent Action to Address the Effects of Climate Change
FLOW on July 24 formally submitted a recommendation to the International Join Commission that calls for an emergency pilot study and urgent action to address the effects of climate change.Read More »International Joint Commission appoints Kirkwood to Great Lakes Water Quality Board
The International Joint Commission (IJC) has appointed Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director of FLOW, to a three-year term on the Great Lakes Water Quality Board. Kirkwood will fill a seat set aside for nonprofit environmental organizations.Read More »If Line 5 Ruptures, Shut Mackinac Island Water System, Evacuate Everyone
The Mackinac Islanders who attended FLOW's sixth annual Community Update on Line 5 at Community Hall were an economically and politically diverse crowd. What united them was a concern over Line 5, and a desire to learn how FLOW and tribal representatives, lawyers, and risk experts are educating the public …Read More »Beach Cleanups Protect Water and Health and Raise Awareness
Many of our Michigan beaches are sullied by refuse and littered with food wrappers, soggy cigarette butts, and small plastic pieces of mysterious origin. Whether littered on-site or carried from elsewhere in the watershed, unsanitary garbage on our coasts puts-off beach-goers and infringes upon the public’s right to enjoy the …Read More »The Thirsty Buffalo
We can outthink clever buffalo who know how to turn on water spigots at campsites in the dry southwestern United States. The larger problem is that many folks, including state employees, have their heads in the sand when it comes to solutions that will prevent future catastrophes like running out …Read More »Michigan Groundwater Expert Distills Lessons of a Career
Professor David Lusch retired in 2017, after a 38-year career in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University (MSU). Beginning in 1992 with the publication of the Aquifer Vulnerability Map of Michigan, Dr. Lusch helped pioneer the use of geographic information systems for groundwater mapping …Read More »Shaping Niagara Falls: Engineers, Hydropower, and Sustainability
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of turning off the American Falls, the smaller of the main cataracts at Niagara Falls. In the 1950s, engineers had replumbed the much larger Horseshoe Falls, shrinking it and diverting the majority of the water before it plunged over the precipice. All this may …Read More »Reflections on Independence – Liberty, Water, and the Public Trust Doctrine
July is “Public Trust Month” at FLOW, a time to gather views and inspiration from people from all walks of life who live, use and enjoy, or depend on the waters of the Great Lakes Basin for life, recreation, and livelihood. Talk about a gift for all of us to …Read More »New State Funding Gives Boost to Recycling
Late last year, the Michigan Legislature approved $15 million in annual funding for recycling programs. To learn more about this initiative, FLOW interviewed Matt Flechter, Recycling Market Development Specialist at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.Read More »The Detroit River’s Waterfront Porch
John Hartig is intimately connected with one of the most successful environmental restoration projects in the United States, the recovery of the once highly degraded Detroit River. He retired in 2018 after 14 years as manager of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and more than 30 years with the …Read More »The Changing Great Lakes: Living with Fluctuating Water Levels
This spring, water levels on all five of the Great Lakes have reached, or are approaching, record highs. The result of unusually high winter and spring precipitation, increased winter ice cover and reduced evaporation, these new highs are the latest in a never-ending series of Great Lakes level fluctuations. Studies show that …Read More »The Public Trust and YOU
During this high-water month of July, FLOW will publish video postcards each weekday that feature Michiganders (and citizens of the Great Lakes Basin) explaining what the Public Trust Doctrine means to us and how our precious, publicly-owned fresh water shapes our lives and relationship to this place we call home.Read More »Picnics with Less Plastic
In celebration of the Traverse City Cherry Festival and the warm days ahead, we wanted to highlight one of our favorite summer activities. For many, picnicking in a park or near Lake Michigan is a summer tradition. In keeping with our #getoffthebottle campaign and dedication to reducing our single-use plastic …Read More »Attorney General Nessel, Governor Whitmer Take Bold Legal Actions to Shut Down Line 5 and Apply Rule of Law
Today represents a historic turning point for all Michiganders. Attorney General (AG) Dana Nessel took decisive legal action on Pipeline 5 in the Straits of Mackinac when she filed suit in Ingham County Circuit Court to revoke the 1953 Easement that conditionally authorized Enbridge to pump oil through twin pipelines.Read More »Lack of Septic Maintenance Requirements Threatens Michigan Public Health
Michigan's estimated 140,000 compromised septic systems aren't just a water pollution problem — they're a threat to human health. A new video documentary produced by Joe VanderMeulen of NatureChange.org and sponsored by FLOW, the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC), Leelanau Clean Water, and the Benzie Conservation District underscores the …Read More »Fact Check: When Line 5 Shuts Down, Detroit Jets Will Still Fly and Union Refinery Jobs Will Still Exist
Exploiting worker and community fears with bogus claims is the latest in a series of unconscionable tactics deployed by Enbridge to pressure Michigan officials into letting the company occupy the Straits with its current antiquated Line 5 pipeline and later, a tunnel under the lakebed.Read More »Resetting Expectations: Government’s Role in Protecting Human Health and the Environment
Why Good Regulations are Good for our Great Lakes This is the first of four reports by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment. FLOW will …Read More »Mike Vickery chairs, Lisa Wyatt Knowlton joins FLOW Board
Mike Vickery recently became Chair of the Board of Directors at FLOW (For Love of Water), the nonprofit Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City. Vickery is an advisor on strategic environmental communication, community engagement, and organizational capacity building. He is an Emeritus professor of Communication, Public …Read More »Wisconsin Judge Upholds Foxconn Decision, Undermining the ‘Compact’ Designed to Prevent Great Lakes Diversions
By Jim Olson, FLOW President and Founder In a major ruling involving the Great Lakes Compact, a Wisconsin administrative law judge (ALJ) has upheld a decision by the State of Wisconsin to authorize a major diversion of Lake Michigan water primarily to benefit a single customer, the Foxconn Corporation, a …Read More »Actress Amy Smart and writer and producer Geoff Johns urge Michigan Gov. Whitmer to protect our Great Lakes and shut down ‘Line 5’
Actress Amy Smart and comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer Geoff Johns urge Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to protect our Great Lakes and shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. Amy: Hi, I’m Amy Smart. …Read More »Enbridge Attempts to Resuscitate a Terminally Flawed ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel Deal
By Jim Olson, FLOW President and Founder The lawsuit filed by Enbridge in the Michigan Court of Claims on Thursday, June 6, is an attempt to resuscitate a Line 5 oil tunnel law and related agreements that are so riddled with entanglements by the former Governor Snyder Administration with Enbridge, …Read More »Walking the Water Line — a Legal Right, But Difficult as Great Lakes Levels Rise
Pack away those dreams of walking miles from bay to bay along the shores of Lake Michigan this summer—unless you want to get wet, that is—reports Linda Dewey for the Glen Arbor Sun. The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the public’s right to walk the Great Lakes shoreline in February when …Read More »The Latest on ‘Line 5’
By Liz Kirkwood MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan – The biggest news coming from the Mackinac Policy Conference held here this week wasn’t even listed on the official agenda. Instead, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel made headlines in interviews conducted on the margins of the main affair. Nessel’s message: She intends ASAP …Read More »DDT: The 50th Anniversary Everyone Forgot
Photo: Michigan State University ornithologist George Wallace By Dave Dempsey Engulfed in a mammoth chemical crisis involving a family of chemicals known as PFAS, Michigan has something to learn from a 50th anniversary that passed unnoticed last month. In April 1969, Michigan became the first state to effectively ban DDT. It …Read More »In Praise of Lana Pollack
By Dave Dempsey Today, after nine years of service on the International Joint Commission (IJC), Michigan’s Lana Pollack steps down as chair of the U.S. Section. It’s a milestone in a career of public service spanning 40 years. In her role on the IJC, Lana has been a forceful voice for environmental protection and government transparency …Read More »‘Line 5’ Threat to Great Lakes Won’t Be Solved By Proposed Anchor Rules
“Let’s be clear: the ‘Line 5’ oil spill threat to Great Lakes won’t be solved by emergency anchor rules that Gov. Whitmer called for today," said Liz Kirkwood, executive director of FLOW. "The real solution to the threat of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is to shut it down now."Read More »A Unifying Message: Get Involved! Show up! We’re all in this together!
