Blog Posts

Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers

Liz Kirkwood Reflects on the Importance of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement After 50 Years

April 14, 2022

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 Great Lakes Water Quality Board, which advises the International Joint Commission. Liz Kirkwood, FLOW’s executive director, is a U.S. appointee to the 28-member binational board. Here are her thoughts on the Board’s role under the Agreement in protecting the lakes.

Evaluating the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement on its 50th Birthday

April 11, 2022

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 and U.S. President Richard Richard Nixon in Ottawa on April 15, 1972, the pact embraced the reality that Great Lakes water flows across the international boundary and that only through joint effort can the lakes be restored. FLOW asks the question: Has it worked?

What the Big Water Infrastructure Law Means for Michigan

April 6, 2022

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 water projects, efforts to curb… Read more »

Our Drinking Water Lacks the Protection It Deserves

April 5, 2022

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 every day is one that… Read more »

“Leave the Oil in the Ground … Let the Rivers FLOW”

March 24, 2022

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 the Oil in the Ground”—an artistic call to shut down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. He spoke to FLOW about his environmental inspiration, his interest in FLOW, and his most recent album.

The Kids are All Right: FLOW Partners to Lift Up the Youth Water Movement

March 24, 2022

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 are thrilled to join hands with Water& and other young adult-led organizations in the Great Lakes Basin, and in our nation’s capital, to expand hope and leadership in the protection of our public waters. We intend this effort to support not just the youth climate movement, but also help feed the emerging“youth water movement” focused on a clean environment, public health, and equitable outcomes.

Protecting Groundwater and Michigan’s Most Endangered Wildflower

March 21, 2022

An unseen resource, Michigan’s groundwater provides drinking water to more than 4 million Michiganders, supports agricultural irrigation and manufacturing, and contributes a significant portion of the inflow to the Great Lakes. But there is still another reason to protect Michigan’s groundwater: conservation of our state’s biological diversity. Groundwater is critical to valuable species and their habitats, including cold water trout streams like the Au Sable River–and a rare wildflower found exclusively in Michigan.

High Gas Prices Could Drive Down Emissions, Boost Support for Fuel Efficiency and Electric Vehicles

March 21, 2022

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 percent of those emissions, which… Read more »

Public Trust Bill Package Boosts Groundwater Protection in Michigan

March 17, 2022

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 said in a video-recording message for the press conference announcing the legislation. “And Michigan’s groundwater must never become privatized and siphoned away.”

FLOW to Michigan Public Service Commission: No Enbridge Oil Tunnel Without Authorization Under Public Trust Doctrine

March 16, 2022

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 comment in person or online…. Read more »