Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
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 chapters in the understanding and… Read more »
Above: Watershed art by Glenn Wolff. By Bob Otwell, FLOW Board member A Great Lakes water use report recently released by the Great Lakes Commission provides an important snapshot of the kinds and volumes of water withdrawals in the region. The report found that an average 37.5 billion gallons of water per day were withdrawn… Read more »
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 the Michigan Department of Environment,… Read more »
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, 36,000 miles of rivers and… Read more »
By: Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director January 17, 2023 // Bridge Michigan Michigan is a water wonderland — think Great Lakes, 36,000 miles of rivers and streams, groundwater that supplies 45 percent of our state with drinking water, and more than 6 million acres of wetlands. But these waters face a daunting array of challenges, everything… Read more »
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 initiative to provide free traveling… Read more »
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 embraces a proposal submitted by… Read more »
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 the Great Lakes Water Quality… Read more »
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)
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 more than 4 million Michiganders…. Read more »