Today FLOW board member and Green Elk Rapids (GreenER) co-founder Royce Ragland will be inducted into the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame. The recognition is for a variety of environmental accomplishments, including most recently her work in promoting the Village of Elk Rapids as a statewide environmental leader.Read More »Don’t Do It in the River
Photo: A lack of septic regulations can lead to waste in our treasured waters. You wouldn’t “do it in the river,” would you? By Dave Dempsey Michigan prides itself on being an environmental leader, particularly in curbing water pollution. But in one area of water policy, Michigan is dead last …Read More »A Mother’s Day Letter to My Children
Dear Ones, Every Mother’s Day, I take a walk along the lake. Some years, blue waters mirror blue skies, scattering light across small waves. I find myself stopping a lot on those walks, head tilted toward the sun. I feel it all: warmth, joy, awed gratitude for you three babies …Read More »Michigan Citizens, Tribe Challenge State Permit for Nestlé’s Water Grab
By Jim Olson I don’t mean to dampen the joy of spring in Michigan, but amidst headlines over Line 5 and unconscionable groundwater contamination from PFAS, we need to embolden our governor, our state officials, and every citizen who cares about water, justice, and the rule of law to join another battle. We need to …Read More »A ‘Line 5’ Oil Tunnel Won’t Protect the Great Lakes from Enbridge, Climate Change
Above: FLOW’s Liz Kirkwood speaking in opposition to a proposed oil tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac, during a November 8, 2018, hearing in St. Ignace. In the world of public relations, there are facts, exaggerations, and untruths. Right now, Enbridge is bombarding the people of Michigan with hazy PR claims …Read More »With Michigan’s Trout Opener on Tap, An Angler Reflects on Coalition-Building to Protect Coldwater
The Crown Jewel Saturday is the opening day of the trout fishing season, a high holy holiday to those of us who love to cast a fly in Michigan’s coldwater rivers and streams. I’ll be knee deep in the Holy Waters section of the Au Sable River by 10 a.m. …Read More »Five Years after Switching the Water Source, Flint Remains a Tragedy
Five years after the crisis began, some Flint residents don't trust the water coming from their taps, even though the state has declared it safe. They continue to use bottled water for drinking, bathing, and baptizing their children. Their trust in government long ago washed down the drain. Where bread …Read More »Reflecting on Earth Day 1970 in Michigan and the Origin of the State’s Environmental Movement
Above: Poster for the ENACT (Environmental Action for Survival) Earth Day Teach-In on the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor campus in March 1970. “Man has so severely despoiled his natural environment that serious concern exists for his survival…What began as an idea and a desire to do something about …Read More »The Future of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac
Now that Michigan’s governor and attorney general have sunk the oil tunnel scheme hatched by the last administration, I’m asked nearly every day: What can citizens and state leaders do to shut down the propped-up, banged-up Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac for good? Here’s my answer, as …Read More »What Happened on Line 5?
How Did We Get Here on Line 5? Tracing the Law and the Politics The plotting of former Governor Snyder’s administration and Enbridge to hand over the public trust soils and bedrock under the Straits of Mackinac for the company to build and operate a new crude oil pipeline in …Read More »A Day in the Life of Patagonia – a Corporation that Promotes the Common Good
Above: Jim Olson and his wife Judy Bosma pose with Patagonia environmental programs associate Alex Cangialose and environmental grants coordinator Tom Kaheli on the front steps of Patagonia’s headquarters. Patagonia, the cutting-edge outdoor clothing company with a mission to serve the common good and the planet’s environment, started out as …Read More »With a New Agency Comes New Structure in Michigan
Once upon a time, state environmental agencies operated for decades under the same name, providing continuity and tradition — but perhaps failing to meet evolving needs. The Michigan Department of Conservation operated for nearly 50 years, beginning in 1921, a period of rapid growth in the state forest and park …Read More »Taking Action on the “Forever Chemicals”
Governor Whitmer’s directive Tuesday to the Department of Environmental Quality to develop an enforceable state drinking water standard for toxic PFAS chemicals is a welcome step. It signals that her Administration believes the health of Michigan citizens and the environment is not something to be left to foot-dragging federal officials, …Read More »Proposal to Abolish Required Septic System Inspections Threatens Kalkaska Waters
With an estimated 130,000 septic systems leaking E. coli and other pollutants into Michigan groundwater, lakes, and streams, you would hardly think it time to relax inspection requirements. But that’s exactly what Kalkaska County is considering this spring – and this has some local residents and environmental experts concerned. Kalkaska …Read More »What Everyone Should Know About the Great Lakes
Freshwater Facts Only freshwater will sustain human life. About 97% of the water on earth is salt water. Of the remaining fraction of approximately 3% that is freshwater, over 98% is locked in ice caps, glaciers and groundwater. Of the remaining fraction of about 1.2% of all freshwater, about .25% …Read More »The Green Governor
One governor of Michigan is remembered in large part because of his environmental ethic and accomplishments. William G. Milliken of Traverse City, who turns 97 on Tuesday, March 26, supported and signed into law most of Michigan’s modern environmental laws while he was the state’s chief executive from 1969-1982. Governor …Read More »Sign of the Times: Toledo Voters Pass Bill of Rights for Lake Erie
Above: A Summer day on western Lake Eire A lake, river, creek, parkland, wilderness, or canopy of redwoods or old sugar maples can’t walk to the courthouse to file lawsuits to protect their right to be free from harm, nor can they walk into a precinct and vote. Come to …Read More »PFAS: An Environmental and Public Health Crisis that Needs Answers and Action
This is the second installment in a series of essays by FLOW board member Rick Kane on the vital issues of risk management and the responsibilities of public officials under the public trust doctrine. Rick is the former Director of Security, Environment, Transportation Safety and Emergency Services for Rhodia, North …Read More »FLOW Partner Spotlight: Redbudsuds Giving 1% of Sales to the Planet
Meet Aubrey Miller, outdoor enthusiast, passionate advocate for our wild places, and founder and co-owner of Redbudsuds, a female-owned company that created a four-in-one shower bar for the eco-minded adventurer. Redbudsuds is part of Patagonia’s 1% for the Planet and gives 1% of its total annual sales to several organizations, including …Read More »Line 5 – Public Trust and Risk Management
This is the first in a series of essays by FLOW board member Rick Kane on the vital issues of risk management and the responsibilities of public officials under the public trust doctrine. The issue has special meaning in light of the risks posed by the twin Enbridge pipelines that …Read More »Spring Water – A Marketing Gimmick that Can Negatively Affect Michigan’s Most Susceptible Water Bodies
What is Happening Nestlé Waters North America is taking groundwater near Evart, Michigan, from a sensitive area of springs, wetlands, and ponds, between the upper reaches of Twin and Chippewa Creek. Nestlé is authorized to take groundwater at a rate of 400 gallons per minute (gpm) from a production well, …Read More »Michigan Groundwater Policy: A History
Over 100 Years of Contamination Groundwater contamination in Michigan reaches back over a century. For example, the Antrim Iron Works in Mancelona in 1910 began discharging residues of chemicals recovered from its charcoal production process to an on-site depression that gradually released wastes to groundwater. Although the plant closed in 1944, extensive …Read More »PFAS: The Not So Emerging Contaminants
“Emerging” Contaminants PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are driving Michigan’s latest surface and groundwater crisis, infiltrating public waters with what the media and others describe as “emerging” contaminants. It turns out, however, that this class of persistent fluorinated chemicals, known as “forever” chemicals due to their extraordinarily strong bonds, is …Read More »Groundwater Connection: FLOW’s Two-Part Podcast on the Sixth Great Lake, the Water Beneath the Ground
What lies beneath? In part 1 of FLOW’s new Groundwater Connection podcast, veteran journalist Sally Eisele seeks out the sounds and science of groundwater Up North in Michigan. Listen in on her conversations with children, scientists, and farmers, and personal reflection.Read More »FLOW’s Groundwater Awareness Week: What It Is and Why It Matters
Michigan is called the Great Lakes state but is a poor steward of the sixth Great Lake, the water lying beneath Michigan’s ground. During National Groundwater Awareness Week March 10-16, FLOW is calling for state-level reforms to strengthen protection of Michigan’s groundwater. The Invisible Resource Groundwater is an immense and …Read More »Friday Favorite: Houdek Dunes Natural Area
Reading Dave Dempsey’s recent post about the nearby wonder and beauty reminded me to take advantage of the wonderful hiking trails so close to where I live, to explore the corners of the scenic Leelanau Peninsula. There are quite a few hidden gems that don’t get the credit they deserve. So this …Read More »FLOW Challenges Proposed Great Lakes Water Diversion for Foxconn in Wisconsin
This week, FLOW President and Legal Advisor Jim Olson filed an amicus brief in a challenge to a State of Wisconsin permit authorizing a diversion of 7 million gallons a day (mgd) of Lake Michigan water to support the Foxconn Corporation’s proposed manufacturing facility. As discussed below, the proposed diversion …Read More »Valuing Water Resources in Michigan
Budgets are policy. Just as much as new laws and rules. So when Governor Whitmer announced a $120 million clean water initiative Tuesday, it did a lot to validate her rhetoric about being a governor who values our water resources. It’s a big change for Michigan. Some of the $120 million in …Read More »Grandma Josephine the Water Walker: A Remembrance
Above: FLOW Board member JoAnne Cook (left) with the late Josephine Mandamin (right). In late February, Josephine Mandamin of the Anishinabek Nation, affectionately known as Grandma Josephine and Grandmother Water Walker, passed away at 77. Grandma Josephine was famed for leading a Great Lakes water walk to dramatize the importance …Read More »FACTS ABOUT GROUNDWATER
There are an estimated 2.8 million trillion gallons of groundwater, 30.1 percent of the world’s freshwater. An estimated 79.6 billion gallons of groundwater is withdrawn daily, or 26 percent of the water withdrawn in the U.S. From 2010 to 2015, groundwater use in the United States increased by 8.3% while …Read More »Walk On!
photo by Beth Price The Town of Long Beach, Indiana, runs along a wide stretch of sandy Lake Michigan beach just below the southwest corner of Michigan. Residences, and a series of public access corridors, extend to the shore from the town’s Lake Shore Drive. More homes extend inland along winding …Read More »Are Michigan’s Residents, Communities, and Businesses Insured if Line 5 Fails in the Straits?
If the 66-year-old Enbridge Line 5 pipelines fail in the Straits of Mackinac, who will pay for the oil spill clean-up costs and damages to residents, coastal communities, businesses, and our public waters? Michigan citizens may believe they are protected, at least at some level, by the insurance Enbridge should …Read More »Friday Favorite: Michigan’s Scenic Shoreline Drives
photo by Lauren Hucek Michigan has many candidates for the most scenic drive in America. In my mind, any road that offers remarkable water vistas should join the list. The first 40 miles of US-2 traveling west from St. Ignace are among the most spectacular in the country, as the road rises …Read More »Bypassing, and Now Restoring, the Rule of Law on Line 5
After last year’s election, newly chosen leaders and the old guard with a few weeks left in Lansing rushed in opposite directions. The Snyder administration and legislators intensified their unprecedented, legally questionable attacks on water, the environment, and public health during a lame-duck feeding frenzy. The new guard, Governor Gretchen …Read More »Friday Favorite: Toronto
My favorite way to challenge myself is by traveling. It is the simplest way of removing every comfortable aspect of my life, and replacing it with new perspectives, people, and customs. The further away from home I travel, the more challenges I encounter, and the more my perspective changes. While …Read More »“Standing” Up for the Great Lakes
Some gifts come after the lights and music of the holiday season drift into the snowy weeks of the New Year. We at FLOW are delighted to share a gift just sent to us from Courtney Hammer, our first legal intern, who spent the summer of 2014 here in Traverse …Read More »“No Stricter” Makes No Sense for Michigan’s Environment, Public Health
Of all the blows former Governor Rick Snyder and the lame-duck Legislature delivered in late 2018 to Michigan environmental policy, one stands out — a new law intended to thwart state rules that go beyond weak federal minimums. This seemingly abstract law in fact repudiates 50 years of efforts by …Read More »A 2019 Resolution to Reverse Michigan’s Anti-Environmental, Lame-Duck Lunacy
It’s January 2019, and it is time to unpack and undo the anti- water, air, environment, public health, and community laws passed by the Republican-run Legislature and signed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in the last two months of 2018. Lame-duck lawmakers and now ex-Governor Snyder blatantly followed a hit-list …Read More »The Forgotten Great Lake?
The idea that Lake Huron is an overlooked or forgotten lake has even seeped into our government. A report issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality posed the question whether Huron is a victim of amnesia. It’s not the biggest Great Lake, the dirtiest, the most populated or the …Read More »Line 5, Lame Duck Legislature Threaten Michigan’s Waters and Way of Life
With four days remaining until the Michigan Legislature is scheduled to adjourn and 14 days until the inauguration of a new governor, environmental rollbacks still threaten Michigan’s waters and values. To help FLOW and many allied groups fight back, please read the bill summaries below, and – for greater detail …Read More »Departing Governor and Lame Duck Legislature Speed toward 99-Year Oil Tunnel Scheme, Leaving Mackinac Straits at Risk from Line 5 Pipelines
https://flowforwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Liz-testifying-12.11.18.mp4 FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood testifying Dec. 11, 2018, at the Michigan House of Representatives Government Operations Committee. https://flowforwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Kelly-testifying-12.11.18.mp4 FLOW Deputy Director Kelly Thayer testifying Dec. 11, 2018, at the Michigan House of Representatives Government Operations Committee. In coordinated fashion, the Michigan’s lame-duck legislature on Tuesday and governor today opened the …Read More »Hoping That We Won’t “Notice”… Bridge-and-Oil Tunnel Bill Moving in Michigan House on Tuesday, Dec. 11
Giving the 18-hour bare minimum amount of public notice allowed by law, the Michigan House Government Operations Committee at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday will take up the Enbridge oil tunnel bill. A number of lawmakers in both parties – as well as thousands of individuals, groups, businesses, tribes, and local …Read More »Down to the Wire in the Lame Duck: Lansing Attacks Threaten our Waters and Values
Photo credit: Charles Brackett Michigan’s waters and environmental values are under attack. In the next two weeks, Michigan citizens have an opportunity to defend them from a lame duck Legislature that is defying the clear mandate of the State Constitution and the preferences of strong majorities of Michigan voters. Michiganders …Read More »Legislation To Be Considered By Michigan House Leaves Wetlands, Lakes, Streams Unprotected
This week, the Michigan State Senate approved by a 23-14 vote a bill that punches gaping holes in the state’s water defenses. Senate Bill 1211 now goes to the State House for a vote during the week of December 10. The legislation removes state legal protection from vast areas of wetlands, lakes, …Read More »Interview with Bill O. Smith, author of Chickadeeland
Bill O. Smith, committed environmentalist and author of the beloved Chickadee book series, talks to FLOW about Chickadeeland, writing children’s books, and his commitment to supporting environmental organizations. Could you provide additional biographical information beyond what is on your website? I grew up in suburban St. Louis, MO…couldn’t have cared less about clean water and the …Read More »Protecting the Great Lakes and the Mackinac Bridge from Enbridge – or Not
A view from the Mackinac Bridge of the Straits of Mackinac, just east of where the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipelines (not visible) cross along the bottom. Action Expected Dec. 11 in House, After Michigan Senate Passes Oil Tunnel Bill Still Tied to the Mackinac Bridge The Michigan Senate on …Read More »Line 5 – a Long-Term Asset? Not a Chance in this Century
Photo credit: Nancy May By Liz Kirkwood and Skip Pruss Substitute Bill SB 1197 continues to be riddled with faulty assumptions and logic that favor and bend towards Enbridge’s private corporate shareholder interests. Most glaring of all is the audacious and misguided underlying assertion that we humans will continue to …Read More »Legislature’s Assault on Environment Defies State Constitution
Photo credit: Charles Brackett In the midst of multiple legislative attacks on environmental laws and natural resources that Michiganders cherish, it is tempting to despair. But at FLOW we seek positive, right solutions based on the principle that no matter who a person is, no matter her or his walk …Read More »Presto! Another Tunnel Bill Appears, as Michigan Lawmakers Rush to Save Enbridge from the Public’s Will
In response to an outpouring of bipartisan public pressure to save the Mackinac Bridge from Enbridge, the shareholder-owned Canadian corporation, Michigan Senate Republicans today released yet another rushed version of their Senate Bill 1197 that makes matters worse for the Mighty Mac, the Great Lakes, and Michigan taxpayers. Specifically, in …Read More »We should strengthen, not weaken wetland protection
This month, in its lame duck session, the Michigan Legislature intends to pass a number of bills harming public health and welfare and the environment – all without meaningful public input or debate. Included within this eleventh-hour debacle is Senate Bill 1211, sponsored by outgoing Senator Tom Casperson, chair of …Read More »Help Stop These Legislative Attacks on Michigan’s Water, Trees, and Even the Mackinac Bridge
The Michigan Legislature during its ongoing lame-duck session – in rushed fashion with little public input or time for lawmaker consideration – is moving a series of bad bills, which threaten the quality of our lakes, streams, wetlands, forests, prairies, and the Great Lakes. To help FLOW and many allied …Read More »Welcome to the Lake Lovers
Editor’s Note: At FLOW, we couldn’t accomplish our work without support from our partners. Two great examples are The Boardman Review and Katherine Corden, both of whom are donating 5% of their proceeds from The Boardman Review Issue 6 and The Lake Lovers Collection, respectively. Check out both at the Boardman Review Launch party …Read More »Contact Your State Lawmaker Today to Save the Mackinac Bridge from Enbridge Line 5
Updated November 30, 2018 The rush continues in Michigan’s lame-duck legislature to bind the future of the Mackinac Bridge to notorious oil-spiller Enbridge and its proposed private oil tunnel. A Republican-led Senate committee at an 8:15 a.m. hearing on November 28 voted 3-2 along party lines to approve Senate Bill …Read More »Stop the Wetlands Wrecking Ball
Legislation introduced this week in the State Capitol would open hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands and thousands of inland lakes to destruction. Senate Bill 1211 attacks Michigan’s nationally recognized wetland protection act and the benefits wetlands provide — including clean water, floodwater storage, fish and wildlife habitat and …Read More »Lame Ducks, Lamer Policies
When Michigan voters cast ballots November 6, they did not express support for attacks on the state’s water resources. But that’s what they may be getting from Lansing between now and the end of 2018. In politics, lame ducks are officeholders whose successors have been elected but whose terms haven’t …Read More »Thankful for Beautiful Views
Photo by Kenzie Rice Since I was a kid, I have been taking advantage of the beauty of Michigan. You could say I am a veteran of taking advantage of it at this point. My parents would take my siblings and me on picturesque hikes and to spectacular lookout points, …Read More »Giving Thanks
Photo by Beth Price During this season of gratitude, I give thanks to the life-sustaining Great Lakes waters. And I give thanks to all the peoples of this region who recognize their inherent value and stand up for these freshwater seas. It is our deep human connection to these waters …Read More »Thankful For Running Water In Our Home
Above: A giant eroded gully and seasonal water source in Endabeg Village, Tanzania circa 1996 During this week including Thanksgiving, FLOW staff are reflecting on their thankfulness for water. Whether it’s the vast and variable nature of Lake Huron or the water running from a household tap, water is at …Read More »Thankful for Lake Huron
During this week including Thanksgiving, FLOW staff are reflecting on their thankfulness for water. Whether it’s the vast and variable nature of Lake Huron or the water running from a household tap, water is at the center of our lives and our gratitude. We hope our writings inspire your reflection …Read More »Take Action Today to Oppose Michigan’s Senate Bill 1197 and Save the Mackinac Bridge from Enbridge Line 5
FLOW President Jim Olson addresses the board of the Mackinac Bridge Authority at its Nov. 8, 2018, meeting in St. Ignace. FLOW is urging supporters to contact your Michigan lawmakers today using our guidance below and to plan to join FLOW and other leaders of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix …Read More »Contact Your Michigan Lawmakers Today to Oppose Risky Line 5 Oil Tunnel Scheme
FLOW is urging supporters to contact your Michigan lawmakers today using our template message as a starting point, and to join FLOW and the other leaders of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign who are hosting a Line 5 lawmaker lobby day for Tuesday, November 27, in Lansing, to …Read More »Public to Mighty Mac Board: Don’t Risk the Great Lakes and Mackinac Bridge by Owning Private Oil Tunnel
Protect our greatest treasures — the Great Lakes and the Mackinac Bridge. Stop Gov. Rick Snyder’s rush to lock in a 99-year deal for a private oil tunnel in the Mackinac Straits. Never stop fighting for clean water and democracy. Those were the messages loud and clear from a big …Read More »It Speaks Volumes
It speaks volumes: The public has raised its voice in support of the Mighty Mac in a mighty way! The super-sized binder at right contains public comments uniformly against the Mackinac Bridge Authority agreeing to own and take on liability for a risky oil pipeline tunnel in the Straits of …Read More »A Fresh Start for Fresh Water in Michigan
It is a fresh start for fresh water in Michigan. Tuesday’s election of a new governor who stressed clean water issues offers opportunities that did not exist before the vote. A chief executive who champions water not only can persuade legislators to act, but also has the ability to act …Read More »Supreme Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Last Ditch Maneuver to Avoid Trial on Children’s Climate Change Lawsuit
photo: Beth Price What better way to divert attention on Election Day than to write something beyond political parties and votes—but wait, maybe it’s not so far beyond, as this election could make the difference for the future of the planet, and our children and grandchildren. On November 2, the …Read More »Vote for Water: Michiganders Can Choose Great Lakes Protection and Prosperity
By Paul Hendricks, Manager of Environmental Responsibility, Patagonia, Inc. All photos courtesy of Paul Hendricks. Every fall, strong north winds bring in a steady flow of storms that rip across the Great Lakes. You’ve probably witnessed one of these storms, where waves crash over pier heads and howling winds cut through …Read More »The Drinking Water Crisis: It’s Rural, Too
Groundwater is out of sight, but its mismanagement has real consequences for our health. An article in Saturday’s New York Times confirms what FLOW reported in November: elevated levels of nitrate in groundwater have polluted thousands of rural wells in the Midwest. The Times notes that up to 42,000 wells …Read More »Political Winds Threaten the Mackinac Bridge on Its 61st Birthday
Photo credit: Nancy May Happy Birthday to the Mackinac Bridge! Today marks its 61st birthday. The Mighty Mac, as it is affectionately known, opened to traffic on November 1, 1957. Perhaps no other piece of public infrastructure in Michigan evokes the same pride and sense of majesty as does the …Read More »Small Group Wins Big Victory on the AuSable River, Urges Nov. 6 Vote for Water
The Anglers of the Au Sable in late September reached a successful legal settlement with the Harrietta Hills Fish Farm in Grayling that by January 1 will permanently close the commercial fish farm. Harrietta Hills will vacate the premises, and the Anglers will assume the lease with Crawford County and …Read More »Michiganders Can Vote for Water
When Michiganders cast votes on November 6, remember that more than candidates are on the ballot. So are water and the public trust. We encourage all voters to put Michigan water’s stewardship agenda at the center of their decision-making. The next governor, attorney general, and legislature will face historic opportunities and …Read More »What the Water Says
Photo: Charles Brackett Inspired by FLOW’s Campaign for Fresh Water by Jaimien Delp Maybe there was a specific moment when it happened: the first time you saw a kiteboarder on the bay, or the evening you dipped a paddle to the surface of an inland lake so smooth you felt …Read More »“Water Is the Essence of Life”
photo: Nancy May By JoAnne Cook, FLOW Board Member and former Tribal Court Judge The Anishinaabek, who are the Indigenous people from the Great Lakes area, are born with an innate sense of our connection to everything around us. We feel the connection between us and all things in creation, …Read More »Spending a Night Under the Stars along the Straits of Mackinac
This week’s Friday Favorite was written by Julius Moss, one of our summer interns who has since returned to Vermont Law School. To me, the Mackinac Bridge is not just a bridge. It is also a portal. Every time I head north from my home in Traverse City, MI and …Read More »Living Along Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan
If you live anywhere along the route of Enbridge’s Line 5 crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) pipeline, which travels 547 miles across the Upper Peninsula, the Straits of Mackinac, and down through Lower Michigan, you should be asking state and local government officials and emergency responders a lot …Read More »Legal Fact from Legal Fictions
A Preface When I sat down to finish this post this morning on the news about Michigan’s agreement with Enbridge to consider replacing an aging, dangerous Line 5 crude oil pipeline through the Great Lakes basin, I realized that what I should really be writing about is yesterday’s dire warning …Read More »New Book: A Great Lakes Journey Toward Advocacy
Author Mary McKSchmidt will discuss and read from her new book, Uncharted Waters: Romance, Adventure, and Advocacy on the Great Lakes, Saturday, Oct. 13 from 1-3 p.m. at Horizon Books in Traverse City. Mary McKSchmidt is an adventurer—a woman who has wandered across southern Africa; achieved success in positions typically …Read More »A Warm Welcome to Our New Deputy Director, Kelly Thayer
It brings me great pleasure to announce that Kelly Thayer has joined the FLOW team as our new Deputy Director. Kelly will play a lead role in strategic communications and overall program development and implementation. We have dreamed about this day for a long time. Kelly is a familiar …Read More »Friday Favorite: Grand Traverse Commons
Though not the flashiest or most spectacular, this week’s Friday favorite is my regular place to hike. It is less of a handsome tuxedo and more of a favorite autumn sweater. One summer in Traverse City, I hiked somewhere in this network of trails every day. I am talking about …Read More »FLOW Releases Report to Save Our “Sixth Great Lake”
Today marks the beginning of a campaign to protect groundwater in Michigan and our surrounding states as the “Sixth Great Lake,” a lightning-bolt phrase promoted by Dave Dempsey, FLOW’s senior policy advisor and author of a sentinel groundwater report released by FLOW this week. In this second of a trilogy …Read More »Water (Civil) Wars?
Dr. Daniel Macfarlane is an Assistant Professor in the Freshwater Science and Sustainability program in Western Michigan University’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. He is the author or co-editor of published books on the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project and US-Canada border waters, and forthcoming books on the International Joint Commission and the …Read More »The Campaign for Fresh Water
FLOW Releases Model Legislation to Protect Michigan’s Public Waters and the Rights of the People Who Depend on Them from Unauthorized Privatization We’re writing today to invite you to join us in an exciting and critical new venture, the launch of The Campaign for Fresh Water, FLOW’s comprehensive and solutions-based …Read More »PFAS in the Huron River: Every Mile, Every Fish, Every Day
As usual, our 15-year-old son Quincy had fishing on his mind. It was the steamy Friday afternoon start of Labor Day weekend in Ann Arbor. We had just moved Quincy’s brother Alex into a University of Michigan dorm room, and taken my wife to Detroit Metropolitan Airport to visit her …Read More »Friday Favorite: A subtle gem in Traverse City
When it comes to beautiful places, the Grand Traverse region has an embarrassment of riches. I hope to live to 100, so I can visit them all. One I have come to know well may be one of the most subtle. It’s practically in my back yard beside the Munson …Read More »Paddle Protests & Water Celebration: Weekend Wrap-Up
Saturday, September 1 was a day of action for citizens of Michigan. The fourth annual Pipe Out Paddle Protest was held in the Straits of Mackinac, followed by the inaugural Water Is Life Festival. Organized by Jannan Cornstalk, both events drew participants from all over the mitten, coming together to …Read More »Friday Favorite: Gibraltar Island
This week, I had the opportunity to travel to a new place that I knew nothing about, which is one of my favorite things to do. I was honored to be hosted by Ohio Sea Grant for a stay at Gibraltar Island in western Lake Erie. For such a small …Read More »Michigan’s Latest Emergency Drinking Water Crisis: PFAS, Another History Lesson Ignored Again
In 1962, with the release of her seminal work, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson sounded a warning to the American public about the perils of persistent pesticide chemicals like DDT to silence the very ecosystems they attempt to tame. Carson’s story underscored the interconnectedness of all living things and systems and …Read More »We Need Another Great Lakes Agreement
Toward the end of Dan Egan’s award-winning book, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, the author observes that in the 1960s Michigan unilaterally planted exotic salmon in the Lakes. The action produced a new sportfishery but also changed the ecology of the Great Lakes in unforeseen ways, with …Read More »Friday Favorite: Brown Bridge Quiet Area
Look through any Traverse City visitors’ guide book for places to see during your stay, and nine times of out of ten, they’ll point you straight to Sleeping Bear Dunes. With its sweeping, majestic views from the dunes overlook and Caribbean blue waters of Lake Michigan below, it’s no wonder …Read More »U.S. Senate Hearing Sets the Stage for Turning Off Dangerous Enbridge Line 5 in Great Lakes
Michigan Senator Gary Peters, ranking member of a Senate committee overseeing hazardous pipelines, held a public hearing in Traverse City, Michigan Monday, ground zero in a race to turn off Enbridge’s 65-year old Line 5 before it spills millions of gallons into the Straits of Mackinac and blackens the water, …Read More »Make More Michigan Underwater Parks
Michigan’s state park system is considered one of the finest in the nation. Dating back to 1917, the system includes 103 parks and recreation areas that sustain more than 25 million annual visits. But there’s another, smaller park system, and it’s underwater. The underwater preserve system is also on public …Read More »Friday Favorites – Power Island
Power Island in Grand Traverse Bay has always been a hometown favorite of mine. I have been visiting Power Island since I was a young boy and have always been fascinated about the stories my mother would tell me about how she would visit the island as a young girl, …Read More »Finally, An Honest Conversation About Line 5’s Real Risks to Our Waters and Our Way of Life
Over three years ago, on July 15, 2015, the State of Michigan’s Petroleum Pipeline Task Force released its recommendations for the state to conduct an independent risk analysis and independent alternatives analysis on the Line 5 pipelines located in the open waters of the Great Lakes. The Governor’s Advisory Board, …Read More »Friday Favorites – the Mackinac Bridge
Friday Favorites is our new series where we explore some of our favorite places in and around the Great Lakes. The Mighty Mac, the Big Mac, the Mackinac Bridge. One of the most iconic sights in the Great Lakes region, the Bridge has always been a source of wonder for …Read More »Water is on the Ballot, Too
Now that the primary election is behind us, Michiganders will pay increasing attention to this fall’s all-important electoral choices. FLOW is contacting the nominees for Governor, Attorney General, and northwest Michigan House and Senate seats this week to inform them of the water and public trust issues we think they …Read More »A Tunnel for Line 5? – That Would be a Big Mistake
In an end-run around the public participation process they established, Governor Rick Snyder and Enbridge, Inc., the owner and operator of Line 5, are exploring the possibility of building a $500 million tunnel to replace the stretch of 65 year-old Line 5 pipeline that runs under the Straits of Mackinac. …Read More »Friday Favorites – Pyramid Point
Friday Favorites is our new series where we explore some of our favorite places to play in and around the Great Lakes. Traverse City residents might be rolling their eyes at the suggestion of Pyramid Point as one of my favorite places in the Traverse City area, but hear me …Read More »Using Art to Explore Our Relationship with Water
Sarah Bearup-Neal is the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Communications/Gallery Manager. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1978 with a BFA in Studio Art and has maintained an active studio practice focused on fiber art since 1999. Sarah lives in Benzie County. Each year, the Glen Arbor Arts Center mounts …Read More »Putting the Public First
I remember the shock of the journalists on a 1985 media tour of the Rouge River in southeast Michigan when they were told to look down from a bridge to see raw human waste in the waters below. In 1985? Hadn’t we taken care of raw sewage by passing the …Read More »Protecting Traverse City’s Tap Water
Anyone who visits Traverse City can easily see how important freshwater is to this region. The iconic Grand Traverse Bay, numerous inland lakes and the Boardman River winding through downtown make freshwater an essential part of Traverse City’s landscape and culture. Our unique freshwater resources provide remarkable recreational opportunities that …Read More »The Right of Passage
After more than 30 years of working on environmental policy, I moved to within a few hundred feet of one of the Great Lakes. Given the opportunity to stroll along the shore as often as I wanted, I suddenly realized I didn’t know what I could legally do when the …Read More »“Old-School Conservationist” and a New Book
Editor’s note: Tom Bailey has served as executive director of the Little Traverse Conservancy for more than 30 years. He retires next month. Michigan State University Press has published a collection of Tom’s essays, entitled North Country Almanac. Tom will be signing and discussing his book Saturday at Horizon Books in Traverse …Read More »The Public Trust Doctrine Percolates into State Courts, Legislators, and Commissions to Protect Groundwater, Streams, Lakes, Economies and Quality of Life
“Water Justice Flows Like Water.”[1] Law professor Sprout D. Kapua’ala, borrowing from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech in 1968 (“justice rolling down like waters”), captures decades of conflict over the streams and waters of Hawai’i, siphoned and dried from a century of withdrawals and diversion ditches …Read More »Enjoying the Great Lakes This Summer
Summer in northern Michigan is one of our favorite things, and we are trying to enjoy it to the fullest while it is here. With all of the busyness this season, it does become a conscious effort. It’s not unusual to hear this around the FLOW office: “Wow, is it …Read More »Water: the Great Uniter
Last Thursday, July 6, was FLOW’s second annual An Evening for the Great Lakes hosted by amazing co-organizers Cammie Buehler and Jeremy Turner at the beautiful Cherry Basket Farms near Omena. What a fantastic night! We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made the event such a major …Read More »Attorney General Bill Schuette has Ample Legal Authority to Pursue a Shutdown of Line 5
By: FLOW Chair, Skip Pruss Taking Legal Action Recently, John Sellek, Attorney General Bill Schuette’s campaign spokesperson, pushed back on the charge that the Attorney General could have taken legal action to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 petroleum pipelines at the Straits of Mackinac, stating “If this claim about the …Read More »FLOW’s Vision to Address the World Water Crisis
“The water cycle and the life cycle are one” —- Jacques Cousteau A White-Water Trip Down the Currents of the Public Trust Doctrine In ancient times, people knew water and the life cycles were the same. Without water, civilizations collapsed. Rome, with its dependence on water and the spokes …Read More »Tapping into Local Awesomeness
The Local Movement Did you know that the City of Traverse City has been addressing plastic pollution, climate change, and water privatization for almost a decade? I’m so proud of our small but mighty Midwest town here in the heart of the Great Lakes. In 2009, our city adopted a resolution …Read More »It’s Time for the State of Michigan to Put Protection of our Great Lakes and Citizens First
Almost three years ago, with the release of Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force’s report on July 14, 2015, Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that the days of Line 5 were numbered. The public also believed that the State of Michigan planned to seek two independent studies on Line 5 to …Read More »JoAnne Cook Brings New Perspective to FLOW
In May, Tribal law expert and educator JoAnne Cook joined FLOW’s Board of Directors. JoAnne, who lives in Northport, is a former Council member, Vice Chair and Acting Chair of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. She also served as Chief Judge of the Little Traverse Bay Band of …Read More »President Trump’s Executive Order to Industrialize Great Lakes Violates the Public Trust
On June 19, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order that declared “the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters of the United States are foundational to economy, security, global competitiveness, and well-being of the United States.” The purpose of this order is three-fold: Facilitate economic growth and industrial use of …Read More »Progress on Plastics
Roughly 500 million straws are used and disposed of in the United States every day.[1] Even though you might want to think that the majority of those straws end up in recycling facilities, the reality is that they do not. These tiny unnecessary tubes end up in landfills, city streets, …Read More »Art and the Environment: Northport Sees the Big Picture
It’s not often that more than 200 people collaborate to create a work of art – but the experience of Northport suggests that more communities should try. Last September, the Village of Northport dedicated a 32” high, 109’ long Marina Mural, Bay Presents (as in “gifts”), which is quickly becoming …Read More »Water for Flint, Not for Nestlé
Flint is still dealing with the lead poisoning of residents’ drinking water. Residents of Detroit are once again experiencing water shutoffs. Ontario has the highest number of Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations out of all the provinces in Canada. All the while Nestlé is allowed to pump millions of …Read More »The Public Trust Doctrine and the Implications of the Walker Lake Litigation
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, this commons – including the Great Lakes …Read More »Inspiring Young Minds to Take Action
In honor of Earth Day 2018, FLOW volunteer Deyar Jamil gave a presentation on Reducing, Reusing and Recycling to the 4th and 5th graders at Immaculate Conception Elementary School. Deyar asked students to think about what changes they might be able to make in their own lives to help protect …Read More »Michigan DEQ Ignores Law to OK Brine Disposal Wells
With neither review nor transparency, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on June 1, 2018, granted permits to Michigan Potash Operating for three deep-injection wells to dispose of brine waste in the heart of a wetland complex about five miles southwest of the city of Evart, in southern Osceola County. The latest approval …Read More »Countdown to a Line 5 Shutdown
Photo credit: Nancy May 7 – It would take at least seven years to plan and build a tunnel under the Mackinac Straits, according to an estimate by Michigan Technological University, if proven to be legal and feasible, while Line 5’s threat to the Great Lakes would grow larger. 6 – A Line 5 …Read More »The Joys of Kayaking Northern Michigan
If you can’t find me at my desk at FLOW headquarters, you will usually find me somewhere on the water. I am a fan of pretty much any water activity you can think of. However, kayaking has become one of my favorite ways to get out on the water. I …Read More »Why Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation’s Contested Case Against the Nestlé Water Permit Is Right and Necessary
Permits that Harm Water and Natural Resources Michigan officials have been busy this spring — busy handing out permits to take or destroy Michigan’s water and natural resources in violation of clear constitutional and legal mandates: A mandatory duty to protect the public’s paramount interest in our air, water, and …Read More »Changing the World, One Child at a Time
Nelson Mandela said that education is the most powerful weapon to change the world. In honor of Earth Day, I gave a presentation on Reducing, Reusing and Recycling to approximately 700 students at three different schools in Traverse City. We talked about issues including natural ecosystems, sustainability, population growth, and urban …Read More »Wishing for Water in the Porcupine Mountains
Over Memorial Day Weekend, the Great Lakes get their first official burst of summer. Stores and restaurants of coastal towns extend their hours and see the first long lines of the season. The beaches and bays fill with laughter and people and boats. Not much compares to summertime on the …Read More »Enough is Enough: It’s Time to Decommission Line 5
Every year, a million visitors reach the shores of Mackinac Island, also known as Turtle Island to the Anishinaabe peoples who first settled here in the Great Lakes. Unlike most visitors, every May I make an annual pilgrimage to the island to argue the case to decommission Line 5 to our …Read More »The Buck Stops With Them
Photo: Nancy May – work available at numerous shops on Mackinac Island FLOW reminds state leaders they have the power to defend the Great Lakes from Enbridge. Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette have the legal authority to protect the Great Lakes from the major risk posed by the antiquated …Read More »An Evening for the Great Lakes
A Special Celebration to Benefit FLOW Come join us on July 5th for an evening of farm-to-table fare from Epicure Catering, beverages from Baia Estate Leelanau, Arbor Brewing, and Iron Fish Distillery, and delight in the music of 4-time GRAMMY winning mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile. An Evening for the Great Lakes …Read More »Morning on the Manistee
5:32 AM Fishing! Bleary eyed, I rolled out of bed and slowly pulled on a tshirt, long-sleeved shirt, flannel, sweatshirt, and jacket. Tossing a bigger jacket, raincoat, and extra socks into my bag, I dragged myself to the kitchen and immediately flipped the switch on the instant kettle. Give me …Read More »Saving the Straits of Mackinac
Saving the Straits of Mackinac Yesterday, May 22, 2018, marks the day that our state’s citizens, threatened with the terrible harm of an oil spill from a failed Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, took matters into their own hands. The Straits of Mackinac Alliance (SMA) filed a contested-case …Read More »Appreciating Our Submerged Lands: Michigan
Submerged Michigan 38,000 square miles. That’s a lot of real estate. In fact, it’s bigger than the square mileage of 12 states — including Indiana, West Virginia and Massachusetts. It’s part of Michigan. It’s a part you and all other citizens of Michigan own. And it’s all underwater, …Read More »DEQ Decision Endangers Au Sable River, Violates Public Trust
By Tom Baird, FLOW Board Member Once again, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has sacrificed our precious water resources for the profits of a privately owned business and the promise of a couple of low wage jobs. As a result, the waters of the Au Sable River will be …Read More »Giving Back Can Come in Many Forms
Giving Back Can Come in Many Forms A Sunday afternoon spent walking through downtown Traverse City, taking in some much needed and long overdue sunshine and fresh air, strolling along the Boardman River and picking up trash – a perfect day, right? Perhaps that last part sounds less than appealing, …Read More »BAYKEEPER® Heather Smith is Protector and Educator Too
Grand Traverse Bay is one of the Great Lakes watershed’s special places. Protecting, restoring and preserving it is the job of many, but a special role goes to Heather Smith, the Grand Traverse BAYKEEPER® at the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay since August 2016. FLOW was curious about Heather’s work, …Read More »Public Trust Perspectives
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, these commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. And governments, like the State …Read More »FLOW Demands State Reject Latest Enbridge Ploy
In comments submitted to state officials Friday, FLOW is urging state regulators to deny a bid by Enbridge Energy to install 48 new anchor supports on dangerous Line 5 at the Straits of Mackinac while evading scrutiny of alternatives that would protect the environment. Enbridge’s latest request, if approved, would …Read More »Water and Nevada
When you think of Nevada (and that’s ne-va-da, not ne-vah-duh), I bet a clear picture forms in your mind: Las Vegas and its neon lights, slot machines, Elvis, quick divorces and UFO sightings (among other things). Those are all part of it, yes. But did you know Nevada is an …Read More »Growing the Plastics Conversation towards Meaningful Change
A growing movement is afoot here in the Great Lakes – a broadening recognition and fierce determination to tackle the ubiquity of single-use plastics in our waters. Just in our small neck of the woods in northern Michigan, a number of nonprofit groups, concerned citizens, and conservation districts are seizing …Read More »Interview with Chris Doyal of the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve Council
Michigan is the 22nd largest state if you consider only the land within its borders that is above water. But if you add its submerged lands, it’s the 11th largest. Much of the approximately 40,000 square miles of Michigan under water consists of Great Lakes submerged lands, which belong to …Read More »What Kind of Environmental Agency Does Michigan Need?
For almost eight years, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality has sided with resource exploitation over resource protection. MDEQ’s recent decisions to grant Nestle a 60% increase in the volume of water it can extract from springs near Evart for bottling and sale, and to authorize Enbridge Energy to bypass full …Read More »Water Always Wins
Last month, I took a plane out to Eugene, Oregon to visit my brother and his girlfriend. We spent most of our time playing pinball and visiting the local tea bar to try out various Oolongs, but one of the days out there, we decided to head out to the …Read More »The Wisconsin Water Diversion Giveaway
The 10-year-old Great Lakes Compact is not just an agreement among eight states. It is also a compact between the citizens and public officials of those states. A decision yesterday in Wisconsin puts both compacts at risk. Wisconsin has now approved a diversion of up to 2.7 million gallons a day of …Read More »Michigan’s Water Legacy
“This couldn’t be just a lake. No real water was ever blue like that. A light breeze stirred the pin-cherry tree beside the window, ruffled the feathers of a fat sea gull promenading on the pink rocks below. The breeze was full of evergreen spice.” — Dorothy Maywood Bird, “Mystery …Read More »Grand Traverse Islands National Park Proposal
Eight states border the Great Lakes, but only five national parks. For those who think the spectacular values of the freshwater coast are underrepresented among the crown jewels of the national park system, there is good news: a small but dogged group of Wisconsin citizens is keeping the torch lit …Read More »The “Fox in the Henhouse” Michigan Bill Package
The “Fox in the Henhouse” bill package in the State Legislature is on the move again. The Michigan Competitiveness Committee in the Michigan House of Representatives is holding a meeting Wednesday at 2:30 PM in Room 307 of the House Office Building. On the agenda are the three Anti-Department of Environmental Quality (Senate-passed) bills: SB 652, …Read More »Anatomy of A Spill in the Great Lakes
Five years ago this spring, when I first learned about Line 5, I could only imagine what a catastrophic oil spill would look like here in the heart of the Great Lakes. Two weeks ago, we dodged a bullet as we watched a hazardous liquid spill from two neighboring transmission …Read More »